icao code kdlh see duluth international airport . it has been suggested that this article be split into a new article titled kbjr dt2 . discuss . august 2016 this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . october 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message kdlh duluth minnesota superior wisconsin united states branding duluth cw slogan dare to defy channels digital 33 uhf virtual 3 psip subchannels 3.1 the cw translators see article affiliations the cw secondary from 2006 2016 owner sagamorehill broadcasting sagamorehill of duluth licenses llc first air date march 14 1955 ; 61 years ago 1955 03 14 call letters meaning duluth former callsigns kdal tv 1954 1979 former channel number s analog 3 vhf 1954 2009 former affiliations primary nbc 1954 1955 cbs 1955 2016 secondary abc 1954 1966 fox 1996 2000 the wb 1998 2006 transmitter power 381 kw height 311.9 m facility id 4691 transmitter coordinates 46 47 7.1 n 92 7 16.3 w 46.785306 n 92.121194 w 46.785306 ; 92.121194 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs kdlh is the cw affiliated television station for northeastern minnesota and the iron range area that is licensed to duluth . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 33 from a transmitter west of downtown in hilltop park . owned by the sagamorehill broadcasting the station was formerly operated as a cbs affiliate through a shared services agreement by quincy media making it sister to nbc affiliate kbjr tv and its semi satellite krii . following the end of kdlh s ssa on august 1 2016 resulting from the station s sale from malara broadcast group cbs programming was moved to kbjr dt2 and kdlh switched exclusively to the cw . contents 1 outlying repeaters 2 digital television 2.1 digital channel 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 history 4 news operation 4.1 notable former on air staff 5 see also 6 references 7 external links outlying repeaters edit in addition to its main signal kdlh may be viewed through the following translators in northern minnesota . all of the stations broadcast in digital and relay krii . call sign channel city of license licensee transmitter location k18jm d 18 northome koochiching county south of town k23kz d 23 bigfork ez tv inc. south of town along mn 38 k27ll d 27 big falls koochiching county center of town k34lj d 34 kabetogama koochiching county between koochiching county line and u.s. 53 in saint louis county k38mj d 38 max ez tv inc. southwest of town k42kv d 42 birchdale koochiching county southwest of loman k47nw d 47 international falls koochiching county southeast of city digital television edit digital channel edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 1 3.1 720p 16 9 kdlh3 cw 2 analog to digital conversion edit kdlh discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 3 on june 12 2009 as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . 2 the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 33 using psip to display kdlh s virtual channel as 3 on digital television receivers . history edit kdlh began broadcasting on march 14 1954 as kdal tv and aired an analog signal on vhf channel 3 . it took its calls from the initials of its founder dalton alexander lemasurier who owned the station along with kdal am 610 . it switched affiliations with wdsm tv now kbjr in 1955 and joined cbs . it also aired some abc programs in off hours splitting them with wdsm tv until wdio tv signed on in 1966 . the station s original studio facilities were located on west superior street in downtown duluth . during the late 1950s kdal was also briefly affiliated with the nta film network . the lemasurier family sold kdal am tv to what eventually became tribune broadcasting in 1960 . kdal began broadcasting in color in 1965 . tribune sold the station to palmer broadcasting in 1979 who changed the call letters to the current kdlh tv on february 21st . palmer broadcasting then sold kdlh to benedek broadcasting in 1985 . the station dropped the tv suffix in 1991 . benedek went bankrupt in 2001 and most of the company merged with gray television in 2001 . however kdlh was not included in the merger and was sold to chelsey broadcasting instead . new vision television bought the station in 2003 . in march 2005 the malara broadcast group purchased channel 3 from new vision and outsourced most of the station s operations to longtime rival kbjr who was owned by granite broadcasting corporation . under this agreement kdlh laid off most of its staff . filings with the federal communications commission fcc showed malara could operate kdlh with as few as two people on the payroll . kdlh s digital transmitter had been operating at reduced power with a substitute side mounted antenna after a may 18 2008 fire that severely damaged its main digital antenna . it returned to full power on uhf channel 33 by june 2009 . in february 2009 malara broadcasting announced that kdlh would not make the switch to all digital later in the month due to the fire . with that announcement the station was the only one in the area still broadcasting in analog after february 19 as kbjr wdse wdio and kqds tv all went digital only on that date . on june 12 at around 7 p.m. kdlh ceased normal broadcasting operations on its analog signal . at that time the analog station began a nightlight signal consisting of a ten minute digital television informational video on a constant loop . on june 26 two weeks after regular broadcasts were stopped the nightlight signal was terminated with the help of bob peterson a former engineer at the station who helped launch kdlh in 1954 bringing an end to all full power analog broadcasting in the area . in november 2009 the station re branded from cbs 3 to kdlh 3 . this brought a new logo to the station for the first time since it merged with kbjr . on february 11 2014 it was announced that quincy newspapers would acquire kbjr tv and krii from granite broadcasting . malara initially planned to concurrently sell kdlh to sagamorehill broadcasting ; 3 however that november the deal was reworked to remove sagamorehill from the transaction and as a result kdlh would remain with malara . 4 quincy would continue to provide services to kdlh . 3 4 in july 2015 the deal was reworked yet again ; it returned to its previous structure with sagamorehill acquiring kdlh and being operated under an ssa by quincy . however the ssa was wound down on august 1 2016 at this time cbs programming was moved to a subchannel of kbjr and kdlh began operating independently as a cw affiliate . 5 the sale was completed on november 2 . 6 news operation edit while operating its own news department kdlh was the last of the big three stations in duluth to have a weeknight 5 o clock broadcast . it aired judge judy in the time slot instead . in 2004 it debuted a 5 p.m. show that featured anchor amy rutledge and meteorologist phil johnson . this was replaced along with its 6 o clock show with the current one at 5 30 when kdlh merged with kbjr in march 2005 . jeopardy has since reclaimed the 5 o clock spot on channel 3 and the cbs evening news airs at 6 . after the buyout the station had its news department closed and merged with kbjr . to maintain a separate identity there were some channel 6 personalities that were also seen on kdlh . however due to kbjr s existing newscasts not all of that station s personnel were seen on channel 3 . kdlh s northland s newscenter at 5 30 had been anchored by pat kelly who was the only channel 3 news team member remaining after the kdlh sellout . its weeknight 10 o clock newscast which continues to be a separate production was known as northland s newscenter express and consisted of a ten minute news capsule . the other 25 minutes was a seinfeld rerun . after thirteen months of mediocre ratings kdlh changed the 10 o clock show to the traditional 35 minutes and re branded it to northland s newscenter tonight . kdlh and kbjr began broadcasting their local newscasts in 16x9 widescreen on may 4 2009 . they were the first television stations in the market to do so . although not true high definition the format matches the ratio of hd televisions . as of november this station has now began to brand its separate weeknight shows as kdlh 3 news . these broadcasts air from a secondary set . on january 11 2010 kdlh beggan airing the area s only weeknight 6 30 o clock newscast . in the fall of 2014 kdlh 3 partnered with midwest communications station kdal am to produce a unique simulcast broadcast airing kdal am s cadigan and kelly . kdlh 3 installed cameras and switching gear so each member of the kdal team could be seen on air . kdlh s intellectual unit was re located to kbjr dt2 on august 1 2016 . notable former on air staff edit e.d. hill currently at cnn see also edit channel 3 virtual tv stations in the united states channel 33 digital tv stations in the united states references edit rabbitears tv query for kdlh list of digital full power stations a b quincy buying stations from granite malara . tvnewscheck . february 11 2014 . retrieved february 11 2014 . a b amendment to agreements and description of transaction kbjr tv pdf . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . november 24 2014 . retrieved november 25 2014 . amended description of agreements description of transaction and request for temporary waiver . quincy newspapers inc. retrieved 1 august 2015 . quincy newspapers inc. acquires four tv stations quincy herald whig retrieved 2 november 2015 external links edit official website rabbitears.info query kdlh rabbitears.info query krii query the fcc s tv station database for kdlh query the fcc s tv station database for krii query the fcc s tv station database for k18jm d query the fcc s tv station database for k23kz d query the fcc s tv station database for k27ll d query the fcc s tv station database for k34lj d query the fcc s tv station database for k38mj d query the fcc s tv station database for k42kv d query the fcc s tv station database for k53cq d v t e broadcast television in northeast minnesota and northwest wisconsin including the twin ports duluth superior reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television duluth superior kdlh 3.1 cw kbjr tv 6.1 nbc 6.2 cbs 6.3 mntv wdse 8.1 pbs 8.2 pbs 8.3 create 8.4 mn wdio dt 10.1 abc 10.2 metv kqds tv 21.1 fox 21.2 anttv kcwv 27.1 amgtv iron range krii 11.1 nbc 11.2 cw 11.3 cbs 11.9 mntv wirt dt 13.1 abc 13.2 metv k15gt 15 fox k29eb 29 fox wrpt 31.1 pbs