. 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 wdio dt wirt dt wdio duluth minnesota wirt hibbing minnesota united states branding wdio wirt channels 10 and 13 general eyewitness news newscasts slogan the northland s news leader channels digital wdio 10 vhf wirt 13 vhf virtual wdio 10 psip wirt 13 psip subchannels xx .1 abc xx .2 metv translators see article affiliations abc owner hubbard broadcasting wdio tv llc first air date wdio january 24 1966 ; 50 years ago 1966 01 24 wirt august 31 1967 ; 49 years ago 1967 08 31 1 call letters meaning wdio duluth channel io 10 wirt iron range television former channel number s analog wdio 10 vhf 1966 2009 wirt 13 vhf 1967 2009 digital wdio 43 uhf 2002 2009 wirt 36 uhf 2002 2009 former affiliations dt2 rtv the sportsman channel transmitter power wdio 45 kw wirt 13 kw height wdio 297 m wirt 204 m facility id wdio 71338 wirt 71336 transmitter coordinates wdio 46 47 15 n 92 7 21 w 46.78750 n 92.12250 w 46.78750 ; 92.12250 wirt 47 22 53 n 92 57 15 w 47.38139 n 92.95417 w 47.38139 ; 92.95417 wirt licensing authority fcc public license information wirt dt profile wirt dt cdbs website www.wdio.com wdio dt digital channel 10 and wirt dt digital channel 13 are the abc and metv affiliated television stations for north central and northeastern minnesota and northwestern wisconsin . wdio s studios and transmitter are located on observation road in duluth . wirt in hibbing is a full time satellite station of wdio serving the iron range including grand rapids virginia and chisholm . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 eyewitness news 4.1 ratings 5 outlying translators 6 references 7 external links history edit wdio tv first went on the air on january 24 1966 . wdio s original owner was frank befera a trained engineer who owned a chain of radio stations across northeastern minnesota . wirt went on the air on august 31 1967 . he sold channels 10 and 13 to publishers harcourt brace jovanovich in 1977 2 but remained as president and general manager . hbj sold the stations to hubbard broadcasting in 1986 and befera retired a year later . the red 10 13 disk logo is the oldest tv logo in duluth having been in use since the 1980s . the lettering used in the logo which blends a number 10 into the io lettering dates back to as late as the early 1970s . since the 1980s changes to the 10 13 logo have merely depended on changes to abc s logo and branding guidelines . the most recent change was in fall 2013 upon abc s newest rebranding which saw the 10 13 ball take on the same subtle reflection of the current abc logo . wdio wirt has broadcast in color since they first went on the air . on april 11 2008 a blizzard swept through the northland . this caused power outages in duluth causing wdio kdlh and kbjr all to lose their signal at times . on november 28 2011 metv replaced rtv on 10.2 and 13.2 . 3 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 4 5 xx .1 720p 16 9 wdioabc wirtabc main programming abc xx .2 480i 16 9 wdio me wirt me metv analog to digital conversion edit both stations discontinued regular programming on their analog signals on february 17 2009 as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television which congress had moved the previous month to june 12 . the station s digital channel allocations post transition are as follows 6 7 wdio discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 10 ; the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 43 to vhf channel 10 . wirt discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 13 ; the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 36 to vhf channel 13 . programming edit in addition to abc network programming syndicated programming featured on wdio wirt includes live with kelly and michael the rachael ray show the ellen degeneres show entertainment tonight the insider criminal minds discover wisconsin and numb3rs . every new year s eve wdio often cuts in to dick clark s new year s rockin eve to broadcast the smdc new year s eve ball ; which was a fundraiser for the hospital . in 2008 after 17 years of televising the event wdio announced that it would stop its annual broadcast . this decision along with declining attendance led to the decision to cancel the event . the ball itself ran for 23 years and at its peak hosted 4 000 guests . 8 eyewitness news edit wdio wirt s newscasts were branded throughout the 1970s and 1980s as action news . the station changed its branding to eyewitness news in the early 1990s . it shares this branding with sister station kstp in minneapolis st. paul . however the eyewitness news branding is the station s only resemblance to kstp . wdio uses its own graphics and music packages . wdio and kstp team up when breaking news happens example the i 35w bridge collapse in minneapolis or for major election debates . longtime wdio news anchor dennis anderson joined the station in 1969 initially as anchor of the nightly news action line segment . he was promoted to chief anchor of the evening newscasts in 1970 ; 9 he later was the first local tv anchor to announce the sinking of the ore freighter edmund fitzgerald which sank in lake superior on november 10 1975 . citation needed anderson retired wednesday may 25 2011 after 42 years with the station . 10 darren danielson previously of wdse replaced anderson as anchor the following day thursday may 26 . 11 in october 2009 20 year veteran deborah anderson stepped down from being the lead anchor of the weekend newscasts . the station management filled the vacancy with reporters already employed with the station rather than searching for a replacement . at some point in late 2010 or early 2011 wdio became the third station in the duluth area to broadcast its local newscasts in 16 9 enhanced definition widescreen . ratings edit soon after sign on wdio shot to the top of the local news ratings and has remained there more or less ever since . during the 1970s and 1980s wdio dominated competitors kdlh 2nd and kbjr tv 3rd . in the may 2007 ratings race wdio took first place in all timeslots except at 5 p.m. where they fell to nbc affiliate kbjr . in february 2008 wdio won with number of viewers in the morning and at 6 and 10 p.m. kbjr once again came out slightly ahead at 5 p.m. in july 2009 wdio topped the ratings again . the 10 p.m. newscast had about 7 000 more viewers than second place kbjr . wdio also won in the weekend ratings . 1 in november 2009 wdio doubled the ratings of kbjr at the 10 p.m. newscast with a 12 share compared to kbjr s 6 rating and kdlh s 3 . the station also swept the 5 and 6 p.m. time slots and with a 14 and an 11 rating respectively . kbjr rated a 10 at the same timeslots according to the duluth news tribune . take note that this ratings period marks one full year anniversary of wdio s market dominance . outlying translators edit besides wirt wdio is seen on several outlying digital translators in the iron range of northeastern and north central minnesota . all of these translators are licensed as repeaters of wirt ; via psip virtual channel numbering each translator station remaps to channel 13 . call sign channel city of license k16jd d 16 northome k26km d 26 orr k31ma d 31 big falls k32jz d 32 kabetogama k36kz d 36 max k40mu d 40 birchdale k47my d 47 red lake k49bu d 49 international falls references edit the broadcasting and cable yearbook says september 1 while the television and cable factbook says august 31 . television and cable factbook 1988 edition wdio wdio wirt dt to launch me tv november 7 2011 . rabbitears tv query for wdio rabbitears tv query for wirt list of digital full power stations tuesday night at midnight wdio and wirt tv analog signals end wdio tv february 16 2009 smdc says the new year s eve ball is over . 2008 06 18 . retrieved 2008 06 19 . dead link wdio biography dennis anderson via archive.org wdio dennis anderson celebrating a career wdio danielson named anchor on eyewitness news at six and ten march 29 2011 . external links edit wdio.com official wdio tv website metvduluth.com official metv duluth website northpine s 10 & 13 screengrabs including a rare look at a 1973 newscast rabbitears.info query wdio rabbitears.info query wirt query the fcc s tv station database for wdio query the fcc s tv station database for wirt query the fcc s tv station database for k16jd d query the fcc s tv station database for k26km d query the fcc s tv station database for k31ma d query the fcc s tv station database for k32jz d query the fcc s tv station database for k36kz d query the fcc s tv station database for k40mu d query the fcc s tv station database for k47my d query the fcc s tv station database for k49bu d biafn s media web database information on wdio tv biafn s media web database information on wirt tv 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 31.2 pbs 31.3 create 31.4 mn k47ir 47 fox international falls k53cq d 11.1 nbc 11.2 cw 11.3 cbs 11.9 mntv k49bu d 13.1 abc 13.2 metv k51cm d 31.1 pbs 31.2 hd 31.3 create 31.4 mn k38mm d 39.1 3abn 39.2 3abn pr 39.3 3abn dd 39.4 3abn es 39.5 3abn rd 39.6 3abn rl 39.7 radio 74 k45jd 45 fox adjacent locals ckpr 2.1 ctv thunder bay cbmt 6.1 cbc montr al wlef 36 pbs wpt park falls defunct kdul lp 12 upn ain wast lp 25 upn wftv 38 abc nbc cbs dumont k58cm 58 tbn see also twin cities tv fargo grand forks tv eau claire la crosse tv wausau tv marquette tv ontario tv v t e abc network affiliates in the state of minnesota kstp 5.1 ksax 42.1 krwf 43.1 st. paul alexandria redwood falls kaal 6.1 austin rochester wdio 10.1 wirt 13.1 duluth hibbing see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in minnesota v t e hubbard broadcasting inc. key people stanley s. hubbard radio stations kazg kbhp kblb kbun kbun fm kdkb kdus kikv fm kixi