CKND DT

History

The station's history can be traced back to 1959, where the establishment of its predecessor, KCND-TV, was announced on February 20. It went on the air in Pembina, North Dakota on channel 12 in November 1960. However, the station depended almost entirely on advertising from Winnipeg. In February 1973, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that it had received two applications to start a new television station in Winnipeg. One application had been submitted by Western Manitoba Broadcasters Ltd., the parent company of CKX-TV in Brandon. The other application had been received from Continental Communications Ltd. of Vancouver, represented by Ray Peters, the president of Vancouver CTV affiliate CHAN-TV.

Subsequently, Peter Liba, who was then the executive assistant to Manitoba Liberal Party leader Izzy Asper, spotted the advertisement from the CRTC soliciting competing applications for the new Winnipeg television licence. Liba suggested that he and Asper make a bid. Wanting to save money on buying the needed equipment, Asper decided to use KCND's assets to build his planned station. Asper flew to Texas and back many times over the next few months to convince KCND's owner, Gordon McLendon, to sell the station's assets. He finally convinced McLendon that a new Winnipeg station would likely hurt KCND, since Winnipeg advertisers would probably no longer be allowed to deduct their American advertising costs from their taxes for much longer.

McLendon sold the station's facilities and equipment to Canwest Broadcasting, established by Asper and partners Paul Morton and Seymour Epstein, for $780,000, contingent on Canwest securing a broadcasting licence. At the CRTC's public hearings in Winnipeg in May 1974, Canwest noted that the acquisition of KCND would give their new Winnipeg station a $2 million advertising base and would save $1.5 million in capital and start-up costs compared to the alternative of launching a completely new station.

At the same hearing, competing applications were presented by Communications Winnipeg Co-Op, which proposed a member-supported non-commercial station, and Western Manitoba Broadcasters Ltd. which, like Canwest, proposed an independent commercial station. (Continental Communications had withdrawn its application prior to the public hearings.) John Boler, the owner of Valley City-Fargo, North Dakota CBS affiliate KXJB-TV and future owner of KVRR/KNRR, also used the occasion to announce his intention to launch a new Pembina-based station on channel 12.

In September 1974, the CRTC awarded the Winnipeg channel 9 licence to Canwest, which formally took possession and assumed day-to-day management of KCND-TV on March 31, 1975 (due to foreign ownership restrictions, the McLendon Corporation remained the official licensee of KCND until it surrendered the station's broadcasting licence to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission later that same year). The same month, Canwest confirmed that the new station would operate from a former supermarket at 603 St. Mary's Road in Winnipeg and use an antenna mounted on the CBWT tower in Starbuck to avoid having to dismantle KCND's tower during the transition. In May 1975, Canwest announced that KCND's 17 Winnipeg-based employees had all accepted offers of employment at the new station, but that there was little interest among the station's 22 Pembina-based employees.

During Labour Day weekend, on August 31, 1975, CKND signed on channel 9 (broadcast) and channel 12 (cable), both shown prominently in the station's logo. Both CKND and KCND simulcasted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon until 5:30 p.m. on September 1, 1975, after which KCND permanently left the air.

The former KCND tower was later moved to Minnedosa, a small town 46 kilometres (29 mi) north of Brandon, to serve western Manitoba. Together, the two transmitters reach 91% of Manitoba's population. CKND's first program that night was Introducing CKND at 9 p.m., followed by the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon at 9:30 p.m. Its first regularly scheduled program following the telethon was The Hollywood Squares at 5:30 p.m.

In 1981, KCND became the call letters for KCND-FM, the first Prairie Public Radio (now North Dakota Public Radio) station in Bismarck, North Dakota. The same year, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission issued a construction permit for a new station to serve Pembina, North Dakota on channel 12. The station's launch, however, would remain delayed until 1986.

On January 1, 1986, channel 12 returned in Pembina, North Dakota, as KNRR, a satellite of independent station KVRR (channel 15) in Fargo. Canadian cable providers were prohibited from distributing the signal, however, by an October 1986 CRTC decision in response to broadcaster concerns about the "potentially damaging effect of this station by providing Canadian advertisers with access to large amounts of commercial airtime at rates substantially lower than those they would be obliged to pay Canadian television licensees in order to reach the same potential audience." As the satellite station was never profitable due to its location, as well as its difficulties in being able to reach the Winnipeg audience, KNRR went off the air from June to October 2009 as the station did not upgrade to a digital signal.

Along with the other Canwest-owned stations, CKND was rebranded as Global in the fall of 1997. CKND's studios also produced Fox Soccer Report, which aired throughout the world on Fox Sports World Canada, Fox Soccer Channel, and Fox Sports Middle East. On September 1, 2008, CKND moved its operations downtown to Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage) .

News operation

CKND-DT presently broadcasts 24½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 4½ hours on weekdays, and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). On November 14, 2009, the station introduced a weekend evening 10 p.m. newscast. In December 2009, longtime anchor Eva Kovacs announced that she would be leaving CKND after nearly twelve years with the station, to work for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority in 2010. Her last day was December 18, 2009 and Shannon Martin was named as her replacement. Her departure came only a few months after lead weather anchor Andrea Slobodian and reporter Meera Bahadoosingh left for Shaw TV Calgary and Winnipeg respectively, and nightwatch reporter/anchor Trina Maus left for CKVR-TV in Barrie, Ontario.

The spring and summer of 2011 brought a few high-profile departures to the station; first weekend anchor and reporter Nicole Dube left to become the Manitoba correspondent for Sun News Network. Next Dube's replacement; Lindsay Warner left the station to become the late night anchor at CKY-DT, lead weather anchor Craig Larkins left for CFRN-DT Edmonton in July, and in late August it was announced that senior anchor Shannon Martin would also be leaving to pursue her career in Ontario. Her last broadcast was September 2, 2011. That same month, it was announced that Kate Gajdosik would be the new weather/community anchor, joining the station from CIVT-DT Vancouver; she made her debut on September 12, 2011.

On September 7, 2011, it was announced that Shaw Media would be continuing its expansion of political programming, Global News will be launching provincial half-hour political programs in several markets. Similar in format to Global Toronto’s Focus Ontario and Global Montreal’s Focus Montreal, these new political programs launched in Saskatchewan on CFRE-DT and CFSK-DT, as well as CKND, on October 15, 2011. In late 2011, Global Winnipeg became the first television station in Manitoba to broadcast its local news in high definition.

On February 6, 2012, CKND launched a three-hour weekday morning newscast, airing from 6-9 a.m. Around the same time, CKND also acquired a news helicopter; Skyview 1, becoming the first television station in Winnipeg to operate a helicopter for breaking news and traffic reporting. On August 20, 2012, CKND expanded its half-hour 10pm newscast to one hour, which was retitled from Prime News to News Hour Final, cancelling their 30-minute 11pm newscast, News Final.

Global Winnipeg's supper-time newscast ranks third in the Winnipeg TV market. As of spring 2016, Global News at 6 averaged 31,800 viewers (a drop from 32,500 in fall 2015) to CTV Winnipeg's 103,900 and CBC Winnipeg's 39,800. As of fall 2015, Global's late-night News Hour Final, ranks first with 17,200 viewers to CTV Winnipeg's 15,200, a significant drop from Global Winnipeg's 27,400 viewers in fall 2014.

Starting April 11, 2016, Global Winnipeg rebranded its news programs. All of their news programs received new names; Morning News to Global News Morning, Evening News to Global News at 6, and News Hour Final (News Final) to Global News at 10.

Current local news programs

Former local news programs

Notable former on-air staff

Analogue-to-digital conversion

On December 16, 2010, CKND-TV commenced broadcasting of its digital signal on channel 40 from Canwest Place (now named 201 Portage). CKND shut down its analog signal on August 28, 2011, three days before most Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets were required to transition from analogue to digital broadcasts, CKND-TV's digital signal remained on UHF channel 40. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display CKND-TV's virtual channel as 9.1.