KCND-TV
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Pembina, North Dakota/ Winnipeg, Manitoba United States/Canada |
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| City | Pembina, North Dakota |
| Slogan | "Your Good Neighbor Station" ("Serving Manitoba, Minnesota and North Dakota") |
| Channels | Analog: 12 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | defunct (off the air on September 1, 1975) |
| Owner | Community Radio Corp. (1960–1962) Pembina Broadcasting Co., a division of Polaris Corp. (1962–1966) McLendon Corporation (1966–1975) |
| Founded | November 7, 1960 |
| Last air date | September 1, 1975 |
| Call letters' meaning |
K Canada and North Dakota (Pembina is located near the Canada–US border) |
| Former affiliations |
ABC (secondary, 1960–1975) NBC (secondary, 1960–1967) |
| Transmitter power | 288 kW video, 43.6 kW audio (1975) |
| Height | 426.7 m |
| Transmitter coordinates | 48°59′44″N 97°24′28″W / 48.99556°N 97.40778°W |
KCND-TV was a television station which broadcast from Pembina, North Dakota, USA from 1960 to 1975, targeting the Winnipeg, Canada market some 60 miles (100 kilometres) to the north. It was the forerunner of CKND-DT in Winnipeg, which remains in operation.
KCND was established by the Community Radio Corporation, the parent company of KNOX-TV and KNOX AM in Grand Forks, N.D., after being granted a construction permit by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in July 1956. The station's plans were publicly announced in early 1959, and KCND signed on November 7, 1960 on channel 12. The station's studios and master control system were located in Pembina, with Canadian sales and production facilities being located at 2031 Portage Avenue in Winnipeg.
Startup preparations for the station began in March 1959, at an estimated cost of $150,000 according to Community Radio Corporation partner Robert Lukkason. The station was initially expected to be a semi-satellite of KNOX-TV in Grand Forks (now defunct), but would have its own studios.
KCND's original construction permit was based on plans to operate from a 310-foot (94-metre) tower with a power of 21,000 watts. However, this plan changed and one of the tallest broadcast towers in North America was constructed—1,450 feet—100 feet short of the height of the Empire State Building in New York City. The tower was located seven miles west of Pembina and less than a half-mile south of the Canada/U.S. border. The station initially operated at a power of 220,000 watts, later increasing power to 288,000 watts.
According to the 1960 U.S. census, the population of Pembina the year KCND went on the air was a mere 625 people, making Pembina one of the smallest non-suburban municipalities in the U.S. to have its own TV station.
KCND operated as a semi-independent station. It was affiliated with both NBC and ABC for periods, but was not compensated by the networks due to the station's insignificant U.S. audience and thus never showed all of either network's schedule. It carried NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson until Sept. 2, 1966, shortly before WDAZ-TV Devils Lake-Grand Forks signed on as a full-time NBC affiliate, with a signal that overlapped with much of KCND's U.S. viewing area.
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