frequency previously occupied by KCND-TV, a station formerly owned by Gordon McLendon. In September 1975, Izzy Asper acquired the station and relocated it to Winnipeg, relaunching as CKND-TV on VHF channel 9 (now an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network). Ten years later, in 1986, channel 12 returned to the air, as KVRR semi-satellite, KNRR. The coverage area of KNRR's analog signal included Winnipeg, which has almost double the population of KVRR's entire primary service area in North Dakota and western Minnesota. However, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) barred Winnipeg-area cable systems from carrying KNRR due to concerns that local advertisers would purchase time on KNRR rather than on television stations in the Winnipeg market. As a result, Shaw Cable systems in the Winnipeg area carry Rochester, New York affiliate WUHF as the Fox station available in the market, while MTS TV carries Fox's owned-and-operated station in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, KMSP-TV. Even during the analog television era, when the northern fringe of KNRR's grade B signal contour encompassed Winnipeg, KNRR was all but impossible to receive in the River Heights and North End neighborhoods of the city, and was also subject to interference from hydro lines and telephone relay stations. Over time, KNRR's transmitter degraded and was not replaced, further reducing the signal quality. KNRR shut down its signal on June 12, 2009, when the digital television transition took place. KNRR had not installed a digital transmitter, and its post-transition digital allotment on UHF channel 15 had already been reassigned to PBS member station KGFE as that station's post-transition allocation. Although it easily could have ceased operations permanently, the station's digital signal resumed operation in late October 2009, albeit operating at a very low power. Although it can be received in several rural counties in North Dakota and Minnesota, the station's largest potential audience lies in the urban centers of southern Manitoba, including Altona, Morden and Winkler, and fringe coverage of Winnipeg. Programming Syndicated programming Syndicated programs broadcast on KVRR include The Big Bang Theory, Divorce Court, Family Feud, and The People's Court, among others. News operation KVRR presently broadcasts 9½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 1½ hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). As with most programming, the station's newscasts are simulcast on satellite stations KJRR, KBRR and KNRR, with separate Grand Forks area commercials occasionally inserted on KBRR/KNRR. KVRR