WDIO

Local Television Broadcastingwdio.com

WDIO is a local ABC-affiliated broadcast TV station and digital news platform (wdio.com) owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, serving the Duluth-Superior Northland region of Minnesota and Wisconsin with news, weather, sports, and community programming since 1965.

Company typePrivate
Founded1965
HeadquartersDuluth, United States
Headcount51–100
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What WDIO does

WDIO operates WDIO-TV, a local broadcast television station and affiliated digital news platform (wdio.com) serving the Northland region of Northern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin, including Duluth and Superior. Founded in 1965 and now in its 60th year of operation, WDIO is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting Company through its subsidiary WDIO-TV, LLC, and functions as an ABC network affiliate. Its core product portfolio consists of the WDIO News website, Storm Track Weather (interactive radar, 7-day forecasts, live weather cams, severe weather alerts), WDIO Sports (high school, NHL development, regional athletics), lifestyle programming "The Lift," morning show "Good Morning Northland," and on-demand livestream including ABC News Live integration. Underlying technology is conventional over-the-air broadcast plus a digital CMS, livestream pipeline, and newsletter/email infrastructure; no proprietary AI/ML, APIs, or mobile apps are disclosed.

The business model is advertising-supported and free to the viewer across both broadcast and digital channels. Revenue is generated through traditional spot advertising on WDIO-TV and targeted digital advertising on wdio.com, with third-party partners (Microsoft Advertising, Raptive) handling programmatic placement and Nielsen providing audience measurement. WDIO has 51-100 employees, no public pricing, no subscription product, and serves a single regional market. The company has a wholly owned subsidiary, WIRT-DT, and operates within Hubbard Broadcasting's broader television group that includes KSTP, KSTC, KAAL, KOB, WNYT, and WHEC. Strategic positioning emphasizes hyperlocal news, severe-weather public safety, high school sports, and community programming (e.g., Grandma's Marathon, "Ready to Work"), with brand recognition built over six decades.

WDIO firmographics

Firmographics

Name: WDIO
Legal name: WDIO-TV, LLC
Website: https://wdio.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1965
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 51–100 employees
Short description: WDIO is a local ABC-affiliated broadcast TV station and digital news platform (wdio.com) owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, serving the Duluth-Superior Northland region of Minnesota and Wisconsin with news, weather, sports, and community programming since 1965.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Where WDIO is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Duluth
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

WDIO business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Advertising Revenue: Revenue generated through advertising on broadcast television and digital platforms, including targeted advertising partnerships

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

WDIO product offering

Product offering

Core offering

WDIO is a local ABC-affiliated television station (WDIO-TV) and digital news platform serving the Northland region of Northern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. It delivers local news, Storm Track Weather forecasts, sports coverage, and lifestyle/community programming through over-the-air broadcast, its wdio.com website, and live streaming services. Content is provided free to viewers and supported by advertising revenue.

Product overview

WDIO is a local television news station (WDIO-TV) and digital news platform serving the Northland region of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The company operates as a single unified news media offering through its broadcast television station and website (wdio.com). The core product portfolio includes the main news website delivering local, national, and world news; Storm Track Weather for weather forecasting; WDIO Sports for athletic coverage; The Lift as a lifestyle/entertainment program; Good Morning Northland as a morning news show; and live streaming capabilities. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting Company and operates as an ABC affiliate.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Storm Track Weather: Weather forecasting brand providing local and regional weather coverage
The Lift
Good Morning Northland

Products and services

WDIO News Website

Quantifiable outcome

Comprehensive local coverage spanning news, weather, sports, and community programming

Companies that use WDIO

Customer profile

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

WDIO technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

WDIO partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

Hubbard Broadcasting CompanycoreOthersWDIO-TV, LLC is owned and operated by Hubbard Broadcasting Company, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. The station operates as part of the Hubbard Television Group which includes KSTP-TV, KSTC-TV, WDIO-TV, KAAL-TV, KOB-TV, WNYT-TV, and WHEC-TV.
ABC NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWDIO operates as an ABC affiliate, broadcasting ABC News Live content and local programming alongside national ABC network content
Microsoft AdvertisingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMicrosoft Advertising partnership for delivering personalized advertising on the WDIO platform and other websites
RaptiveminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRaptive (CMI Marketing, Inc.) handles advertising placement on the WDIO platform and collects data for advertising purposes

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

WDIO competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Regional players

WLUC-TV: WLUC is an NBC affiliate in Marquette, Michigan, operating a comparable small-market Upper Midwest broadcast news operation with overlapping regional weather and community coverage.

Direct peers

WBAY-TV: WBAY is the CBS/ABC affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin — a similar mid-sized Midwestern TV station with local news, weather, and sports coverage against the same regional advertiser pool.
WEAU-TV: WEAU is the NBC affiliate in the adjacent Eau Claire DMA, operating a comparable small-market broadcast + digital news operation in western Wisconsin with similar scale and content mix.
KBJR (Northern News Now): KBJR is a direct in-market competitor operating as the CBS/FOX affiliate in the Duluth-Superior DMA, competing for the same local news, weather, and sports advertising dollars and audience attention.
WDSE - WRPT (PBS Northland): WDSE is the PBS affiliate serving the same Duluth-Superior Northland region, providing hyperlocal public-media news, weather, and community programming that competes for viewer attention and underwriting dollars.
KAAL-TV (Hubbard Broadcasting): KAAL is another Hubbard-owned ABC affiliate serving Austin/Rochester, Minnesota, operating the same broadcast+digital model as WDIO in a similarly sized Midwestern regional market.

Broad incumbents

TEGNA: TEGNA operates a portfolio of network-affiliated local TV stations across mid-sized U.S. markets, comparable to WDIO's operating model of news-and-weather local affiliate broadcasting.
Gray Television: Gray Television operates a portfolio of mid-market local TV stations with news and digital operations structurally similar to WDIO, serving as a broader-incumbent comparable on station economics and scale.
Sinclair Broadcast Group: Sinclair is one of the largest U.S. local broadcast TV operators, providing a benchmark for group-level capital allocation, ad sales scale, and content syndication across small and mid-market affiliates comparable to WDIO.
KSTP-TV (Hubbard Broadcasting): KSTP is Hubbard Broadcasting's flagship ABC affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul and WDIO's sister station, sharing ownership, back-office systems, and programming — directly comparable in operations if larger in market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

WDIO financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

WDIO leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

WDIO subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries1 record

WDIO funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

WDIO M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WDIO

What does WDIO do?

Is WDIO a public or private company?

WDIO is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.

When was WDIO founded?

WDIO was founded in 1965. It employs 51 to 100 people.

Where is WDIO based?

WDIO is headquartered in Duluth, United States, in the North America region.

How does WDIO make money?

One revenue line is on record: advertising Revenue.

Who are WDIO's main competitors?

WLUC-TV is listed as a regional player. Direct peers are WBAY-TV, WEAU-TV, KBJR (Northern News Now), WDSE - WRPT (PBS Northland) and KAAL-TV (Hubbard Broadcasting). Broad incumbents are TEGNA, Gray Television, Sinclair Broadcast Group and KSTP-TV (Hubbard Broadcasting).

Does WDIO have an API?

No public API is recorded for WDIO.