SOUTH DAKOTA:
JF Broadcasting, the owner of KWSD/36.1 (Sioux Falls), will pay a $17,500 civil penalty as part of a consent decree settling allegations of late public file documents and incorrect statments on an application. The station allegedly failed to place required issues/program lists and reports on children's programming commercial time in its public file in a timely fashion for several years beginning in 2007. It then asserted that the filings had been made on its 2013 license renewal application. The consent decree will terminate the investigation, and the FCC has agreed to a two-year license renewal for KWSD.
KWSD had past affiliations with PAX TV, The WB, The CW, and Me-TV, but had been silent for much of the past two years due to transmitter problems. It returned to the air as an independent in November. No program listings are available online, but its most recent public file reports list Shepherd's Chapel Family Bible Study, Wild America, children's programming, and reruns of a 1950's cooking show. KWSD is licensed for 36.9kW but has applied to increase to 1,000kW. (1/31/2018)
IOWA:
KCRG-TV reports that a Monday night car crash killed longtime eastern Iowa radio station owner Rob Norton, along with another driver, 28-year-old Jennifer Koenighain of Cedar Rapids. Norton, a 69-year-old Iowa City resident, was the president of KZIA, Inc. and owned 30 percent of the company. KZIA owns KZIA/102.9 (Cedar Rapids), KGYM/1600 (Cedar Rapids), and four translators in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City that relay HD subchannels from KZIA. KZIA-HD2 and two of the translators carry a broad Classic Rock format called "Rob FM," named for Norton and harkening back to the music played on KRNA/93.9 (Iowa City) when Norton and Eliot Keller founded it in the 1970's. Services had not been announced as of Tuesday evening. (1/30/2018)
NEBRASKA/IOWA:
A second effort to establish a station on 107.7 in the Omaha market has apparently ended with the station returning to southeastern Nebraska. Last month, the FCC granted a license to cover for the Educational Media Foundation's KIMI/107.9 (Humboldt, NE). Previous owner Kona Coast Radio had attempted to move KIMI into the Omaha market, transmitting on 107.7 from a tower near Tabor, IA. However, complaints of interference to airplane navigation communications on an adjacent frequency at Offutt Air Force Base prevented KIMI's license from ever being granted. The station had special temporary authority to operate at reduced power from the Tabor site for several years. EMF has not applied for any new KIMI facility since the license to cover the Humboldt facility was granted on Dec. 28. Longtime readers will recall that before KIMI, Connoisseur Media attempted to activate KGGG/107.7 (Pacific Junction-Omaha) in the mid-2000's but was refunded its $4,397,250 FCC auction bid after similar complaints from Offutt. (KIMI and KGGG are not related to a translator that previously transmitted on 107.7 in Omaha.) (1/29/2018)
IOWA/MINNESOTA:
Several unrelated DTV subchannel announcements and updates:
Minneapolis: Tegna's KARE is adding Quest on channel 11.4. The adventure channel, which is a partnership of Tegna and Cooper Media, officially launches nationally on Monday (1/29) and has been showing a promo loop for a couple of weeks.
Rochester/Mason City: Tribune Broadcasting announced that Heartland Media's KIMT (Mason City-Rochester) will add Antenna TV. A post on the network's Facebook page said the addition will come in about 90 days, but Antenna TV's channel number on KIMT was not announced. KIMT currently carries CBS on 3.1, MyNetworkTV and syndicated programming on 3.2, and ION on 3.3.
Ottumwa: As previously reported, American Spirit Media's KYOU-TV added NBC on channel 15.2 on Jan. 24. Grit moved to 15.3 and Escape moved to 15.4, which is an update from KYOU's initial Facebook statement saying that Escape would be dropped. The new NBC channel does not carry local newscasts, instead filling traditional evening news timeslots with syndicated news/entertainment magazine shows. (1/28/2018)
NEW FM TRANSLATORS GRANTED (1/22-1/26):
The FCC has granted the following applications for new FM translators filed under last year's AM revitalization window:
The full list of applications is posted on the 2017 AM Revitalization Translator Applications page. (1/27/2018)
WISCONSIN:
Big Radio's WGEZ/1490 (Beloit) has gone off the air due to transmitter failure. The station tells the FCC in a notification of suspension of operations that the transmitter failed on Jan. 20, and WGEZ will remain silent pending an investigation and equipment repair or replacement. WGEZ's Classic Country format continues on W270CW/101.9 (Beloit), which is seeking special temporary authority to continue carrying WGEZ's programming while WGEZ itself is off the air. (1/25/2018)
IOWA:
A southern Iowa station owner is appealing the FCC's decision to revoke his license.
In December, the FCC's Audio Division sent Justin McLuckie a letter informing him that his license for KMYQ/97.1 (North English) was considered expired because McLuckie had allegedly failed to prove that KMYQ was on the air between 2013 and 2016. The FCC's inquiry stemmed from an effort to return KMYQ to the air in late September and to sell it to a company related to the Oskaloosa radio stations.
Now, McLuckie's counsel has filed a petition for reconsideration alleging that the FCC did not give McLuckie due process or adequate time to present evidence.
The petition includes a declaration from an engineer saying that he had been providing services for KMYQ for about four years and though the station did have periods of silence, it was never off the air for more than one year during his involvement. It also contains an affadavit from the owner of a grain elevator saying that, "to the best of my knowledge and belief, KMYQ-FM commenced broadcasting from my facility in April of 2013 and did so until the equipment was removed several years later."
The petition also includes copies of numerous receipts resulting from the 2017 work to return the station to the air, including $25,000 for a tower, $5,557.93 for an antenna, and $29.94 for two dozen tacos to feed the construction crew.
McLuckie's counsel also filed a motion for stay requesting that the license revocation be put on hold while the petition is considered. (1/22/2018)
NEW FM TRANSLATORS GRANTED (1/16-1/19):
The FCC has granted the following applications for new FM translators filed under last year's AM revitalization window:
The full list of applications is posted on the 2017 AM Revitalization Translator Applications page. (1/20/2018)
MINNESOTA:
Twin Ports Radio LLC has signed on new FM translator W265DO/100.9 (Duluth), relaying NBC Sports Radio from KJOQ/1490. The 250-Watt translator received final approval Wednesday (1/17) and was on the air within a day. Twin Ports Radio, owned by Dan and Alana Hatfield, bought KJOQ and "92-1 The Fan" (WWAX Hermantown-Duluth) as part of the Red Rock Radio selloff last year. W265DO is the seventh FM translator to sign on in Duluth and the fifth to relay an AM station. (1/18/2018)
FM TRANSLATOR AUCTION SET:
Some applications for FM translators that have been gathering dust at the FCC for 15 years may finally be sorted out this spring. A June 21 auction has been set for competing applications that were filed in a 2003 window and never resolved. In the Upper Midwest, the competing applications are in Dubuque ($750 minimum opening bid); Gladstone, MI ($750); Menominee, MI ($1,500); La Crosse ($2,500); and Oshkosh ($3,500). (Here's the full national list.) Only those groups which applied in the 2003 window are eligible to participate, and it's not clear whether all are still interested -- some associated with the original filings have since passed away. FM translators are much more in demand now than they were in 2003 since they can now be used to relay AM and HD2 signals, though AM station owners have had several opportunities to procure translators in the past two years. (1/17/2018)
IOWA:
For the first time in television history, Ottumwa will finally have a full set of network affiliates with the launch of the market's first primary NBC channel. American Spirit Media's KYOU-TV has announced that it will begin carrying NBC on channel 15.2 sometime around Jan. 24, just in time for the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. NBC will be carried in HD, joining FOX on channel 15.1 (KYOU has been a FOX affiliate since its 1986 sign-on). Grit will move from 15.2 to 15.3 and Escape, currently on 15.3, will be dropped, according to the station's replies to comments on its Facebook page. KYOU will continue to carry a 9 p.m. newscast on its FOX channel and there was no mention of any local newscasts being carried on the NBC channel.
NBC has never had a primary affiliate in the Ottumwa-Kirksville area. KTVO/3 (Kirksville), which is the only other station in the market, had a secondary NBC affiliation in its first few decades on the air but dropped it in the 1970's. (It's now owned by Sinclair and carries ABC on 3.1 and CBS on 3.2.) Other NBC affiliates are too far away to be received over the air in Ottumwa, though NBC affiliate WHO-TV (Des Moines) was carried on the Ottumwa Area Translator System until the system left the air more than four years ago. Cable and satellite systems in the market carry either the Des Moines or Kansas City NBC affiliates; there was no initial mention of cable and satellite availability of KYOU's new NBC channel, though KYOU-DT2 is currently seen on Mediacom channel 103 in Ottumwa. (1/14/2018)
NEW FM TRANSLATORS GRANTED (1/8-1/12):
The FCC has granted the following applications for new FM translators filed under last year's AM revitalization window:
The full list of applications is posted on the 2017 AM Revitalization Translator Applications page. (1/13/2018)
WISCONSIN:
Sinclair Broadcast Group has opted to return the license for "My24" WCGV/24.1 (Milwaukee) following the spectrum auction.
Sinclair sold WCGV's spectrum on RF channel 25 in the auction for $84,317,523 and had originally indicated that it would retain WCGV's license by channel-sharing with sister CW affiliate WVTV/18. However, following this week's shutdown of the WCGV transmitter, Sinclair filed a cancellation application with the FCC, which was quickly granted. The move comes as Sinclair seeks approval to buy Tribune Broadcasting, which owns FOX 6 (WITI), and surrendering WCGV's license could help alleviate some regulatory concerns.
Returning WCGV's license means a loss of must-carry rights for its "My24" programming and presumably also means Sinclair will eventually have to stop using virtual channel 24.1. For now, the station's website indicates "My24" is being seen on virtual channels 18.2 and 24.1, both originating from WVTV's transmitter.
WCGV had been on the air since 1980 and became the market's first FOX affiliate in 1987, switching to UPN in 1995 after FOX went to WITI/6 and then to MyNetworkTV in 2006 when UPN ended its run.
Three other Milwaukee-market stations that surrendered their bandwidth in the auction have kept their licenses and continue to offer programming through channel-sharing agreements. (1/10/2018)
MINNESOTA:
CBS has returned the license of KCCO-TV/7 (Alexandria) following its shutdown last month. CBS sold the VHF bandwidth of KCCO, which was a satellite of WCCO-TV (Minneapolis), in the spectrum auction for $9,987,598 and the station left the air Dec. 30. WCCO has been added to a translator system in Alexandria, but KCCO's shutdown leaves some rural areas of western Minnesota without over-the-air access to CBS, joining NBC and FOX. The region is served by full-power ABC affiliate KSAX/42.1 (Alexandria) and PBS station KWCM/10.1 (Appleton). (1/10/2018)
MINNESOTA:
A company with ties to other southern Minnesota stations is buying Fairmont's longtime AM-FM combo, KSUM/1370 and KFMC/106.5. City of Lakes Media is buying the stations from Charles V. Woodward's Woodward Broadcasting for $800,000. Documents filed with the FCC indicate the deal also includes non-compete and consulting agreements for Woodward, who has owned the stations for several decades. 1kW KFMC carries a Farm/Country format and 100kW KFMC carries Classic Rock. City of Lakes Media is headed by Matt Ketelsen of Lakeville, who owns 25 percent of the company. Other owners include Lynn Ketelsen of Owatonna (25%), David Legault of West Concord (25%), and The JRL Revocable Trust of 2015 (25%). The Ketelsens and the Trust also hold interests in 18 other radio stations in southern Minnesota, including two in St. James and five in the Mankato market. An engineering statement shows that the combination complies with ownership caps. (1/8/2018)
NEW FM TRANSLATORS GRANTED (12/29-1/5):
The FCC has begun granting applications for new FM translators filed under last year's AM revitalization window. It appears tiny KTGO/1090 (Tioga, ND) was the first station in the nation to be granted an FM translator under this round -- a construction permit for K224FJ/92.7 (Tioga) was granted on Dec. 29. It appears no other applications from the window were approved until the new year.
Here are applications that had been granted as of Friday, Jan. 5:
The full list of applications is posted on the 2017 AM Revitalization Translator Applications page. (1/4/2018, updated 1/5)
MINNESOTA:
KFIL/1060 (Preston) has gone off the air due to transmitter problems. The station, a 1kW daytimer, tells the FCC that its transmitter failed on Dec. 2 and that replacement parts are on order. KFIL is owned by Townsquare Media and was last known to simulcast the "True Country" format of KFIL-FM/103.1 (Chatfield-Preston), occasionally breaking away for some syndicated talk shows. (1/2/2018)
SOUTH DAKOTA:
A retransmission consent dispute took NBC affiliate KNBN/21 (Rapid City) off DirecTV as of Jan. 1. KNBN is owned by Rapid Broadcasting and is the only locally-owned station in the Black Hills, as well as one of the last locally-owned network affiliates in the country. The Rapid City market covers the western third of South Dakota as well as parts of Wyoming and Montana. (1/2/2018)
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