March 2001

NORTH DAKOTA:
Cardinal Broadcasting's construction permit for a new station on channel 27 in Grand Forks has been given the call letters KCPM. The 5,000-Kilowatt station plans to transmit from KXJB/4's tower, so it will also serve the Fargo-Moorhead area. (3/24/01)

MINNESOTA:
WWTC/1280 (Minneapolis) is now carrying a conservative News/Talk format called "The Patriot." The format began Monday morning at 8. (3/19/01)

IOWA:
MS Communications is buying K55GS (Ottumwa) from Mark Silberman. (3/18/01)

IOWA/NEBRASKA:
Construction permits have been issued for KBIN-DT/33 (Council Bluffs, IA) and KXVO-DT/38 (Omaha, NE). (3/18/01)

MINNESOTA:
Jazz 88 (KBEM/88.5 Minneapolis) is now carrying BBC's hourly newscasts. (3/18/01)

MINNESOTA:
WNCB translator K215DU/90.9 (Hutchinson) is on the air. Meanwhile, WNCB translator K202CH/88.3 (Glencoe) has moved to 88.7 as K204DS. The station's power and antenna height remain the same. (3/18/01)

NEBRASKA:
Southeast Community College's KQIQ/88.3 (Beatrice) is on the air. (3/18/01)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Construction permits have been issued for KDLV-DT/26 (Mitchell) and KBHE-DT/26 (Rapid City). (3/18/01)

WISCONSIN:
110-Watt WAUH/102.3 (Wautoma) has been on the air for a month or two with an unknown format. (3/18/01)

WISCONSIN:
The FCC has dissmissed facility change applications from Marathon Media's WRLO/105.3 (Antigo) and WACD/106.1 (Antigo). WRLO had applied for a higher antenna from a different site, and WACD had applied for a higher power and a higher antenna with directional pattern from a different site. (3/18/01)

WISCONSIN:
Evangel Ministries is purchasing the construction permit for WYNW/92.9 (Birnamwood) from Results Broadcasting. (3/18/01)

MINNESOTA:
WWTC/1280 (Minneapolis) hasn't unveiled its new format after all. The Oldies ran through Saturday, and Sunday, the station is playing patriotic music with occassional announcements that a new format is coming Monday morning at 8. The question is how effective the stunting will be for an AM station that hasn't even shown up in the ratings book in years. (3/18/01)

MINNESOTA:
WBHR/660 (Sauk Rapids-St. Cloud) is expected to drop Radio Disney for FOX Sports Radio on Monday, March 19. (3/18/01)

MINNESOTA:
WWTC/1280 (Minneapolis) began a new locally-originated Oldies format at Noon Friday (3/16) after a half-hour conversation with Jeff Lonto, the author of the book "Fiasco at 1280," which, as you probably guessed, is about WWTC's many formats over the years. The station's studio is now located in Salem Communications' broadcast complex on Cliff Road in Eagan along with KKMS/980 and KYCR/1570. WWTC had been rebroadcasting KKMS for about a month while the new studio was built. WWTC has had a number of formats in the last several years: It was the flagship of "Aahs World Radio" until the network ceased operations in January 1998. The station then ran a broad mix of music and talk until the Catholic Radio Network completed purchase of the station and launched their network in January 1999. Catholic Radio Network shut down in 2000, and Salem then purchased the station. (3/17/01)

WISCONSIN:
Clear Channel's WMEQ-FM/92.1 (Menomonie-Eau Claire) has transitioned from Classic Rock to Hard Rock as "Rock 92.1". It's the only Hard Rock station in the market. The change could turn out to be a big break for WISM/98.1, the remaining Classic Rock station. (3/17/01)

IOWA/MINNESOTA/NEBRASKA/SOUTH DAKOTA:
Construction permits were recently issued for KCCI-DT/31 (Des Moines), KRWF-DT/27 (Redwood Falls), KPXM-DT/40 (St. Cloud-Minneapolis), WOWT-DT/22 (Omaha), and KTTM-DT/22 (Huron). (3/16/01)

MINNESOTA:
Rumors say WWTC/1280 (Minneapolis) will debut its new format at 11:30 a.m. Friday. Will there be an Elvis sighting? (3/16/01)

MINNESOTA:
Billy Reisen is leaving The Point 107.7 (Duluth) for a job in the Twin Cities. T&R's to fill the morning position at The Point should be sent to Tom Bishop at Northland Broadcasting. (3/15/01)

NEBRASKA:
Learfield Communications has launched the Nebraska Radio Network, which features news and sportscasts in the morning Monday through Friday. Four state newscasts, four state/national newscasts, and two sportscasts are offered. Learfield has similar networks in Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and also serves Nebraska with the Brownfield Network, which offers farm programming to states in the midwest. (3/14/01)

MINNESOTA:
KDDG/105.5 (Albany-St. Cloud) has dropped its satellite Modern Rock format called "The Edge" in favor of a satellite Oldies format. The St. Cloud market had been without an Oldies station since KMXK/94.9 flipped to Hot AC about a year ago, though KOOL 108 has a signal into St. Cloud of about the same strength as KDDG. This is the fifth format change for the station, which has been on the air for five years. (3/13/01)

IOWA:
American Family Association's KBDC/88.5 (Mason City) is on the air carrying AFA's American Family Radio. The station apparently signed on in February. It was originally granted as a 3kW station, but the station is currently operating at only 1.8kW because that's all the transmitter being used can kick out. The station has applied for a power increase to 66kW. (3/13/01)

MINNESOTA:
"Zone 105" has dropped its Alternative format in favor of Rhythmic Oldies as "V105". The change occurred Thursday 3/8 and marks the end of ABC/Disney's "Wall of Rock", which was they way they referred to their combo of FM stations, KQRS, 93X, and Zone 105. V105 is running a promo telling those looking for alternative music that it can be found on 93X, which actually airs an Active Rock format, but "active rock" and "alternative" have become very similar in recent years. "V105" is a trimulcast of 6kW KZNR/105.1 (Lakeville), 25kW KZNT/105.3 (Cambridge), and 6kW KZNZ/105.7 (Eden Prairie). (3/8/01)

WISCONSIN:
WGMO/95.3 (Shell Lake-Rice Lake) has replaced its local morning show with the syndicated Steve and DC show. (3/8/01)

MINNESOTA:
Liz Brummond is the latest addition to FOX29's news team. She last worked at St. Paul-based All News Channel and also worked at KDLH/3 (Duluth) in the mid-`90s. (3/6/01)

MINNESOTA:
The construction permit for 101.5 Mahnomen has been assigned the call letters KRJM. The owner of the station, R&J Broadcasting, also owns KRJB/106.3 (Ada). (3/6/01)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
The FCC has changed the DTV channels for two stations owned by Duhamel Broadcasting. The DTV channel for KOTA-TV/3 (Rapid City) has been changed from 22 to 2 and the DTV channel for KHSD/11 (Lead) has been changed from 30 to 10. Duhamel asked for the changes so that new towers would not have to be constructed for the UHF facilities. (3/6/01)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
The FCC also recently changed the DTV channel for KAUN/36 (Sioux Falls) from 40 to 51. KAUN asked for the change to prevent interference to a DTV allotment for channel 41 at Sioux City, IA. (3/6/01)

WISCONSIN:
The FCC has also changed the DTV channel for WKBT/8 (La Crosse) has been changed from 53 to 41 so WKBT-DT will be an "in-core channel" after the DTV transition is complete. (3/6/01)

WISCONSIN:
WZER/540 (Jackson-Milwaukee) has changed back to its former call letters, WYLO, following the station's sale to Salem Communications. (3/6/01)

MINNESOTA:
FOX29 (WFTC) plans to debut news broadcasts at the beginning of April. "FOX29 News@Nine" will air from 9-10 p.m. Monday-Friday. Staff includes news director Jon Fischer, co-anchors Chris Conangla and Jordanna Green, chief meteoroligist Karl Spring, and sports director John Henk. Conangla is a former KSTP-TV anchor, and Spring and Henk are originally from Minnesota. Until the launch, WFTC is the largest market FOX affiliate without a news department, and this will be the first time a commercial TV news operation has started up in the market in more than 30 years. Minneapolis will be one of only a few markets in the country with three local newscasts in the last hour of prime time. KMSP/UPN9 has been doing news in the 9:00 hour since becoming an independent station more than 20 years ago, and KSTC/45 began a 9:00 newscast last fall. (3/3/01)

MINNESOTA:
WWTC/1280 (Minneapolis) has been rebroadcasting its new sister station, KKMS/980, since February 16 while a studio for WWTC is constructed at KKMS' facility on Cliff Road in Eagan. Salem Communications, which already owned KKMS and KYCR/1570, recently purchased WWTC from the Catholic Radio Network. (3/3/01)