April 2015

IOWA:
The FCC has cancelled the licenses of two Iowa radio stations that were apparently never on the air for more than seven days during the seven years they were licensed. Randy Michaels' Radioactive, LLC had won KYME/92.9 (Rockford) and KEWS/104.7 (Sac City) in a 2005 auction with bids of $482,000 and $134,000, respectively. KYME had potential to serve Mason City if built to full power and KEWS could've reached Storm Lake or Carroll. The stations received their licenses in 2008 but filed repeated requests for special temporary authority to remain silent, each time stating that the stations had returned to the air for one broadcast day before going silent again due to "inadequate long-term staffing and programming resources." The licensee's attorney recently confirmed to the FCC that the stations had not been on the air since Feb. 4, 2014, meaning their licenses had expired due to a federal law that automatically cancels licenses when stations are silent for one year. (4/29/2015)

NEBRASKA:
Companies headed by radio station owner Michael Flood are buying construction permits for low-power TV stations in Beatrice, Columbus, and Norfolk. Flood Digital Networks, LLC and Flood Communications of Beatrice, LLC will pay EICB-TV East, LLC a combined $150,000 for K21LE-D (Beatrice), K48NV-D (Columbus), and K35KZ-D (Norfolk). Flood's companies own one radio station in the Omaha market, two in Nebraska City, and two in Norfolk. The Nebraska City stations also produce a video newscast seen on a Falls City TV provider. (4/28/2015)

IOWA:
iHeartMedia has launched "96.5 Country" on K243CA/96.5 (Millman-Des Moines) and the HD2 signal of KDRB/100.3 (Des Moines), challenging Cumulus Media's longtime Country duo of "Nash FM 97.3" (KHKI Des Moines) and "92.5 Nash Icon" (KJJY West Des Moines). "96.5 Country" is the first new Country station to launch in the Des Moines area since KHKI adopted the format in 1993. K243CA transmits with 102 Watts from a tower at the WHO-TV building, a few blocks from the iHeartMedia building in downtown Des Moines. The translator is licensed to Millman, which is apparently a forgotten place on the edge of the Des Moines International Airport in the Southwestern Hills neighborhood. (4/27/2015)

WISCONSIN:
QueenB Radio's WGLR/1280 (Lancaster) has gone silent, telling the FCC that "the current economic climate has made it difficult to keep WGLR on the air." WGLR had carried ESPN Radio in a simulcast with QueenB's WPVL/1590 (Platteville), which remains on the air. WGLR is licensed for 500 Watts daytime and 22 Watts nighttime, non-directional. The company also owns three FM stations in the area. (4/27/2015)

ANALOG LPTV DEADLINE DROPPED:
The FCC has dropped a Sept. 1 deadline for low-power TV and translator stations to convert to digital broadcasting. While full-power stations were required to go digital-only in 2009, LPTV/translator stations have been allowed to stay in analog -- though many have switched to digital voluntarily. The FCC said Friday it is dropping the deadline because the impending spectrum auction could force some LPTV/translator stations to make more technical changes or leave the air completely. (Class A stations, which transmit with the same power levels as LPTV but get extra protections in exchange for compliance with many of the same rules as full-power stations, will still have to meet the Sept. 1 deadline.) FCC records indicate there are still about five dozen LPTV/translator stations broadcasting in analog in the Upper Midwest, including many translators carrying big-four networks in rural areas. There are also a few analog LPTV stations in core cities such as a MundoFOX affiliate in Milwaukee and an independent station in Sioux Falls. (4/24/2015)

MINNESOTA:
Townsquare Media is buying an FM translator to use for its WEBC/560 (Duluth). It'll pay Refuge Media Group $55,000 for W293CT/106.5 (Moose Lake), which the asset purchase agreement says will apply for a move to the Duluth antenna farm. The Moose Lake translator is one of the first established by WNCB, now Refuge Radio (WJRF/89.5 Duluth). WEBC, the oldest station in the Northland, carries ESPN Radio and is in a battle with three other all-Sports stations. (4/24/2015)

WISCONSIN:
Bustos Media is buying back WDDW/104.7 (Sturtevant-Milwaukee), paying Adelante Media $1 million for the station. Bustos, which will begin running the station on May 1 through a local marketing agreement, launched WDDW's current Regional Mexican format after its first purchase of the station in 2005. It then sold WDDW and WBWT-LP/38 (Milwaukee) to Adelante in 2010. Adelante recently filed documents to sell WBWT-LP and a low-power TV station in Utah to DTV America for $425,000. WDDW delivers a rimshot signal to Milwaukee with a 4.2kW/103m facility. (4/22/2015)

MINNESOTA:
MPR's Adult Alternative network, "The Current," has expanded to Ely on the HD2 signal of WIRC/89.3 and translator W267BV/101.3. W267BV, formerly on 101.7, had previously carried MPR News but was no longer needed for that network once WIRC signed on in 2011. In its announcement of the change, The Current acknowledged that it's competing with locally-programmed Adult Alternative station WELY-FM/94.5. Ely is the tenth community where The Current is available, benefitting from situations where MPR has ended up with a third signal not needed for its News or Classical services. However, The Current is missing from many larger communities where MPR only has two signals. (4/22/2015)

IOWA/MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
DirecTV customers in ten Midwest markets unexpectedly lost one or more of their local network affiliates Tuesday due to a brief retransmission consent dispute with Quincy Newspapers. The outage began at midnight and ended in mid-afternoon when the two sides reached a new deal, according to posts on Quincy's Facebook page. The brief outage affected ABC affiliates in Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, and Wausau, NBC affiliates in Quincy, Rochester, Rockford, Sioux City, and Waterloo-Cedar Rapids, and FOX affiliates in Quincy, Rochester, and South Bend. Unlike most disputes of this nature, there was no saber-rattling in advance to warn viewers of the impending outage. An article on the Sioux City station's website says even that station's regional vice president was surprised. (4/21/2015)

IOWA:
ABC affiliate KCRG-DT/9 (Cedar Rapids) has returned to DirecTV following a retransmission consent dispute that lasted more than three months. Terms of the new agreement were not released. KCRG had previously said that DirecTV was demanding contract language that would've violated its agreements with ABC and other program providers regarding online streaming. (4/20/2015)

MINNESOTA:
Pioneer Public Televison (KWCM/10 Appleton) is now being carried on DirecTV and DISH Network throughout the Minneapolis TV market, adding an estimated 1.3 million potential new viewers. The addition also helps retain viewers within the station's west-central Minnesota coverage area who use satellite TV.

The move was possible because Appleton is in the Minneapolis market and KWCM can invoke must-carry status, but the station had to provide a signal to the satellite providers' Twin Cities headends since KWCM's signal cannot be received there. Pioneer was already seen on satellite providers across the Sioux Falls market since its other station, KSMN/20 (Worthington), is in the Sioux Falls market. The combination of Minneapolis and Sioux Falls satellite coverage means Pioneer is now reaching about 114 counties in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska via satellite, plus over-the-air coverage of several more counties in northwestern Minnesota.

Pioneer joins Lakeland Public Television (KAWE/9 Bemidji) and Twin Cities Public Television's TPT2 (KTCA/2 St. Paul) and TPT Life (KTCI/2.3 St. Paul) on the Minneapolis market satellite lineup. The stations carry many of the same PBS programs, but KWCM also has locally-produced shows and syndicated agricultural programming not seen on the other stations. (4/20/2015)

MINNESOTA:
DISH Network has added the "My9" subchannel from KBJR/6.2 (Superior-Duluth) to its Duluth-market package. The move is unusual since satellite providers typically opt not to carry subchannels unless they are big-four network affiliates. Both DISH and DirecTV also carry the "CW2" subchannel (KDLH/3.2 Duluth) in the market. KBJR estimates the DISH addition means another 32,000 homes can receive "My9," which carries syndicated programming and local sports. (4/20/2015)

MICHIGAN/WISCONSIN:
Heartland Communications is selling its AM-FM combos in Iron River, MI, and Park Falls, WI, to companies headed by Stephen Marks for $488,000. Stations included in the deal are WPFP/980 and WCQM/98.3 (Park Falls) and WFER/1230 and WIKB-FM/99.1 (Iron River, MI). Both AM stations carry Conservative Talk formats, while the FM's carry Country. Marks also owns the Upper Peninsula's ABC-TV and CW affiliates, three radio stations in Houghton, MI, and three other TV stations and eleven other radio stations, mostly in eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The deal does not include Heartland's group of four radio stations in Ashland, WI, or its AM-FM combo in Eagle River, WI. (4/16/2015, corrected to reflect Iron River as city of license for WFER/WIKB)

NEBRASKA:
The new LAFF digital TV subchannel network launched on Tax Day with affiliates including KLKN/8.4 (Lincoln). The network features sitcoms from the 1990's and movie comedies from the past several decades and is run by Katz Broadcasting, which operates the Grit and Escape subchannels that KLKN also carries. LAFF joins a crowded field of subchannel offerings but is the only one focused specifically on comedy. (4/15/2015)

IOWA:
A four-station FM facility shift in the Des Moines area got underway Tuesday (4/14) as "Pulse" Contemporary Christian station KPUL-FM/99.5 (Winterset) moved to 101.7. The move had to be delayed from the original April 7 date due to bad weather that prevented a crew from climbing a tower. Iowa Public Radio Classical translator K269EJ/101.7 (Des Moines) left the air Tuesday and returned Wednesday afternoon on 97.7 as K249EJ. KPUL-FM's move off 99.5 clears the way for Christian Talker KTIA-FM/99.3 (Boone), owned by Truth Broadcasting, to move its transmitter to a tower near Sheldahl with 5.3kW/95m, improving its signal to Des Moines and changing its community of license to Huxley in the process. In a late addition to the shuffle, the FCC has approved a move of KFMG-LP/99.1 (Des Moines) to 98.9 to avoid interference from KTIA-FM. KFMG-LP is owned by the Des Moines Community Radio Foundation and carries an eclectic Adult Alternative format. (4/14/2015, updated K269EJ move 4/15)

IOWA/WISCONSIN:
Wisconsin Public Radio's news director, Michael Leland, is crossing the Mississippi River to take the same position at Iowa Public Radio. IPR announced Monday that Leland will start his new job on July 1. The news release quoted Leland as saying he looks forward to building on IPR's current news coverage to be "the best news source it can be for Iowa." IPR is a young network, having been formed a decade ago as a merger of public radio groups that had previously operated separately at the state's three universities. (4/13/2015)

MANITOBA:
Production of Global TV's local 10 p.m. and weekend newscasts in Winnipeg (CKND-DT/9) and half dozen other cities is moving to Toronto, the network reported last week. Weekday morning and 6 p.m. newscasts will continue to originate in local markets, but a single team in Toronto will anchor late-evening newscasts in all markets east of Alberta and one in British Columbia. Locally-produced newscasts will also begin to carry the same national and world news segments. The article said there would be a net loss of up to 30 jobs nationwide as a result of the change. It's the latest in a series of recent cuts affecting Winnipeg's TV news industry, including Citytv Winnipeg's cancellation of its only newscast in January and the CBC's announcement that Manitoba's only 5 p.m. TV newscast will end this fall. (4/12/2015)

NEBRASKA:
Gray TV has consolidated operations of its TV stations in North Platte, joining NBC affiliate KNOP/2, FOX affiliate KIIT-CA/11, and CBS affiliate KNPL-LD/10.1 at a newly-renovated facility south of downtown. The KNOP building north of town will be maintained as a transmitter site. The newly-rebranded "NBC Nebraska News 2" says the new studio facility utilizes robotic cameras that will be operated from Gray's master control in Lincoln and a "handful of behind-the-scenes" positions will be moved to Lincoln. At the same time, news and other departments are being expanded and a 9 p.m. newscast will be launched on the FOX affiliate later this month. KNOP is the only full-power commercial station in North Platte, which is the second-smallest market in the country. Gray launched KNPL in September 2013 and began the process of buying KNOP/KIIT a few months later. (4/12/2015)

NEBRASKA:
NET Television's KTNE/13 (Alliance), which serves Scottsbluff and the panhandle, is off the air due to antenna damage. The statewide PBS network says KTNE's antenna is on the ground, though the press release doesn't mention how it got there. The outage also affects translators K06KR Crawford and K08LN Harrison. KCSR Radio reports NET1 is still being seen on cable. Meanwhile, NET Radio's Facebook page says KTNE/91.1 (Alliance) was also off the air for a time but is now back on. (4/12/2015)

MICHIGAN:
A belated note that WUPM/106.9 (Ironwood) is already back on the air following last week's tower collapse. The station returned to the air last Friday after apparently re-tuning the transmitter for translator W225AV/92.9 (Ironwood) to 106.9, where it's using 170 Watts. In a request for special temporary authority filed with the FCC, WUPM states that the 170-Watt facility may only be in place for one to two weeks until different equipment arrives. WHRY/1450 (Hurley), which briefly carried WUPM's Adult Top 40 format following the collapse, has returned to its Oldies format. W225AV, which normally relays WHRY, is off the air. (4/9/2015)

NEBRASKA:
NRG Media's "Rock 101.5" (KROR Hastings) is operating at reduced power from an alternate site after a storm damaged its licensed facility. The station says in an FCC filing that a wind storm on April 4 damaged the antenna system, and it's now using 2.5kW/237m from a nearby tower. KROR normally uses 100kW/306m. The auxiliary facility delivers a good signal to Kearney, with rimshot coverage of Hastings and a fringe signal to Grand Island. (4/9/2015)

MINNESOTA:
Leighton Enterprises is buying Jerry Papenfuss' radio stations in the Fergus Falls and Winona areas for $9.5 million. Stations included in the deal are KJJK/1020, KBRF/1250, KJJK-FM/96.5, and KZCR/103.3 (Fergus Falls); KPRW/99.5 (Perham); KWNO/1230, KAGE/1380, KAGE-FM/95.3, and KHME/101.1 (Winona); and KWNO-FM/99.3 (Rushford-Winona). Leighton owns an existing group in the Detroit Lakes area, which borders on the Fergus Falls coverage area, as well as groups in the St. Cloud and Grand Forks markets. The deal includes a five-year non-compete clause for the Fergus Falls and Winona areas. The sale does not include Papenfuss' AM-FM combos in Blue Earth and Windom. (4/7/2015)

IOWA:
After one group stepped aside, the FCC has granted a new non-commercial FM station in eastern Iowa to a different group. Plus Charities, a Cedar Rapids-based Catholic group, has received a construction permit for a new station on 88.7 licensed to Coggon, which will use 5kW/95m (class A). The new station will have a city-grade signal in the Manchester area and possible fringe coverage of Cedar Rapids. New Bohemia Group had originally been granted the frequency, but returned its CP earlier this year. (4/5/2015)

MICHIGAN:
WUPM/106.9 (Ironwood) says high winds toppled its tower late Wednesday or early Thursday. FCC records indicate the 300-foot tower near Bessemer had stood since 1961. WUPM's Adult Top 40 format has been moved to sister station WHRY/1450 (Hurley) and FM translator W225AV/92.9 (Ironwood), displacing the Oldies format normally heard on WHRY. The stations are licensed to Big G Little O Inc., a company owned by 11 local residents. (4/2/2015)

WISCONSIN:
The Milwaukee Community Radio Alliance's WLDB/93.3 (Milwaukee) has become "Trending Radio," ditching its eight-year-old "B93.3" slogan. RadioInsight.com notes the change coincides with a transition of the station's playlist from Adult Contemporary to Hot AC. "Trending Radio" is positioned as "Today's Best Music." (4/1/2015)