May 2004

IOWA/WISCONSIN/ILLINOIS:
Dubuque's only TV station, KFXB/40, has been sold to a Florida-based Christian TV network. The nonprofit Christian Television Corporation is buying KFXB's license from Dubuque TV LP for $700,000. The sale does not include the station's Dubuque studio, tower, or transmitter building (tower space will be leased). KFXB currently rebroadcasts separately-owned KFXA/FOX28 (Cedar Rapids), but that rebroadcast will end when the sale is completed. (Local cable systems will continue to carry KFXA.) Channel 40 provides the only city-grade TV signal to the Dubuque area. It signed on in 1970 as KDUB with ABC programming, and began rebroadcasting KFXA in 1995. The station discontinued its Dubuque news operation in 2002. (5/28/2004)

MINNESOTA:
Radio station owner John J. Godfrey has died of cancer at the age of 48. Godfrey, along with his wife Colleen McKinney, built KBEK/95.5 (Mora), a commercial station which runs from their home and has been honored for community coverage. Visitation will be held on Friday from 5-8 p.m. at Akkerman-Ingebrand Funeral Home in Mora, with services Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mora. (5/28/2004)

WISCONSIN:
WisconsinBroadcasting.com reports that WIBU/900 (Wisconsin Dells) has reverted to its previous callsign WDLS, and is now targeting tourists with a mix of Oldies and tourist information. (5/28/2004)

WISCONSIN:
Earlier this week, WLSL/93.7 (Three Lakes-Rhinelander) flipped from Jones "Oldies Station" format to Jones new "Classic Hits" format. The station is still known as "B93." Around the same time as the format change, the station upgraded from 50kW (class C2) to 100kW (class C1). (5/28/2004)

NORTH DAKOTA/MINNESOTA:
Prairie Public Television station KGFE/2 (Grand Forks) could be off the air through the summer due to recent storm damage at its transmitter near Petersburg. PPT is still available on cable and satellite in the area. (5/27/2004)

IOWA/NEBRASKA/SOUTH DAKOTA:
DISH Network's Sioux City market package is now available, including KCAU-ABC, KMEG-CBS, KPTH-FOX, KTIV-NBC, and IPTV-PBS. The package is available in Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickenson, Emmet, Ida, Monona, O'Brien, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Sac, Sioux, and Woodbury counties in Iowa, and Cedar, Dakota, Dixon, Knox, Madison, Pierce, Stanton, Thurston, Wayne counties in Nebraska, and Union County, South Dakota. (5/27/2004)

WISCONSIN:
Local-into-local service is now available in 71 of Wisconsin's 72 counties, with DISH Network's launch of Wausau-Rhinelander channels. The package includes WAOW-ABC, WSAW-CBS, WFXS-FOX, WJFW-NBC, and WPT-PBS, and is available in Adams, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Portage, Price, Taylor, Vilas and Wood counties. Florence County, which is in the Marquette market, is now the only county in Wisconsin where DISH does not offer a locals package. (5/27/2004)

MINNESOTA:
Translator K207DP/89.3 (Fergus Falls) has returned to the air, carrying the Calvary Satellite Network from KAWZ (Twin Falls, ID). The former MPR translator was no longer needed after MPR signed on two class A stations in Fergus Falls. (5/26/2004)

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
The Twin Cities radio landscape changed as expected Tuesday morning (5/25) with "Relevant Radio" and the Minnesota Production Network's talk lineup trading spots on the dial. The former WMNN/1330 (Minneapolis) is now WLOL, carrying Catholic Talk from Starboard Media's Relevant Radio network. Meanwhile, MPN is leasing KSMM/1530 (Shakopee) from Starboard and has assumed Starboard's lease of WMIN/740 (Hudson) from Greg Borgen. KSMM and WMIN simulcast as "Straight Talk Radio," with a lineup including AP All News Radio, local host Wendy Wilde from 9-11a, Al Franken from 11a-2p, and Ed Schultz from 2-5p. (5/25/2004)

WISCONSIN:
The Wisconsin Public Television translator in River Falls has moved from channel 55 (W55AP) to channel 47 (W47CW), upgrading from 791W to 1kW in the process. (5/25/2004)

THIS WEEK'S NEW FM TRANSLATOR CONSTRUCTION PERMITS:

IOWA:
Contemporary Christian station KWOF-FM/89.1 (Hiawatha) has increased power from 400W to 5.8kW, improving the station's coverage of Cedar Rapids. (5/21/2004)

NEBRASKA/WYOMING:
DISH Network has launched its locals package for the Cheyenne market, which includes Scottsbluff County, Nebraska. KKTU-ABC, KLWY-FOX, ETV-PBS, and KUSA-NBC (Denver) are included in the package now; CBS affiliate KSGW/KSTF and ABC affiliate KDUH are not carried. The launch of the Cheyenne market means DISH is now offering local-into-local service to some portion of each of the 50 states. (5/20/2004)

IOWA:
KNEI/1140 (Waukon) has received a construction permit to move to 1160. With the move, KNEI's daytime power will drop from 1kW to 530W, resulting in a slight decrease in coverage area, but the move will allow KNEI to add nighttime power of 26W nondirectional, enough to cover Waukon. (5/18/2004)

MINNESOTA:
The WLOL callsign has returned home to 1330 Minneapolis (formerly WMNN), a week before the station will change from News/Talk to Catholic Talk. New owner Starboard Broadcasting reserved the callsign in February, but the actual change was made just a few days ago. The legendary "WLOL" calls were used on AM1330 beginning in the 1940's, and later used on 99.5-Minneapolis, 105.5/105.3-Cambridge, 1470-Brooklyn Park, and 100.3-Minneapolis. (5/18/2004)

NEW FM TRANSLATOR CONSTRUCTION PERMITS:

NEW LOW-POWER TV CONSTRUCTION PERMITS:

MINNESOTA:
The liberal talk lineup assembled by the Minnesota Production Network will move from WMNN/1330 (Minneapolis) to KSMM/1530 (Shakopee) on May 24. MPN announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to purchase KSMM from Starboard Broadcasting. MPN had been leasing time on WMNN, which Starboard purchased from Minnesota Public Radio, and plans to use as a new home for its Catholic "Relevant Radio" network. MPN founder Janet Robert told the Pioneer Press that the planned lineup for KSMM includes MPN's Wendy Wilde from 9-11a, Al Franken from 11a-2p, and Ed Schultz from 2-5p. AM1530's signal reaches most of the Twin Cities metro during the daytime with an 8.6kW signal, but drops to just 10W at night. KSMM has an application to move its transmitter to Eden Prairie, using 9kW day and 900W night, which would provide a much stronger signal to the metro area. (5/15/2004, corrected applied KSMM transmitter site 5/16)

WISCONSIN:
WISN-TV/12 (Milwaukee) will eliminate its Noon newscast this fall, to make way for the Jane Pauley Show. Pauley will air at 11 a.m., displacing All My Children, which will move to Noon and replace the news and Access Hollywood. Noon anchor Mike Anderson will remain with the station, playing a greater role in evening newscasts. Meanwhile, WISN has decided to make its experimental hour-long Sunday 10 p.m. newscast a permanent fixture. The station says the midday news audience is shrinking, while the Sunday late news has seen steady viewership growth. (5/14/2004)

WISCONSIN:
Magnum Radio Group owner Dave Magnum is running for Congress. He's seeking the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison). In a press release, Magnum said, "As a candidate for Congress, I bring the perspective of being a small business owner who with my late wife, Lynn, built a group of broadcast stations from scratch as well as being the dad of two boys...in other words, someone who understands what people are up against in their everyday lives at home and work." The Magnum Radio Group includes three stations in the Tomah area, three stations in the Wisconsin Dells area, and two stations in the Door County-Green Bay area. (5/11/2004)

WISCONSIN:
QueenB Radio stations WGLR/1280 (Lancaster) and WPVL/1590 (Platteville) have dropped rebroadcasts of their FM counterparts, in favor of a simulcast Sports format. The stations will carry the entire ESPN lineup, with the exception of an hour of ag news at 5 a.m., and Agritalk at 10 a.m. on WGLR/1280. Both stations carry the Brewers, while WGLR will carry Badger Football and WPVL will carry Badger Basketball, in addition to high school sports on both stations. (5/10/2004)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has petitioned the FCC to allot 99.3 to Rosebud as a class C (100kW/600m) station. The allotment would have a site restriction of 5.2km east of town. If alloted, the frequency would be opened up for applications at a later date. The FCC will accept comments on the proposal through June 25. (5/10/2004)

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN/MICHIGAN:
The name of the Duluth market's DTV/cable UPN affiliate has been changed to "Northland UPN." The station, which is the secondary channel of NBC affiliate KBJR, had been called "UPN9" since it started in 2002 on cable channel 9. (5/9/2004)

WISCONSIN:
WXCX/105.7 (Siren) has flipped from Jones Radio Networks' Oldies format to JRN's Classic Hits, as "Oldies Rock 105.7." The station had been Oldies since it signed in 2000, first using ABC's format, and then switching to JRN last year after being sold to Quarnstrom Media. The station continues to run imaging and promos for its previous networks. (5/7/2004)

WISCONSIN:
Friday is Adam McCune's last day at the Rice Lake group of stations (WJMC AM-FM, WAQE AM-FM, and WKFX). McCune is moving to Manchester, New Hampshire, to take the afternoon slot at top-rated WZID, an AC station. He has worked at a number of stations in the area over the past six years. (5/7/2004)

WISCONSIN:
WCOW/97.1 (Sparta-La Crosse) has repositioned to "Wild Country, Cow 97." The day starts with "Morning Mayhem," hosted by Jake "The Snake" Preston and "Cowboy" Bill Austin as hosts. Music Director Chris Coates remains on middays, while former morning host Arnie Andrews has moved to afternoon, followed by Rob West in the evening, and newcomer Chris Collins overnight. (5/6/2004)

MANITOBA:
CJPG/96.5 (Portage la Prairie) launched at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday (5/4) with an Adult Gold/Oldies format as "The Greatest Hits of All Time." The 24kW station is owned by Golden West Radio. (5/5/2004)

NEW FM TRANSLATOR CONSTRUCTION PERMITS: