May 2011

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN/MICHIGAN:
A fifty-year career in broadcasting comes to a close Wednesday night as news anchor Dennis Anderson retires from ABC affiliate WDIO/10 (Duluth). Over the decades, Denny has become perhaps the best-known man in the massive Duluth TV viewing area, which stretches from International Falls, Minn. to Watersmeet, Mich. Denny began his career on a high school radio show at WHLB/1400 (Virginia) in 1961 and was quickly hired as a regular station announcer. When WHLB's owner launched WDIO in 1966, Denny was hired on as a weekend newscaster. He moved to KTHI/11 (Fargo) in 1968 but returned to WDIO a year later. During the 1970's, Denny made national news when Duluth police officers confiscated his camera, leading to a court ruling upholding journalists' rights. He was first to report on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975 and also reported on the murders at Glensheen Mansion in 1977. He left WDIO in 1980 to work as a mortician and become a deacon in the Catholic church, but kept his foot in broadcasting at PBS station WDSE/8. WDIO convinced Denny to return in 1985. He's now retiring to travel with his wife Judy and spend more time with his four children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He'll sign off with his signature line, "Goodnight everybody, and be kind," Wednesday night at 10 p.m. A number of video remembrances from Denny and his colleagues are posted at WDIO.com. Darren Danielson, a former anchor at KDLH/3 and WDSE, takes over the anchor chair Thursday. (5/23/2011)

IOWA:
New station KRJE/89.9 (Hawkeye) is on the air with programming from Three Angels Broadcasting Network. The 850-Watt station is owned by the Hawkeye Seventh-Day Adventist Church and goes by the slogan "Radio for Jesus." (5/23/2011)

NEBRASKA:
New station KEIS/90.3 (York) is on the air carrying the "Glory FM" network. The 1.6kW station is owned by the Network of Glory. (5/23/2011)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
KSDN-FM/94.1 (Aberdeen) is operating at reduced power after a lightning strike damaged its antenna earlier this month. "The Rock" normally uses 100kW/134m but is now using 10kW/86m (HAAT) from a temporary three-bay antenna. The station says in an FCC filing, "the lightning strike actually resulted in holes being bored into the antenna." KSDN/930 also suffered storm damage and is operating at one-fourth of normal power (see earlier item below). (5/23/2011)

WISCONSIN:
WGBW/1590 (Two Rivers) is seeking a change to its construction permit to move to Denmark, which will put the station in the Green Bay market. The current CP calls for the unusual setup of separate antenna sites for daytime and nighttime broadcasting, using 10kW directional from one site during the day and 200 Watts directional from a different site at night. In a new application, WGBW seeks to keep the daytime facilities as currently permitted but instead use 500 Watts directional at night from the day site. (5/22/2011)

SOUTH DAKOTA/IOWA:
A Yankton group is buying the construction permit for a new station near Sioux City weeks before it was originally due to expire. Agnus Dei Communications is buying KPCJ/91.9 (Elk Point) from North Carolina-based Church Planters of America for $55,000. The buyers are seeking an 18-month extension to get the new station on the air. KPCJ will use 6kW/76m, with a rimshot signal to Sioux City. Agnus Dei Communications is run by Kevin and Margaret Culhane, David Hosmer, and Father Mark Lichter, all of Yankton. Kevin Culhane is the former owner of two commercial radio stations in Vermilion. (5/19/2011)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
South Dakota Public Broadcasting is selling translator K216AO/91.1 (Spearfish) to Spearfish Radio for $7,700. The buyer owns two other translators in Spearfish which relay Schurz Communications stations from Rapid City. SDPB no longer needed K216AO after signing on KYSD/91.9 (Spearfish) earlier this year. (5/19/2011)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Armada Media's KSDN/930 (Aberdeen) is seeking FCC permission to operate at one-fourth of normal power after a lightning strike damaged the station's transmitter and one of its towers. KSDN normally uses 5kW day and 1kW night, with different day and night directional antenna patterns. It's seeking special temporary authority to use 1.25kW day and 250W night nondirectional while repairs are made. (5/18/2011)

IOWA:
Days before a construction permit for a new non-commercial station in south-central Iowa was due to expire, one out-of-state group is transferring the CP to another out-of-state group in an effort to keep the CP alive. Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Honolulu is selling the CP for a new station on 88.5 in Mystic, using 25kW/42m, to Grace Lutheran Church of Amarillo for $100. The deal also includes a CP in Texas. The CP for the Mystic station is due to expire May 19, and the buyer is seeking an 18-month extension. (5/18/2011)

WISCONSIN:
The I-C-N Company is selling a construction permit for a new non-commercial station western Wisconsin to Network of Glory for $3,000, saying it doesn't have the funds to build the station. The CP is for a new station on 90.1 licensed to Spring Valley, using 16kW/88m from a tower near Glenwood City with a directional antenna, providing strong coverage of rural areas in St. Croix, Dunn, and Pierce Counties. It may also have fringe coverage of the far east Twin Cities metro area. The CP expires in June, but the new owners are seeking an 18-month extension. The I-C-N Company also owns WPCA-LP/95.7 (Amery). (5/18/2011)

MINNESOTA/SOUTH DAKOTA:
Refuge Media Group is selling construction permits for new FM stations in Grand Rapids, MN and Arlington, SD to CJTL Media for $100 each. The CP's for WRFR/88.1 (Grand Rapids) and KSRJ/89.9 (Arlington-Brookings) are due to expire in the coming months and CJTL is seeking the 18-month extension normally allowed when CP's are sold. Duluth-based CJTL is run by Daniel Hatfield, Phillip A. Smith, and Harold C. Angus and owns no other stations. Refuge Media, which originates "The Refuge" Christian Hits format at WJRF/89.5 (Duluth), also has dozens of translators and CP's for new stations in Alton, IA; Glenwood, MN; and Watertown, SD. (5/17/2011)

WISCONSIN:
NBC affiliate WEAU-TV/13 (Eau Claire) says it could return to the air from a temporary transmitter site as soon as June 6, if the FCC approves special temporary authority. The station has been off the air since its tower collapsed in March, though its programming is being temporarily carried on subchannels of other stations as well as cable and satellite. WEAU had used 29.9kW/611m from the tower near Fairchild that collapsed. It proposes using 32kW/279m from a tower at its studio in Eau Claire. In a separate application, the station proposes a 15kW translator station on channel 25 from the Eau Claire tower, which could remain on the air even after the Fairchild facility returns to the air. Eau Claire is about 26 miles by air from WEAU's transmitter site and the station says a number of viewers had reported reception problems before the tower collapse. The channel 25 application overlaps with applications for low-power stations on the same channel in Elk Mound in La Crosse, but WEAU states it should have priority as a displacement application. (5/15/2011)

MINNESOTA:
American Family Association has returned the license for KBOJ/88.1 (Worthington). The 250-Watt station had signed on in 2002 carrying American Family Radio, but went off the air last October after its previous tower was dismantled. AFA had originally requested authority to remain silent and stated plans to look for a new site, but ended up surrendering the license earlier this month instead. (5/15/2011)

ONTARIO:
CKQV-FM/103.5 (Vermilion Bay) faces some scrutiny from Canadian regulators as it seeks license renewal. The CRTC says the station may have failed to submit five required annual returns between 2004 and 2009. Owner Golden West Broadcasting says the errors were made by the previous owner, Norwesto Communications, and says it has demonstrated its ability to comply with requirements during its 55-year history. The CRTC has not yet acted on the renewal application. "Q104" runs a Contemporary Hits format and has secondary transmitters on 104.5 in Dryden, Kenora, and Sioux Lookout, giving it wider reach than other stations in the region. (5/13/2011)

MINNESOTA:
Former KARE/11 meteorologist Ken Barlow is returning to the Twin Cities, but he'll be at KSTP-TV/5 instead. KSTP announced Thursday that Barlow will join the station in June but did not say what newscasts he'll be seen on. He had left Minnesota to work at CBS-owned WBZ-TV in Boston. (5/12/2011)

IOWA:
There may be another spanish-language broadcaster coming to central Iowa: Latin World Broadcasting is buying KTIA/1260 (Boone) from Truth Broadcasting for $240,000. KTIA's 5kW daytime signal has rimshot coverage of Des Moines, but it loses coverage of the capital city at night when it drops to 33 Watts. The station, formerly KFGQ, has simulcast Christian and Conservative Talk programming with KTIA-FM/99.3 (Boone) for decades. KTIA-FM is not included in the deal and holds a pending application to move into the Des Moines market. (5/12/2011)

FCC FM AUCTION ENDS:
FCC Auction No. 91, including 14 new FM stations in the Upper Midwest, closed Wednesday after no bids were received in the 62nd round. Eight of the Upper Midwest allotments went unsold. The six provisionally winning bidders are as follows: