July 2001

MINNESOTA:
News Corporation and Clear Channel announced a station swap Thursday that will send Clear Channel's FOX29/WFTC (Minneapolis) to News Corp. In return, Clear Channel will get stations News Corp. just obtained from Chris-Craft in Salt Lake City and San Antonio. The swap creates the second TV duopoly in the Twin Cities, with UPN9/KMSP and WFTC under ownership of News Corp., the parent company of the FOX network, pending FCC approval of the WFTC transfer. FOX is expected to take over day-to-day operations of KMSP no later than August 1. No affiliation changes have been announced, but as KMSP reported on it's website, "it is likely the local station will be transformed into Fox Network's Twin Cities flagship station." (7/27/01)

MINNESOTA:
The FCC has cleared News Corporation's purchase of the ten Chris-Craft stations, including KMSP/9. News Corp. owns the FOX network, and it's not yet known whether there will be any affiliation changes in Minneapolis, where Clear Channel's WFTC/29 is the FOX affiliate. The transaction will result in News Corp. ownership of stations reaching 41% of households in the US. Since rules cap that figure at 35%, the FCC has given News Corp. one year to divest enough stations to get below the cap. (The 35% national ownership cap is currently the subject of review in the D.C. Circuit Court and the FCC says it won't enforce the cap unless the court upholds it.) News Corp. will have TV duopolies in four markets and may create more duopolies in other markets. (7/26/01)

IOWA:
KYOU/15 (Ottumwa) has been granted a construction permit for its digital facility on channel 14. (7/24/01)

MINNESOTA:
WNCB translator K241AM/96.1 (Willmar) is on the air. (7/24/01)

MINNESOTA:
FOX29 (WFTC Minneapolis) has registered the domain name upn29.com. The registration occurred more than two months ago. (Click here to see the Network Solutions record for yourself.) FOX owner News Corporation has purchased KMSP/UPN9, which may or may not end up under FOX ownership when the divestiture dust settles. FOX may then create duopolies in the markets where it ends up having stations. (7/17/01)

IOWA:
KAYL-FM/101.7 (Storm Lake) has applied to downgrade from 100kW to 50kW, a change from class C1 to C2. (7/16/01)

MINNESOTA:
Assembly of God Church in Sherburn has been granted a low-power station on 92.3 to operate with 100W. (7/16/01)

WISCONSIN/IOWA:
Radio Dubuque is buying the construction permit for a 6kW station on 101.1 in Dickeyville from Leon Metz and Thomas Spaight. The new station will have a good signal into Dubuque. Radio Dubuque also owns KDTH/1370, KATF/92.9, and KGRR/97.3. (7/16/01)

WISCONSIN:
Zoe Communications is buying WRDN/1430 and WRDN-FM/95.9 (Durand) from F.M. Radio Network. Zoe also owns two stations in Shell Lake and the construction permit for a new station in Spooner. (7/16/01)

NORTH DAKOTA:
(Updated) The format of KAUJ/106.7 (Walhalla) has moved to KXPO-FM/100.9 (Grafton), which has changed calls to KAUJ and is known as "Oldies 101." Meanwhile, 106.7 has changed to KYTZ and is now carrying a Hot Adult Contemporary format called "Z106.7." Both stations use satellite feeds. (7/8/01, updated 7/12)

MINNESOTA:
Quarnstrom Media is buying WCMP/1350 and WCMP-FM/100.9 (Pine City) from Ken Beuhler and Patty McNulty for $1.25 million. Quarnstorm also owns stations in Aitkin, Cloquet, Hayward, International Falls, and Moose Lake. (7/10/01)

IOWA:
KHAM/95.5 (St. Ansgar) will change to KJCY as part of it's sale to Minnesota-Iowa Christian Broadcasters, which also owns KJLY/104.5 (Blue Earth) and KJYL/100.7 (Eagle Grove). (7/8/01)

MICHIGAN:
WUPY/101.1 (Ontonagon) has switched back to Country, after experimenting with Classic Rock, Oldies, and Light Adult Contemporary. The station still uses the slogan "Y101" as well as "Superior Country" and runs a satellite feed. (7/7/01)

MICHIGAN:
As you may have read on message boards, WOBE/100.7 (Crystal Falls) is on the air with 100kW running ABC's Oldies Radio format as "B100." (7/7/01)

MINNESOTA:
Moose Lake Adventist Broadcasting has been granted the first construction permit for a low-power FM station in the region. The 100-Watt station will operate on 99.7. (7/7/01)

MINNESOTA:
Construction of KJLV/90.3 (North Branch) is underway, with the antenna mounted and coaxial cable run, but utilities have not yet been connected at the site. The station will carry the "Air1" network. (7/7/01)

WISCONSIN:
B93 (WLSL Three Lakes-Rhinelander) has let go sports director Brian Norton and hired former WOBT/1240 (Rhinelander) morning host and sports director John Hise to do play-by-play on a part-time basis. WOBT is rumored to be planning a format change. (7/7/01)

MINNESOTA:
Broadcasting and Cable reports that a group headed by Luther Gatling has offered to purchase four TV stations from FOX. FOX has not stated whether or not it will accept the offer, but if it did, the problem of exceeding ownership cap limits with the purchase of Chris-Craft would be solved. If it accepted the offer, FOX would be able to keep KMSP/9. In a completely unrelated note, FOX29 (WFTC) has secured the rights for Timberwolves broadcasts beginning this fall. (7/6/01)

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
In case you missed last week's article in the Star Tribune, WDGY/630 and WMIN/740 (both Hudson) have switched formats. That means 630, which recently upgraded to 2.3kW day and 300W night, is the Twin Cities' first 24-hour spanish-language radio station with it's "Radio Rey" format, though much of the metro has a hard time receiving the signal at night. Sporting News Radio is now heard on 740, which is an 850-Watt daytimer. (7/6/01)