July 2000

WISCONSIN:
Good Karma Broadcasting is buying WKPO/105.9 (Evansville-Madison) from TBK Broadcasting. Good Karma also owns Madison-area station WTLX/100.5 (Columbus). (7/31/2K)

WISCONSIN:
Nextmedia is buying WLIP/1050 (Kenosha), WIIL/95.1 (Kenosha), and WEXT/104.7 (Sturtevant) from Pride Radio. (7/31/2K)

NEBRASKA:
Southeast Community College has been granted a new station on 88.3 in Beatrice. (7/31/2K)

MINNESOTA:
North Central Christian Broadcasting (WNCB) has been granted a new translator on 90.9 in Hutchinson, which has been assigned the call letters K215DU. (7/31/2K)

MINNESOTA/SOUTH DAKOTA/WISCONSIN:
Jimmy Swaggart's Family Worship Center Church has been 20 more translators for its WJFM: K213DO/90.5 (Benson, MN), K210DG/89.9 (Canby), K201GX/88.1 (Evansville), K201GV/88.1 (Marshall), K213DN/90.5 (Morris), K211EJ/90.1 (Walker), K201GW/88.1 (Warren), K215DV/90.9 (Box Elder, SD), W211BO/90.1 (Antigo, WI), W215BK/90.9 (Baraboo), W201CX/88.1 (Medford), W206BG/89.1 (Mercer), W208AY/89.5 (Portage), W208AX/89.5 (Prairie du Chien), W211BM/90.1 (Reedsburg), W210BP/89.9 (Rhinelander), W211BN/90.1 (Rice Lake), W218BP/91.5 (Sparta), W213BJ/90.5 (Spring Green), and W202BT/88.3 (Wabeno). (7/31/2K)

IOWA:
KDSM/FOX17 (Des Moines) will launch a 9:00 newscast in December 2000. The newscast will be produced in conjuction with sister station KGAN/2 (Cedar Rapids), though Sinclair Broadcast Group isn't saying where the newscast will actually be produced. The newscast will air from 9 to 9:35 p.m. (7/27/2K)

MINNESOTA:
Minnesota Public Radio's construction permits for new stations in Grand Marais have been assigned the call letters WMLS/88.7 and WLSN/89.7. (7/27/2K)

IOWA/MINNESOTA:
Clear Channel is entering Mason City, Mankato, and Rochester with the purchase of stations from Cumulus Media. The transaction is actually another restructuring of Cumulus' purchase of seven stations Clear Channel must divest as part of its merger with AMFM, Inc. In the first phase of the transaction, the seven stations will be transferred to Cumulus, 25 Cumulus stations (including six in Eau Claire) will be transferred to Clear Channel, and Clear Channel will pay Cumulus $91 million. The first phase is expected to close within a week. In phase two, expected to close later this year, 30 Cumulus stations will be transferred to Clear Channel for approximately $75 million. Cumulus intends to use the funds raised from these sales to pay for pending acquisitions, such as Connoisseur Communications. The Cumulus stations being sold in phase two include KGLO/1300 (Mason City), KIAI/93.9 (Mason City), KLKK/103.7 (Clear Lake-Mason City), KCHA/1580 (Charles City), KCHA-FM/95.9 (Charles City), KCZE/95.1 (New Hampton), KWMM/98.7 (Osage), KWEB/1270 (Rochester), KRCH/101.7 (Rochester), KMFX-FM/102.5 (Lake City-Rochester), KNFX/970 (Austin-Rochester), KMFX/1190 (Wabasha), KYSM/1230 (Mankato), KXLP/93.1 (New Ulm-Mankato), KYSM-FM/103.5 (Mankato), KNUJ/860 (New Ulm), KNUJ-FM/107.3 (Sleepy Eye-New Ulm), and KNSG/94.7 (Springfield). An additional dozen stations in Georgia and Indiana are included in phase two. (7/26/2K)

IOWA:
Miranda Khan joins WQAD/8 (Moline) as the new anchor of Good Morning Quad Cities. (7/26/2K)

MINNESOTA/NORTH DAKOTA:
Less than two weeks after saying it would conduct additional analysis of the St. Cloud market before approving Regent Communications' purchase of KXSS/1390, KKSR/96.7, and KLZZ/103.7, the FCC has approved the sale. Meanwhile, up the highway in Fargo, the FCC says it will conduct that "additional analysis" when considering Clear Channel's purchase of KFGO/790, KVOX/1280, KULW/92.7, WDAY-FM/93.7, KRVI/95.1, and KFGO-FM/101.9. The commission conducted the same analysis just last year when the Ingstads bought the stations from Otter Tail Power. (7/20/2K)

MINNESOTA:
KSTP-TV/5 has hired Mike LaPoint from an Oklahoma City station to be the weekend evening meteoroligist at KSTP. (7/20/2K)

MINNESOTA:
KSAX translator K20AC/20 (Wadena) has received a construction permit to move to channel 17 as K17FE with a power of 16.1kW. (7/20/2K)

MINNESOTA:
Catamount Broadcasting is buying KXJC-LP/39 (Fisher) from G.I.G. Inc. Catamount owns Fargo market CBS affiliate KXJB/4, so it's possible that KXJC could serve as a translator to KXJB. (7/20/2K)

MICHIGAN:
WUPY/101.1 (Ontanogan) has picked up Jones Radio Network's Light AC format for part of the broadcast day. It's locally-produced Oldies format continues to air from 5a-1p and 3-7p. (originally posted 7/18/2K, revised 7/19)

IOWA:
KKSO/1390 (Des Moines) is back on the air, relaying sister station KBGG/1700 with it's all-Headline News format. (7/18/2K)

MINNESOTA:
Border Broadcasting, owner of KKWQ/92.5 (Warroad), is buying KRWB/1410 in nearby Roseau. (7/18/2K)

NEBRASKA:
Jimmy Swaggart's Family Worship Center Church has been granted a permit for translator K213DL/90.5 (Kearney). (7/18/2K)

WISCONSIN/MINNESOTA:
ESI Broadcasting is buying W25CA/25 (Ashland) from Superior Water Logged Lumber. ESI is the company that manages KDUL-LP/12 (Duluth), and W25CA is expected to serve as a satellite of KDUL. KDUL is expected to sign on this summer as an affiliate of UPN and the American Independent Network. W25CA has been on the air for several years as an AmericaOne affiliate. ESI also recently announced that sister station K56FH/56 (Duluth) will sign on as a fulltime PAX affiliate later this summer. That means Duluth will have over-the-air access to all of the networks except The WB once ESI's two stations sign on. (7/15/2K)

MINNESOTA:
The FCC will take an extraordinary step that has become ordinary in this age of consolidation when considering the approval of Regent Broadcasting's purchase of St. Cloud market stations KXSS/1390, KKSR/96.7, and KLZZ/103.7. The Commission says it will conduct "additional analysis of the ownership concentration" in St. Cloud while considering the application for the transfer of the stations' licenses. (7/14/2K)

MINNESOTA:
KKSR/96.7 (Sartell-St. Cloud) debuted its real new format at Noon Tuesday (7/11). The new format is Contemporary Hits as "Kiss 96, Today's Best Music." The station had been Adult Contemporary since at least the `80s and began playing Classic Country since last week. Regent Broadcasting is buying the station the station, and also operates Mix 94.9 (AC), WWJO (Country), Z103 (Classic Rock), WJON (News/Talk), and Magic 1390 (Nostalgia). Regent's biggest competitor is Leighton, which owns Wild Country 98.9, KCML (Light AC), KCLD (Contemporary Hits), and KNSI (News/Talk). (7/11/2K)

MINNESOTA:
The Educational Media Foundation (K-LOVE) has received a construction permit for a new station on 90.3 in North Branch. The station will be 191W at 112m, with the transmitter about five kilometers north of Chisago City. The station will cover areas just northeast of the Twin Cities metro area, and will probably interfere with KFAI/90.3 (Minneapolis) in the northeastern metro. (7/10/2K)

MINNESOTA:
Americans for Radio Diversity (ARD), the Prometheus Radio Project, and the Microradio Implementation Project are sponsoring a Low-Power FM Workshop on Monday, July 17, to help local organizations prepare to apply for LPFM licenses. The workshop will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis. Attending groups will receive help filing out the FCC LPFM application, get answers to their technical questions, have the opportunity to network with other community radio activists, and receive instructional guides. The FCC will be accepting applications for LPFM stations in Minnesota in August. (7/10/2K)

MINNESOTA:
KKSR/96.7 (Sartell-St. Cloud) has dropped its Adult Contemporary format for an unnamed Classic Country format. The station, which was once strong in the market as Star 96.7, is being purchased by Regent Broadcasting, which also owns 98 Country (WWJO). Regent took over KKSR, along with KXSS/1390 and Z103, through a time brokerage agreement on July 1. (7/8/2K)

MINNESOTA:
KLCI/106.1 (Princeton-Minneapolis) has received FCC permission to move to a new tower near St. Michael and drop from class C2 to class C3. KLCI will move 16km south, making the tower a little closer to the Twin Cities metro area, but since the power will be dropped, the change in signal strength in the Cities will be negligible. The new facilities will be 9.1kW at 164m. (7/8/2K)

IOWA:
Laura St. John is the new chief meteorologist at WHBF/4 (Quad Cities). She was last the weekend meteorologist at a Wichita station. (7/8/2K)

MINNESOTA:
WCCO-TV/4 has hired Ed Heil as a sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor. He's moving from a station in Columbia, South Carolina. (7/8/2K)

NORTH DAKOTA/MINNESOTA:
Clear Channel is entering the Fargo market with the purchase of Jim and Tom Instad's properties for $46.3 million. KFGO/790, KVOX/1280, Kool 92.7 (KULW), Y94 (WDAY-FM/93.7), 95.1 The River (KRVI), and Moose Country 101-9 (KFGO-FM) are included in the sale. The Ingstads bought the stations just last year from Otter Tail Power, and sold their existing Fargo group to Triad Broadcasting. Clear Channel already owns or is buying station groups in Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot. (7/7/2K)

WISCONSIN:
Midwest Communications is buying WHBL/1330 (Sheboygan), WBFM/93.7 (Sheboygan), and WWJR/106.5 (Sheboygan Falls) from Walton L.L.C. (7/7/2K)

IOWA/SOUTH DAKOTA:
Jimmy Swaggart's Family Worship Center Church has been granted translator stations in Osceola, IA (K204ED/88.7) and Brookings, SD (K209DX/89.7). The translators will rebroadcast the Sonlife Network from WJFM Baton Rouge, LA. Meanwhile, Sonlife translators K204DW/88.7 (Mitchell, SD) and K205DU/88.9 (Beatrice, NE) are on the air. (7/7/2K)

MINNESOTA:
Midwest Radio is expanding in the Hibbing market, acquiring WMFG/1240, KMFG/102.9, and WMFG-FM/106.3 from Alan Quarnstrom. Midwest Radio already owns WNMT/650 and WTBX/93.9. (7/4/2K)