September 2003

NATIONWIDE:
The FCC is giving non-commercial organizations a chance to reserve unused FM allotments for noncommercial use. In order for a frequency to be reserved, there must be no open frequency in the noncommercial band (88-92 MHz), and the new station must provide the first or second non-commercial service to at least 10% of the population of the new station's primary contour. There are dozens of unused allotments in the Upper Midwest, including many that would serve medium and small markets. Check the Vacant FM Allotments page for a list. (9/30/2003)

MANITOBA:
The CRTC has granted Golden West Broadcasting the license for a second FM station in Portage la Prairie. The new class B station on 96.5 will broadcast from the same antenna as CFRY-1-FM/93.1, with 24kW. It appears 96.5's format will be Light Adult Contemporary, with hourly newscasts during the day. (CFRY-1-FM is licensed as a secondary transmitter of CFRY/920 and rebroadcasts CFRY's Country format.) (9/29/2003)

IOWA:
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that there's more to the return of Contemporary Hits to Waterloo than previously reported. After almost a decade of absence from the market, the CHR format returned on two stations within a week: KWAY-FM/99.3 (Waverly) flipped from Light AC on Friday night (9/19), and KOEL-FM/92.3 (Oelwein) flipped from Classic Country on Monday morning (9/22). Q92.3 is at a definite advantage when it comes to signal: the station operates at the maximum power of 100kW at 600m, with a strong signal throughout the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area. Y99.5 uses 4.5kW at 55m, with a strong signal in the northwest metro and a fair signal in Waterloo itself. (9/26/2003)

IOWA:
The Contemporary Hits format has returned to Waterloo, with Cumulus Media's flip of KOEL-FM/92.3 to CHR as "Q92.3." The format hasn't been on a Waterloo market station since KOKZ/105.7 flipped to Oldies about 10 years ago. The heritage KOEL-FM calls have been moved over to sister station KKCV/98.5, which will continue to use the slogan "K98.5." 92.3 is now KKHQ. (9/24/2003)

NEBRASKA:
McCook Radio Group has been granted a construction permit for a new AM station in McCook. The 250-Watt station will operate on 700 with a nondirectional pattern during the day, and a directional pattern at night. The group owns several other stations in the market. (9/24/2003)

NORTH DAKOTA/MINNESOTA:
The FCC has issued a construction permit for a much-talked-about 50kW station on 740 in Fargo to Jeffrey G. Dress. However, the station will only be 50kW for part of the day: 740 will use 940W at night, 7.5kW during critical hours (two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset), and 50kW during remaining hours, which varies from 12 hours in July to 4.5 hours in December. The station will use one directional pattern during critical hours, and a different pattern for day and night. 740's six-tower array will be located about 15 miles northeast of Fargo, sending the daytime signal across North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. (9/24/2003)

WISCONSIN:
There's a change in ownership of Radio K-T, Inc., the licensee of WLKN/98.1 (Cleveland-Sheboygan-Manitowac). The company had been a 50/50 partnership of Susan Kraus and Jack Taddeo, but now Taddeo will have a 60% ownership of the company. (9/24/2003)

NEBRASKA:
KDUH/4 (ABC, Scottsbluff) is back on the air at full power, almost exactly a year after the station's old tower collapsed, killing two workers. KDUH returned to the air from a new tower earlier this week. The new tower near Angora is about 20 miles southeast of the old tower, which was southwest of Hemingford. KDUH had reached some viewers through cable and low-power stations while the new tower was being built. (9/19/2003)

NORTH DAKOTA/MINNESOTA:
Clear Channel's KFGO/790 (Fargo) has dropped its local midday programming in favor of Rush Limbaugh, who moves over from sister station KVOX/1280. Rush displaces long-form news and market information that had been broadcast in the midday, as well as Jack and Sandy, who move to 2-6 p.m. The change took effect today, 9/18. (9/18/2003)

MINNESOTA/SOUTH DAKOTA:
Several new digital/low-power TV construction permits:

  • Hibbing, MN: New DT on 31, 500kW/212m, Duluth-Superior Area Educational Assn. (WDSE)
  • Winona, MN: K51HK/51, 31.2kW, Alma Garza
  • Aberdeen, SD: K42GG/42, 5.11kW, Laurie Mintz (9/17/2003)

    IOWA/NEBRASKA:
    More new low-power FM's granted: 92.7 Coralville, IA, to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Inc., and 93.7 Lincoln, NE, to Lincoln Chinese Ministry Association. (9/16/2003)

    WISCONSIN:
    Cow 97 (WCOW Sparta-La Crosse) has returned to full power, after a new transmitter was installed early this week. WCOW's previous transmitter was destroyed by a lightning strike on August 28. The station had already been in the process of installing a new processor, exciter, and studio-transmitter link. (9/16/2003)

    MINNESOTA:
    KSTP/5 (ABC) unveiled an updated logo, graphics, and news theme on Sunday 9/14. KSTP's heritage "5" has been italicized and put on a red background, and news graphics have been made bigger and bolder. (9/15/2003)

    IOWA:
    The former owners of KILJ/1130 and KILJ-FM/105.5 (Mt. Pleasant) are buying the stations back. Paul and Joyce Dennison sold KILJ, Inc. to MediaComm in 1991 for $1.01 million, with an 18-year loan agreement. The new agreement returns shares of KILJ, Inc. to the Dennisons in leiu of the remaining payments from MediaComm. Paul Dennison will take over the stations on December 21 under a local marketing agreement. (9/14/2003)

    MINNESOTA:
    More details of Quarnstrom Media's purchase of KUAL-FM/101.5 (Crosby-Brainerd) from Omni Broadcasting are now publicly available. The $400,000 sale includes 101.5's license and transmitter site, but specifically excludes studio equipment and the "KUAL-FM" call letters. Quarnstrom will be prohibited from running an Oldies format on the station for one year. This suggests that Omni will move the "Kool" Oldies format currently on 101.5 to one of the stations it is acquiring from Kommerstad Communications. (9/14/2003)

    MINNESOTA:
    St. Cloud's low-power WCMN-LP/13 switched from AmericaOne programming to the Sportsman Channel at the beginning of the month. However, the station has been off the air for much of the past week. (9/14/2003)

    WISCONSIN:
    Cow 97 (WCOW Sparta-La Crosse) hasn't been reachign many of its listeners since a lightning strike last week. The station had been operating at 10% power, but hoped to have a new transmitter installed by the middle of this week. (9/10/2003)

    IOWA/MISSOURI:
    Ottumwa Media Holdings is buying FOX15 (KYOU-TV Ottumwa) from Waitt Media for $4 million. Ottumwa Media has reached an agreement for "shared services" with Raycom Media, the owner of KTVO/3 (Kirksville-Ottumwa), and Raycom will have an option to purchase KYOU. Under the shared services agreement, KTVO will produce a newscast for KYOU, and the two stations will share commercial scheduling, promotions, and master control operations. However, the stations will retain separate management and sales staffs. KTVO and KYOU are the only TV stations in the market. Ottumwa Media Holdings is owned 90% by Thomas Henson and 10% by Macon Moye, both of Charlotte, NC. (9/6/2003)

    IOWA:
    Construction permits have been issued for two new TV stations in central Iowa: an analog station on channel 34, licensed to Ames, and a digital station on channel 56, licensed to Des Moines. Family Educational Broadcasting received the CP for channel 34, which would broadcast with 87.1kW at 150m from a site southwest of Ames. (The station could someday be upgraded to full power of 5000kW.) Meanwhile, Caroline K. Powley received the CP for a new full-power digital TV station on channel 56. The new station will broadcast from the same tower north of Alleman used by several other Des Moines stations. Powley was the winning bidder for a new analog station on channel 69, but chose to apply for a different digital channel instead, since the FCC plans to discontinue channels 60-69. (9/6/2003)

    IOWA:
    The FCC has dismissed a proposal to allot 106.5 to Woodbine as a class A (6kW) station. The group that made the request, Harrison County Radio, withdrew its interest in the frequency, and the FCC will not consider new allotments unless there is a party interested in applying for the frequency. Woodbine is about 30 miles north of Council Bluffs. (9/6/2003)

    MINNESOTA:
    Red Rock Radio has applied to move its Duluth "X106" translator K292EZ/106.3 to 94.1. The translator would have roughly the same coverage area on the new frequency. K292EZ is a translator of KZIO/104.3 (Two Harbors), but since the translator has a better signal in Duluth, the station is called "X106." (9/6/2003)

    WISCONSIN/MINNESOTA:
    The Superior Seventh-Day Adventist Church has received the first construction permit for a low-power FM station in the Twin Ports. The church's 100-Watt station will operate on 93.7, transmitting from the church on Cumming Avenue. (9/6/2003)

    MICHIGAN/WISCONSIN:
    Fant Broadcasting's construction permit for a full-power TV station on channel 24 in Ironwood has expired. The station would have broadcast with 5000kW from a tower near Montreal, WI, serving the Ironwood and Ashland areas of the Duluth-Superior market. The CP expired on 9/1/2003. (9/5/2003)

    MINNESOTA:
    Omni Broadcasting and Kommerstad Communications have reached an agreement for Omni to buy Kommerstad's properties in the Brainerd and Wadena areas. The sale, first reported here one year ago, was recently signed, but has not yet been filed with the FCC. No sale price is available. Omni will buy Kommerstad's KVBR/1340, KLIZ/1380, KFGI/103.5, and KLIZ-FM/107.5 (Brainerd), as well as KWAD/920 and KKWS/105.9 (Wadena), and KNSP/1430 (Staples). To comply with market caps, Omni will sell its KUAL/101.5 (Crosby) to Quarnstrom Media, which also owns an AM-FM combo in Aitkin. In the end, Omni will have 2 AM's and 4 FM's in the immediate Brainerd area. A format change may follow at one of the properties, since KFGI and KKWS, along with Omni's KBLB/93.3, all carry Country formats. (9/5/2003)

    MINNESOTA:
    KYCR/1570 (Golden Valley-Minneapolis) is taking another direction. After a short run as "The Consumer Station" earlier this year, KYCR is now "The Patriot II," a sister to "The Patriot" WWTC/1280 (Minneapolis). Mike Gallagher's show has been moved from WWTC to KYCR, where it continues to run from 8-11 a.m. WWTC is now carrying Laura Ingraham live in that time slot. (9/4/2003)

    MINNESOTA:
    KJJK/1020 (Fergus Falls) has changed its slogan to "Groovy 1020," keeping the Oldies format. (9/3/2003)


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