September 2006

NORTH DAKOTA:
Cumulus Media's new 100kW KUSB/103.3 (Hazelton-Bismarck) is on the air with a Country format as "103.3 US Country." Cumulus won the station in FCC Auction No. 37 with a $1,207,000 bid. KUSB is the third Country station in the market, challenging Clear Channel's KQDY/94.5 and KBMR/1130. Cumulus owns four other stations in the market and had programmed a Country format on KKCT/97.5 until flipping it to Contemporary Hits in March 2004. (9/26/2006)

NEBRASKA:
At the request of the Nebraska Broadcasters Association, the FCC has issued a declaratory ruling stating that "Governor Heineman's Call-In Show" and "Senator Ben Nelson's Call-In Show" are news interview programs exempt from a requirement that stations give competing candidates air time. Here's the entire declaratory ruling. (9/25/2006)

MINNESOTA:
KSMM/1530 (Shakopee-Minneapolis) is now KQSP with a Tropical format under new owner Yong W. Kim, according to DX-midAMerica. The station's 8.6kW daytime signal is strong in the western half of the metro, but it must drop to 10W at night. It is the fifth full-time Spanish-language station in the greater Twin Cities area and 1530's eighth format change in the last decade. (A different group had also run a Spanish-language format on 1530 from 2000 to 2002.) Previous owner Starboard Media had run a mix of Contemporary Christian, Adult Contemporary, and Oldies for nearly two years while the station awaited new a owner. (9/25/2006)

WISCONSIN:
WTRW/1590 (Two Rivers) has changed its callsign to WGBW, but continues to carry ABC's True Oldies format, DX-midAMerica reports. 1590 has applied to change its community of license to Denmark with 10kW day and 200W night. (9/22/2006)

FCC AUCTION NO. 70:
New FM stations to serve the Lincoln, Norfolk, Rapid City, and Stevens Point markets are among those up for bids in FCC Auction No. 70, beginning March 10, 2007. The auction will include one construction permit in Iowa, three in Nebraska, one in South Dakota, and four in Wisconsin. More details are on this site's Vacant FM Allotments page. (9/21/2006)

NEBRASKA:
The Lincoln Journal-Star reports that KLMY/106.3 has stopped calling itself "My" after owner Clear Channel found out someone else owns the rights to the name "My." The Adult Contemporary station is now taking suggestions from listeners for a new name. The situation is somewhat ironic, since Clear Channel has forced some competing stations in other markets to stop using the name "Kiss," which it trademarked. (9/21/2006)

NEBRASKA:
Kentucky-based Host Communications is buying Pinnacle Sports Productions for an undisclosed price. The Gretna-based company holds Cornhusker radio rights and also produces the syndicated "Sports Nightly" radio show. Host is a subsidiary of Triple Crown Media and also has marketing agreements with seven universities, the Southeastern Conference, and NCAA Football. (9/20/2006)

WISCONSIN:
WHEM/91.3 (Eau Claire) is off the air for a few weeks for replacement of its tower foundation, which cracked earlier this year. To put in a new foundation, the entire tower must be taken down. WHEM hopes to return to the air on October 4. The station is posting updates on its website. (9/19/2006)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
KBEN-FM/101.9 (Belle Fourche-Rapid City) is running an Oldies format as "B102," according to All Access. The format competes head-on with KKLS/920. KBEN-FM is the former KFMH/102.1, which recently upgraded to 100kW at 454m from Terry Peak, with booster station KBEN-FM1 in Rapid City. Bad Lands Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of Oregon Trail Broadcasting, owns KBEN-FM and is also running Classic Country KIMM/1150 through an agreement with Gunslinger Radio, All Access reports. Bad Lands also owns KRKI/99.5 (Newcastle, WY), which has a construction permit to upgrade to 100kW plus a booster in Rapid City. (9/19/2006)

IOWA/ILLINOIS:
The New York Times Company is getting out of the broadcast TV business, and has put its group of nine TV stations up for sale. The group includes Des Moines NBC affiliate WHO-TV/13 and Quad Cities ABC affiliate WQAD/8 (Moline). The company estimates the nine stations will have a combined revenue of about $150 million this year. (9/13/2006)

IOWA:
Capital Communications' WOI-TV/5 (Ames-Des Moines) changed its branding to "ABC5" on Monday, switching to a new logo similar to that used by ABC owned-and-operated stations and dropping the "Eyewitness News" name in favor of "ABC5 News." (9/12/2006)

IOWA:
Equity Broadcasting has converted former UPN affiliate KWWF/22 (Waterloo-Cedar Rapids) to its "Retro Television Network" brand. However, the station's lineup only includes a few hours of "retro" shows for now, with first-run and other recent shows still making up the bulk of the schedule. (9/12/2006)

UPDATES:

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
Red River Broadcasting's FOX21 (KQDS-TV Duluth) has announced plans to add a news department with a 9 p.m. newscast beginning on or about January 1, 2007. The station's news director is Julie Moravchik, whose experience includes being general manager/news director at "True North TV" in Ashland, WI, and ten years as a reporter at Duluth ABC affiliate WDIO. The addition at FOX21 will restore the number of TV news departments in Duluth to three; the number had dropped to two when CBS affiliate KDLH closed its shop and began getting newscasts from NBC affiliate KBJR last year. (9/8/2006)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
State and federal grants will allow KILI/90.1 (Porcupine) to return to the air. The 100kW "Voice of the Lakota Nation" has been silent since April, after a lightning strike damaged the station's antenna and transmission line. The state is giving KILI a $46,000 grant, which represents 25% of the cost. A federal grant will cover the rest. "KILI is the only dependable means the state, or anyone else, has of communicating to the public on the Pine Ridge reservation during an emergency or disaster situation," said Gov. Mike Rounds in a press release. "Without KILI broadcasts, we have no way of letting people in the KILI listening area know about impending danger." A station official told the Rapid City Journal the station hopes to return to the air in early November. (9/7/2006)

IOWA:
KWOF/850 (Waterloo) plans to drop its simulcast of KWOF-FM/89.1 (Hiawatha-Cedar Rapids) on October 20 for what may be the world's only Classic Christian Rock format as "The Prodigal." KWOF-FM will continue to carry Contemporary Christian as "The Spirit." The stations are owned by Friendship Communications. (9/7/2006)

MINNESOTA:
Hometown Broadcasting, which owns KQPR/96.1 (Albert Lea), has received a construction permit for a new station on 1100 in Albert Lea. The station will use a seven-tower array southwest of town, using three towers for an 850W daytime directional signal and six towers for 230W directional at night (click on the links for maps). The daytime signal will also be strong in Austin, with fringe coverage to Mankato, Owatonna, and Rochester. (9/6/2006)

WISCONSIN:
The FCC has approved a reallotment plan that will allow WTLX/100.5 to move its transmitter 17 miles closer to Madison. The Good Karma Broadcasting station, which currently carries FOX Sports, will change its community of license from Columbus to Monona. The FCC had initially rejected the plan because it would leave Columbus without a licensed station; however, the Commission has since approved Good Karma's proposal to move its WTTN/1580 from Watertown to Columbus. (WJJO/94.1 remains licensed to Watertown. Both WJJO and WTLX target Madison listeners; the FCC does not consider target markets when considering allotment changes.) Read the entire decision here. The station must still apply for and receive a construction permit before making the change. (9/5/2006)

MANITOBA:
"Q94" (CHIQ/94.3 Winnipeg) returned to a tweaked version of its format Tuesday after a weekend of stunting. (9/5/2006)

WISCONSIN:
WRIT/95.7 relaunched as "Milwaukee's 95.7" after a weekend of stunting, WisconsinBroadcasting.com reports. The format is hits of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, not far from what WRIT was doing with its previous Oldies format. (9/5/2006)

NEBRASKA:
KLIQ/94.5 (Hastings) has switched from Waitt's AC Pure format to ABC's StarStation (AC) format following its sale to Platte River Radio. Platte River's other stations also run ABC formats (Oldies Radio and ESPN). (9/5/2006)

WISCONSIN:
The Wausau Daily Herald reports that WNRB-LP/93.3 has left the air after Northcentral Technical College decided there were better uses for the $75,000 annual cost of operating the station. The station was on the air for only 17 months. (9/5/2006)

WISCONSIN:
Clear Channel's WRIT/95.7 (Milwaukee) dropped its long-running Oldies format on Friday (9/1) and is stunting, taking suggestions for a new format through 957needshelp.com. The station says the new format will debut Tuesday. (9/3/2006)

MINNESOTA:
DX mid-AMerica reports that KCHK/1350 (New Prague) has dropped ABC's Real Country format for News/Talk. (9/3/2006)

MINNESOTA:
KCUE/1250 (Red Wing) has flipped from News/Talk to Classic Country as "Bluff Country 1250 KCUE." The station continues to carry ABC Information Network news, local news, and Paul Harvey. (9/3/2006)

WISCONSIN:
WLMX-FM/104.9 (Balsam Lake) has switched from Jones Radio Networks' Hot AC format to JRN's mainstream AC format, continuing to use the slogan "Mix 105" and AP news on the hour. The change follows the station's sale to Red Rock Radio. (9/3/2006)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Backyard Broadcasting's KXQL/107.9 (Flandreau-Sioux Falls) has flipped to Oldies as "Kool 107.9." The station was formerly Country as "The Wolf." (9/1/2006)