November 2005

NEBRASKA:
NET stations KLNE/3 and KLNE/88.7 (Lexington) will be off the air for months after a plane crashed into the stations' tower near Atlanta on Sunday (11/27), killing three people. The tower collapsed and also damaged the transmitter building. NET Television can still be seen on satellite TV and most cable systems in the area, and NET Radio is encouraging people to listen online or seek out distant signals. (11/30/2005)

IOWA:
KMCS/93.1 (Muscatine) and KMCN/94.7 (Clinton) dropped their separate Country formats on Monday (11/28) at 1 p.m. to launch a Classic Hits/Hot AC format as "MaC." The new slogan is short for "Muscatine and Clinton." MaC is also targeting listeners in the Quad Cities, although the metro area is outside of the main coverage area of both stations, and KMCN's signal is limited by a translator station on 94.5 in Davenport. KMCN and KMCS are not simulcasting, but are carrying the same playlist nearly simultaneously. (11/29/2005)

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
The FCC will hold an auction for a new full-power TV station on channel 27 in Duluth. Davis Television applied for the station in 1996 but never received a construction permit. Now anyone will be able to bid in the auction, scheduled for March 15, 2006. The minimum bid is $100,000. (11/25/2005)

IOWA:
KWPC/860 (Muscatine) has switched the musical portion of its format to Oldies, including a few Adult Standards, Jazz, and Classic Country titles. Local News and Talk continue to be part of the format. (11/24/2005)

NEBRASKA:
NRG Media has shuffled the formats on its Holdrege-licensed stations: KMTY/97.7 switched to Waitt's "Bob FM" hits format, while Waitt's Oldies Plus format moved from KMTY to KUVR/1380, which dropped Waitt's AC Pure. KMTY also provides a good signal to Kearney. (11/19/2005)

MINNESOTA:
Another major staff change at KARE 11: meteorologist Ken Barlow is leaving after 15 years to take a job in Boston, closer to his hometown of Newport, Rhode Island. Belinda Jensen will take over the weekday evening shift. Meanwhile, KARE announced Mike Pomeranz has been hired from WCBS-TV New York to replace Frank Vascellaro as weekday evening co-anchor. Pomeranz starts January 2. (11/18/2005)

ALL-CHRISTMAS:
Milwaukee is the latest market to get a pair of all-Christmas stations on the same day: Clear Channel's WRIT/95.7 and Entercom's WMYX/99.1. Yes.com indicates that WRIT flipped at 9 a.m. Thursday, followed by WMYX five minutes later. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that WFZH/105.3 made the switch later in the day. Clear Channel's WOKY/920 is expected to go Christmas on Thanksgiving Day. (11/17/2005, added WFZH 11/18)

WISCONSIN:
Educational Media Foundation, the operator of the Christian music "K-Love" and "Air1" networks, is buying the construction permit for a new station in Fond du Lac, plus three other translator CP's. EMF will pay Cornerstone Community Radio $350,000 for 20kW WLWR/91.7 (Fond du Lac) and translators on 93.3 in Manitowoc, 99.9 in Sheboygan, and 97.3 in New London. None of the stations are currently on the air. (11/17/2005)

ALL-CHRISTMAS:
More stations made the switch to all-Christmas on Tuesday as much of the Upper Midwest saw its first snowfall. In the Twin Cities, Yes.com indicates that Clear Channel's KOOL 108 made the flip around 6 p.m. Tuesday, followed by Infinity's 102.9 Lite FM eight minutes later. (KOOL 108 had gone all-Christmas on the first weekend of November but then flipped back to Oldies.) Other stations switching to Christmas include Lite 101.9 in Lincoln-Omaha and 104.3 The Breeze in the Green Bay market. (11/16/2005)

MINNESOTA:
Frank Vascellaro is stepping away from the anchor chair at KARE 11. Vascellaro took over the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. co-anchoring duties when Paul Magers left in 2003. Vascellaro's last day at KARE will be December 9. (11/16/2005)

NEBRASKA:
The clock is ticking towards a June 27, 2006, construction permit deadline, and KOWH/51 (Lincoln) is scaling back its plans. The station's current CP calls for using the maximum UHF power of 5000kW at 461m from a site about 30 miles west of Lincoln, providing coverage similar to Lincoln's other two commercial stations. KOWH has now applied for 51kW at 125m from a site in Lincoln, which would give the station coverage of Lincoln and areas within about 20 miles of the city. (11/16/2005)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Scott E. Schramm is buying out his father's half of Midwest Radio Corporation, owner of KWYR/1260 and KWYR-FM/93.7 (Winner). Scott Schramm will pay Jeffrey L. Schramm $378,000 and will own 100% of the company. (11/16/2005)

WISCONSIN:
Broadcaster Dave Magnum is making another run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison). Magnum owns all or a majority interest in eight radio stations in Portage, Wisconsin Dells, Tomah, Kewaunee, and Sturgeon Bay, and a low-power TV station in Tomah. In 2004, Baldwin defeated Magnum with 63% of the vote in Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District. (11/16/2005)

NORTH DAKOTA:
Digital Syndicate Network, LLC, is buying KHOL/1410 (Beulah) from Two Guys Broadcasting for $150,000. Guy W. Giuliano of Sedona, AZ, owns 100% of Digital Syndicate Network and does not own any other stations; Richard Knaup owns 100% of Two Guys Broadcasting. (11/15/2005)

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
WMIN/740 (Hudson, WI-St. Paul) has reverted back three formats to Sporting News Radio as "The Zone." For the past 13 months, the daytime-only station had been "La Nueva Ley" with a Latin Pop/Rock format programmed by the same group that runs "Radio Rey" (WDGY/630). Both stations are owned by Greg Borgen. "The Zone" had been WMIN's format until the station was leased to Relevant Radio in 2002; it later became "Straight Talk Radio" in May 2004 and "La Nueva Ley" in October 2004. (11/14/2005, corrected date of "Ley" format debut 11/15)

NEBRASKA/KANSAS:
Cumulus Media is proposing to move an unbuilt construction permit from Nebraska into the Topeka (KS) market. Cumulus has a CP for a new class A (6kW/100m) station on 96.7 in Humboldt (NE), and has asked the FCC to move the CP's allotment to 96.9 in Valley Falls (KS) as a class C2 (50kW/150m) station. Though there are no other stations licensed to Humboldt, the FCC may not be concerned with "loss of service" in this case since the station has not actually signed on. Additionally, Cumulus proposes alloting 99.1 to Pawnee City (NE) for a future class A station, which, if approved, would likely be put up for auction years from now. (11/12/2005)

ALL-CHRISTMAS:
The Christmas season got underway on the Cedar Rapids airwaves Monday (11/7) as Clear Channel's "Mix 96.5" and Cumulus' KDAT/104.5 both set aside their Adult Contemporary formats for Christmas music. In Lincoln, NE, Clear Channel's "My 106.3" also went all-Christmas on Monday. Meanwhile, in the Twin Cities, Clear Channel's "Kool 108" went back to its `60s-`70s Oldies format after a weekend of holiday tunes. (11/7/2005)

MINNESOTA:
After 23 years, the "Club" officially closed at KLBB/1400 (St. Paul-Minneapolis) this weekend. New owner Davidson Media switched the station from Soft Oldies to Regional Mexican. Former simulcast partner KLBP/1470 (Brooklyn Park), which serves the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, continues to air the Soft Oldies format. KLBB joins four other spanish-language formats in the greater Twin Cities region, though only KLBB and "Radio Rey" (WDGY/630) have strong signals day and night in Minneapolis and St. Paul proper. (11/6/2005)

ALL-CHRISTMAS:
Clear Channel's KOOL 108 (KQQL/107.9 Anoka-Minneapolis) wins the race to the all-Christmas format this year in the Upper Midwest. It appears through the log at yes.com that KQQL set aside its `60s-`70s Oldies format around 7 p.m. Friday (11/4) for Christmas music, two weeks earlier than last year. Infinty's WLTE/102.9 is also promoting a pending flip. (11/5/2005)

IOWA:
The FCC reports that KWCC/93.1 (Muscatine) has changed to KMCS, and KZEG/94.7 (Clinton) has changed to KMCN. Though the changes were legally effective on November 2, 93.1 continues continues to use the KWCC callsign in its legal ID, and continues its Country format. (No information is available on 94.7.) The two stations are owned by Wayne W. Whalen. (11/5/2005)

WISCONSIN:
WYZM/106.7 (Mount Horeb) is now calling itself "Madison's New Smooth 106-7." The Mid-West Management station had signed on several weeks ago with Smooth Jazz but did not run any ID's or other announcements until recently. WYZM's main coverage area does not include Madison; the station is limited from moving towards the capital city by Mid-West's WWQM/106.3 (Middleton). This is not Mid-West's first foray into Smooth Jazz: Adult Contemporary WMGN/98.1 carried blocks of Smooth Jazz several years ago, and Mid-West also briefly ran 24-hour Smooth Jazz web stream. Those two efforts were dropped when Clear Channel launched a Smooth Jazz format on 96.3 (Sauk City) in 2002, which was dropped at the end of 2003. (11/3/2005)

MINNESOTA:
250W translator K240DJ/95.9 (Redwood Falls) has signed on carrying the "Refuge" Christian Hits format of WJRF/89.5 (Duluth). (11/3/2005)

IOWA/MICHIGAN:
Raycom Media has announced that 13 of its stations in 10 markets are up for sale. That includes KWWL-NBC (Waterloo, IA), KTVO-ABC (Kirksville, MO-Ottumwa, IA), WLUC-NBC (Marquette, MI), and WPBN/WTOM-NBC (Traverse City/Cheboygan, MI). Raycom says after its purchase of 15 Liberty stations earlier this year, it reassessed its holdings and decided to sell some stations. (11/2/2005)

ALL-CHRISTMAS:
Who will be the first to flinch? Last year the first stations in the region to go all-Christmas made the change the weekend after Halloween. WLTE Minneapols, KLTI Ames-Des Moines, and KLMY Lincoln are promoting pending flips to Christmas music on their websites. Once again this year, you can follow the flips market-by-market on this site. (11/1/2005)