A longtime northeastern Iowa radio station has gone off the air permanently, with its format continuing on two FM translators and an AM station and FM HD subchannel in a nearby community.
An attorney for Wennes Communications Stations sent a letter to the FCC on June 3 informing the regulator that the license of KMRV/1160 (Waukon) was being surrendered for cancellation.
KMRV’s “River” Adult Contemporary format continues on K256CS/99.1 (Waukon), now originating on the HD2 signal of KDHK/100.5 (Decorah). The format is also carried on KDEC/1240 (Decorah) and K235CT/94.9 (Decorah).
KMRV had been operating at reduced power from a temporary facility after the lease for its licensed site was not renewed in 2019. The station said in a request for an extension of special temporary authority last fall that the pandemic had caused decreased revenues and “severely limited station personnel from establishing a permanent location from which to operate the station.”
KMRV was a sister station to KNEI-FM/103.5 (Waukon). Here’s a sign-on announcement from when the stations simulcast:
FCC records indicate Ralph Sweeney first signed on KNEI/1140 as a 250-Watt daytimer in 1968, and it was upgraded to 1kW daytime a few years later. The station moved to 1160 in 2005, allowing it to add a 26-Watt nighttime signal.
KMRV is the sixth Upper Midwest AM license deleted in the last 18 months.