An AM station in the northern Twin Cities metro area has dropped a longtime simulcast with another station and is now running a variety of programming in multiple languages.
KMNQ/1470 (Brooklyn Park) is carrying a wide range of international music and spoken word programming with no imaging other than a legal ID, in triplicate, presented over music at the top of the hour:
Most of the music is hard to identify, but it has included some Russian selections and English-language Gospel music, as well as ambient and instrumental songs. Poetry recitations have also been heard.
KMNQ is owned by Santamaria Broadcasting and had previously relayed co-owned KMNV/1400 (St. Paul), which continues to carry a Spanish-language format as “La Raza.” 1470 had simulcast 1400 since 1994 except for a period from late 2005 to early 2008.
It told the FCC in June that it was operating at reduced power of 3.5kW due to transmitter problems. It was off the air from March 2020 to March 2021, telling the FCC the outage was needed for equipment updates.
The station’s licensed 5kW directional signal, transmitting from Brooklyn Park, is strong across the north metro. It did not seek an FM translator during the FCC’s AM Revitalization effort.