The following are updates to stories previously reported here and other recent FCC filings and actions:
Iowa
New FM translator K253CN/98.5 (Mount Pleasant) signed on relaying KILJ/1130. The 250-Watt signal was granted as part of the AM Revitalization effort.
The FCC granted Weigel Broadcasting/TV-49’s recently-acquired Class A digital TV station KDIT-CD (Marshalltown) a construction permit to move to one of the tall TV towers near Alleman. It will transmit on RF channel 17 with 15kW horizontal and 11.25kW vertical. The new signal will continue to reach Marshalltown as well as Des Moines and Ames.
iHeartMedia’s WOC/1420 (Davenport) reports that “several array parameters have suddenly gone out of tolerance” and has requested special temporary authority to operate at a variance and/or at reduced power. The exact facilities being used were not specified. WOC is licensed for 5kW day and night with different day and night directional patterns.
Michigan
AMC Partners Escanaba’s WUPF/107.3 (Powers-Escanaba) applied to upgrade from its current 50kW/97m to 50kW/130m, moving to a tower a few miles south.
Minnesota
The FCC approved a construction permit for Radiant Life Ministries/TCT’s KCWV/27.1 (Duluth) to upgrade from 40kW to 62.5kW.
Townsquare Media’s KDCZ/107.7 (St. Charles-Rochester) tells the FCC that it’s been operating at about half of its licensed power due to an equipment issue. The station’s request for special temporary authority says a new transmitter has been ordered but is not expected to ship for another 14 weeks. KDCZ normally rimshots Rochester with 1.95kW/174m from a tower east of the city.
Townsquare Media’s KOLM/1520 (Rochester) tells the FCC that it is operating at its full daytime facility of 10kW non-directional but is using reduced power of 200 Watts non-directional at night. That’s a quarter of its licensed nighttime power. The station’s request for special temporary authority says Townsquare is “exploring solutions” for resolving problems with the six-tower array that KOLM is licensed to use at night.
South Dakota
After operating at reduced power for more than a decade due to damage from a lightning strike, Prairie Winds Broadcasting’s KSDN/930 (Aberdeen) applied to permanently use a non-directional facility with 1kW day and 270 Watts night. The station has five towers at its site south of Aberdeen and had used 5kW day and 1kW night, with different directional patterns day and night, prior to the lightning strike reported in 2011. Previous filings indicate KSDN has been using 1.25kW day and 250 Watts night, non-directional, since that time, so the proposed new facility represents little change from what has been on the air in recent years.
Innovative Media Technologies K06QJ-D (Sioux Falls) modified its application to move to KSFY’s tower to lower the proposed power from 3kW to 100 Watts, using a directional antenna pointed at Sioux Falls.
CSN International’s K260BT/99.9 (Rapid City) completed an upgrade from 10 Watts to 34 Watts.
Wisconsin
New FM translator W294CU/106.7 (La Crosse) signed on, transmitting with a directional antenna from the WKBT-TV tower near Galesville and covering an area north of La Crosse. The new 250-Watt FM translator was granted during the AM Revitalization window to relay WIZM/1410, which is also relayed on K222AG/92.3 (La Crosse).