This is the first in a weekly series of “data dump” reports on random facts and statistics involving broadcasting. What would you like to see? Email [email protected].
Lake Superior is a site to behold, and for broadcasting fans, so is the hillside above the lake.
The hill, chosen because of its ability to reach the largest audience when considering the area’s challenging topography, features more than a dozen towers.
Unlike other cities, there was never any coordinated effort to construct a major joint transmission facility, so Duluth’s FM and TV stations are divided among ten different towers all within a mile of each other. A few more towers are used for cellular, two-way, and other communications.
The antenna farm is right in the middle of the city but, other than the towers, is largely undeveloped due to its uneven terrain. Bow deer hunting takes place amid the towers and it’s not unusual to see a bear or two roaming around.
The mess of towers can be confusing, even to broadcasters like me who worked there for more than a decade. So, I decided to sit down and sort them out, roughly from west to east. Towers are listed by owner, with a + sign indicating stations on that tower not owned by the tower owner:
Hubbard Broadcasting (ASRN 1031880)
WDIO-DT 10.1 (RF 10)
+KDAL-FM 95.7
+KLDJ 101.7
+W293CT 106.5
+KBMX 107.7
Note: This is the only Duluth facility that is both a studio and transmitter site.
Duluth Superior Educational Television Association (ASRN 1029956)
WDSE 8.1 (RF 8)
WDSE-FM 103.3
Radiant Life Ministries (ASRN 1024490)
KCWV 27.1 (RF 27)
Note: Right next door to WDIO, this is the former site of KDAL-TV/KDLH. The tower was reconstructed several years ago but the building on site dates to KDAL-TV.
Alternative Communications Of Duluth (ASRN 1023325)
+WJRF 89.5
+W249CX 97.7
Midwest Communications (ASRN 1024122)
W251CD 98.1
KDKE 102.5*
W280FB 103.9
SBA Towers IX (ASRN 1024128)
+W215CG 90.9
+WSCD 92.9*
+K231BI 94.1
+KDNW 97.3
+WSCN 100.5*
Red River Broadcast Corp. (ASRN 1203847)
KQDS-TV 21.1 (RF 18)
+KQDS-FM 94.9
Red River Broadcast Corp. (ASRN 1023509)
+WWPE 92.1
+W265DO 100.9
Midwest Communications (ASRN 1024123)
KTCO 98.9
Gray TV (ASRN 1024268)
KDLH 3.1 (RF 33)
KBJR 6.1 (RF 19)
+WSSU 88.5*
+KDNI 90.5
+KUWS 91.3*
+KKCB 105.1*
*ASRN not listed in FCC records but appears to be this tower
Enger Tower, in Enger Park, is just a mile away from the antenna farm and is a great place to get a look at the towers, the lake, and the river valley. Drivers can pass by many of the towers on Observation Road and Orange Street, but beware of potholes on North 8th Avenue West!