The following are updates to previously-reported items and other recent regulatory filings and actions concerning Upper Midwest broadcast stations. This report is created by the author and is not an official report of the FCC.
Iowa
Radio By Grace’s K296GZ/107.1 (Muscatine) has constructed its new 250-Watt facility in Davenport, delivering a strong signal to the western half of the Quad Cities. It had previously transmitted with 10 Watts from Milan. The translator is carrying the Radio By Grace network via the HD3 signal of iHeartMedia’s WLLR/103.7 (Davenport).
PLUS Charities’ KMMK/88.7 (Coggon) was granted a change to its facility that will result in little change to its coverage area, switching from its current 25kW/94m to 19.4kW/107m.
Wilkins Communications Network has formally applied to transfer control of KLNG/1560 (Council Bluffs-Omaha) and K268DI/101.5 (Council Bluffs) to the Estate of Robert J. Wilkins, Jr. following Wilkins’ death in May at the age of 69. KLNG was the first station in a company that now includes more than two dozen stations.
Minnesota
The FCC approved construction permits for Gray TV’s K29OE-D (Racine) and K30RA-D (Racine) to move their transmitters to the studio facility of co-owned KTTC/10 (Rochester) on the north side of the city, where the stations will both transmit with 15kW directional. They currently use 1.55kW from a site south of the city with a different directional pattern.
Nebraska
The FCC approved Flood Communications West’s purchase of KIMB/104.3 (Dix-Kimball) from Victor A. Michael’s Michael Radio Company.
South Central Oklahoma Christian Broadcasting informed the FCC that its KNEF/90.1 (Franklin, NE) went off the air Oct. 24 after the lease at its licensed transmitter site was terminated. The station’s filing says it is looking for a new location. It had been on the air since 2012, transmitting with 100 Watts from an antenna 18 meters below average terrain.
South Dakota
“K-Love” operator Educational Media Foundation applied for and received a license to cover its construction permit for new station KLYA/88.7 (Yankton), indicating that the new station is on the air. KLYA, with 250 Watts, displaces 140-Watt “K-Love” translator K204EO/88.7; the translator previously had a construction permit to move to 88.1 but it was not built by the 2010 deadline. (This item was updated May 28, 2023, to indicate that the CP to move to 88.1 is not active.)
Meanwhile, EMF’s K209FX/89.7 (Mitchell) submitted a license to cover application indicating that it has completed a move to a tower site closer to Mitchell, with a corresponding reduction in power from 250 to 60 Watts.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s KIPI/93.5 (Eagle Butte) notified the FCC that it has activated an HD Radio signal.
Wisconsin
Clear Water Brands’ W286CK/105.1 (Eau Claire) was granted special temporary authority to transmit from an alternate site after an Oct. 24 storm damaged W286CK’s licensed antenna and/or transmission line. The station is temporarily transmitting from a site two miles away that is also the licensed auxiliary location for four co-owned stations. The temporary facility uses 250 Watts rather than W286CK’s licensed 185 Watts but the filing explains that the temporary coverage area is fully encompassed within the licensed coverage area due to a lower antenna height.
The FCC approved a modification to Salvation Poem Foundation’s construction permit for new FM station WEQC (Crandon), changing the frequency from 103.1 to 103.9 with 3.3kW/136m (class A).
Disclosure: Jon Ellis is an employee of Gray Media Group. The statements and views expressed in this posting are his own and do not reflect those of Gray Media Group.