Winter Storm Knocks Down KDLO Tower in South Dakota (Updated)

The winter storm that moved through the Plains knocked down a 1,700-foot TV tower in northeastern South Dakota.

The tower near Garden City was owned by Nexstar and was home to the antennas for Nexstar CBS affiliate KDLO-TV/3.1 (Florence) and Alpha Media’s KDLO-FM/96.9 (Watertown). FCC records indicate the tower was constructed in 1978.

KELOLAND reported that the tower fell at 8:53 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, and an adjacent 800-foot tower fell later in the morning. (The station’s report on the height of the main tower differs from FCC records.)

There were no reports of injuries.

In a notification to the FCC, the station wrote, “Nexstar is exploring all options in restoring the Station to on-air operations, including a temporary facility, etc., but because of the severity of the damage it will take longer than 30 days for operations to resume.”

A separate notification reported that KDLO-TV translator K24DT-D (Aberdeen) is also off the air.

KDLO-TV is a satellite of KELO-TV/11.1 (Sioux Falls) and viewers can still find KELO programming on satellite and major cable providers.

The KDLO-TV signal normally reaches rural areas served by few other broadcast TV services. It’s one of four full-power transmitters carrying KELOLAND programming across South Dakota.

Meanwhile, KDLO-FM reported that it is back on the air using a backup facility closer to Watertown. Exact facilities are not immediately known.

The radio group’s engineer, Bruce Erlandson, was quoted as saying that buildings at the site were also damaged.

Disclosure: Jon Ellis was an employee of Gray Media Group at the time this item was posted. The statements and views expressed in this posting are his own and do not reflect those of Gray Media Group.