Stations
KQYZ/99.1 (Emerado, ND) posted a message on Facebook teasing its impending move into the Grand Forks market, which will include a frequency change to 98.5. The post does not say when the move will happen.
KJSO-LP/101.3 (Omaha) and KXNB-LP/101.3 (Omaha), which are licensed to share time, have been heard back on the air rebroadcasting “95.7 The Boss” (KOWN-LP Omaha). KJSO-LP had previously reported to the FCC that it went off the air Feb. 28 due to an interruption of its programming feed. The three stations are licensed to transmit from the same building in North Omaha.
The Star Tribune reported that there is a new buyer for Eden Prairie-based iMedia, which has holdings including the ShopHQ network, after RNN National Media pulled out of its deal to buy the company. The new buyer is IV Media, a subsidiary of 5-Hour Energy maker Innovative Ventures. It’s among numerous media investments announced by the company, which also include stakes in Audacy and Cumulus Media.
Twin Cities Business profiled KTIS-FM/98.5 after the non-commercial Contemporary Christian station topped the Twin Cities’ average quarterly hour shares for the fourth month in a row. (Note: the article’s count of only six Christian radio stations in the metro is low.)
Sinclair Broadcast Group’s WUCW (Minneapolis) converted its transmitter to ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) on Aug. 16. Along with its primary CW 23.1 channel, WUCW serves as the NextGen TV lighthouse for the Twin Cities with simulcasts the market’s ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliates; viewers have noted that CBS-WCCO, FOX-KMSP, and NBC-KARE show up as encrypted on many receivers.
TVNewsCheck recently posted an article updating how different station groups are handling their master control operations, which will be of interest to anyone who wonders how TV stations are operated. Some groups are continuing to use a model where a centralized hub sends fully-assembled feeds to the local station, while others play programs and commercials off a local server that can be controlled remotely. Still others (not mentioned in the article) continue to originate and monitor programming locally.
Nielsen noted that streaming hit a record high of 38.7% of total TV usage in July, with the combined total of broadcast and cable TV dropping below 50% for apparently the first time.
TVNewsCheck profiled Hubbard ABC affiliate KSTP-TV/5‘s afternoon lifestyle show “Twin Cities Live.”
People
Hearst CBS affiliate KCCI/8 (Des Moines) announced that Jason Sydejko has been promoted to chief meteorologist.
Nexstar NBC affiliate WHO-DT/13 (Des Moines) announced that Amanda Krenz will return to the station as a part-time contributor and Courtney Greene will return “in a limited role as a community storyteller and news contributor.”
Reporter Hernan Gutierrez has departed Gray NBC affiliate KWQC/6 (Davenport) for a new job in Indianapolis.
RadioInsight reported that Vont Leak has been hired for evenings at KDWB/101.3 (Richfield-Minneapolis) after just a few weeks at sister iHeartMedia station “107.5 Kiss FM” (KKDM Des Moines).
Tegna NBC affiliate KARE 11 (Minneapolis) announced the hiring of Allison Anhalt as a news producer.
The Star Tribune’s annual “Minnesota’s Best” vote found Vineeta Sawkar and Jason Matheson as best radio and TV personalities.
Gray NBC/FOX affiliate WLUC/6 (Marquette) reported that former longtime chief engineer John “Jack” Truitt has died at the age of 89. He led the department from 1960 to 1998.
In case you missed it here:
- Trio of Radio Signals Along US-Canada Border Sold
- Christian Programming Moves as Aberdeen-Area FM Signals are Sold
- Ask NorthPine: Will Mpls. DTV Channels Be Available in ATSC 1.0?
- Data Dump: Where Twin Cities DTV Channels Are Now Coming From
- FCC Monitor: LPTV Move to St. Paul OK’d; Cedar Rapids LPFM Sold
News tips? Press releases? If you don’t see yours here, I probably didn’t receive it! Please send them to jonellis@northpine.com!
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.