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.
The FCC has announced that it will lift a 14-year-old freeze on channel change applications from Class A, low-power TV, and TV translator stations on August 20. Regular readers of this site may be surprised to read that there was a freeze in place, given the massive amounts of LPTV facility changes that have been reported here since 2010, but all of those channel changes were due to displacement caused by the spectrum repack or changes by full-power stations. The freeze is only lifting for Class A/LPTV/translator channel changes; facility moves of more than 30 miles are still not allowed.
Iowa
Following up on its previous notification that it is operating at reduced power, Family Stations’ KYFR/920 (Shenandoah) requested special temporary authority to operate at reduced power while repairs to a circuit board are made. The transmitter was damaged during a severe thunderstorm. The power level being used was not specified; KYFR normally transmits with 5kW day and 2.5kW night.
Old Paths Baptist Church has requested the callsign KRWO-LP for its future low-power FM station on 104.1 in Dubuque.
Michigan
The FCC approved the sale of WJMN-TV/3.1 (Escanaba-Marquette) from Nexstar Broadcasting to Sullivans Landing, LLC.
North Dakota
Prairie West Development Foundation was granted the callsign KWBD-LP for its future low-power FM station on 90.5 in Beach. (Trivia: KWBD was the fictitious callsign used by the cable-only WB station in Duluth.)
South Dakota
Bad Lands Broadcasting submitted an amendment to its application to transfer the licenses of its stations in the Black Hills to Mid-Century Radio. The amendment shows that Bad Lands will be able to continue selling two minutes of airtime per hour on the stations, an agreement which “shall continue until mutually agreed by the parties.” The stations include KRKI/99.5 (Keystone-Rapid City), KFMH/101.9 (Belle Fourche-Rapid City), and KXZT/107.9 (Newell).
Riverfront Broadcasting’s KOKK/1210 (Huron) has applied to make slight changes to its nighttime directional pattern and increase power slightly from 870 to 900 Watts. The current 5kW directional daytime facility would remain unchanged.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Public Radio formally notified the FCC that W300BM/107.9 (Madison) has switched its input signal to WERN-HD2, delivered via fiber optic cable, following the network’s May 20 realignment. W300BM had previously relayed WHA/970. WERN-HD2 is also relayed on W213CE/90.5 (Madison), transmitting from the same tower as W300BM.
A belated note that the four-year requirement for W256CZ/99.1 (Stevens Point) to relay WLBL/930 (Auburndale), which was a condition of the translator’s move during the AM revitalization window, ended in 2021.
The Salvation Poem Foundation has applied to modify the construction permit for future station WEQM/91.5 (Melrose). The change would keep the planned transmitter site southeast of Black River Falls but switch from a directional to a non-directional antenna, reducing power from 50kW to 6.5kW.
Mukwonago Baptist Church has requested the callsign KRMN-LP for its future low-power station on 100.3 in Mukwonago. If approved, it would be a rare case of a “K” callsign being granted in southeastern Wisconsin.
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.