The years-long fight over which Twin Cities broadcaster should get an upgrade ended quietly on Sept. 5 with the FCC grant of one application and dismissal of the other.
The action comes after Park Public Radio and the Central Baptist Theological Seminary reached a settlement agreement.
The agreement, submitted to the FCC on August 29, called for Park Public Radio to withdraw its application for a facility change by KPPS-LP/97.5 (St. Louis Park), allowing for the grant of an upgrade to Central Baptist Theological Seminary’s K250BY/97.9 (Plymouth).
The document states Central Baptist will provide Park Public Radio “consideration not to exceed its reasonable and prudent expenses incurred in conjunction with the preparation, filing, and prosecution of its application.” The agreement caps the payment at $50,000, though an itemized list of expenses included in the document totals $60,400.
K250BY has now been granted a construction permit to move its transmitter from its present site in Plymouth to the IDS Center in Minneapolis, using 250 Watts with a directional antenna limiting the signal to the north and south. The KPPS-LP application has been dismissed.
The FCC had originally granted K250BY’s application but reverted it to pending status in early August after reversing an earlier decision that KPPS-LP’s application had been filed too soon. KPPS-LP had proposed moving its transmitter to Minneapolis and changing frequency to 97.7.
Both stations sought to take over spectrum previously used by KQEP-LP/97.9 (St. Paul). KQEP-LP’s license expired April 1, 2021 after it did not seek renewal.
K250BY relays Central Baptist’s WCTS/1030 (Maplewood).
This article was originally posted Aug. 30 and updated Sept. 6.