The only full-power FM radio station along North Dakota’s southwestern border with South Dakota is getting a new owner.
An asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC indicates Scott Zimmerman’s Sidestream Media is buying KZRN/102.3 (Hettinger) from Jeff Hallen’s HiRange Media Corp. for $40,000. The buyer and seller have no other broadcast interests.
KZRN signed on in 2017 with a playlist mixing Country and Classic Rock. It competes with a longtime Hettinger AM station that has an FM translator, as well as regional AM signals.
KZRN transmits with 7.5kW/66m (class C3), also delivering a fringe signal to the South Dakota communities of Lemmon and Bison.
The station’s original Nov. 4 FCC application to transfer the license was dismissed, apparently because the applicant answered “yes” to the question of whether it was a “pro forma” transaction. The application was resubmitted Dec. 3 with the “pro forma” question answered “no.”
This item was originally published in early November and was updated Nov. 10 and again Dec. 6 with new FCC activity.