After a regulatory battle that lasted more than three years, Central Baptist Theological Seminary’s WCTS has completed a move of its FM signal to the IDS Center.
K250BY/97.9 (Minneapolis) submitted a license to cover application on Jan. 22 indicating that the new 250-Watt facility at IDS had begun operating under program test authority.
From the downtown site, K250BY uses a highly directional antenna to protect previously-existing stations in the far northern and southern metro. The move extends K250BY’s strong signal from Plymouth to Roseville.
K250BY first applied to move to IDS in 2021 following the license expiration of KQEP-LP/97.9 (St. Paul). Park Public Radio’s KPPS-LP/97.5 (St. Louis Park) filed a competing application to move its transmitter to Minneapolis and change frequency to 97.7.
After several years of back-and-forth, the two sides reached a settlement agreement in August 2024.
K250BY, relaying WCTS/1030 (Maplewood), first signed on in 2019 transmitting from WCTS’ studio site in Plymouth.
WCTS first launched on 100.3 (now KFXN-FM) in 1965. It moved to 1030 in 1993 when the original FM signal was sold for commercial broadcasting.