After losing to another applicant for a new western Iowa FM station, Catholic broadcaster St. Gabriel Communications is buying the winner’s construction permit.
An agreement filed with the FCC indicates St. Gabriel will pay Faith Lutheran Church $5,000 for the permit for a new station on 88.7 in Odebolt. Both parties had applied for the frequency and the FCC selected Faith Lutheran Church because its proposed facility will provide the first non-commercial service to more people than the St. Gabriel application would have.
As part of the application to assign the authorization, St. Gabriel certified that it will comply with a condition of the permit that requires the permittee/licensee to construct the station with facilities “substantially as proposed” and operate it for a period of at least four years.
The permit calls for a 100kW/51m (class C1) facility transmitting from a tower near Faith Lutheran Church in Odebolt, providing a rimshot signal to Denison and Carroll.
St. Gabriel Communications and co-managed Trinity Communications operate Iowa Catholic Radio, which is heard on three stations and one translator in central Iowa.
St. Gabriel Communications was granted construction permits for new stations in Albia, Mason City, and Stanley, Wis., as a result of the same filing window in which the Odebolt station was approved.