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.
Iowa
The Waldorf Lutheran College Foundation’s Waldorf Acquisition LLC is buying KZOW/91.9 (Forest City) as part of its purchase of the assets of Waldorf College from Mayes Education. No price for the student-run station was specified in documents filed with the FCC.
Sinclair TV translator KBVK-LP (Spencer) applied for a construction permit to permanently remain on channel 20, which it has been using since being displaced from channel 21 several years ago. It relays FOX/CBS affiliate KPTH (Sioux City), reaching Spirit Lake, Estherville, and Emmetsburg with a 6.8kW signal.
Fieldview Broadcasting’s KWBG/1590 (Boone) reported that it has been using 500 Watts non-directional at night, rather than its licensed 500-Watt directional nighttime facility, due to unspecified technical issues. The FCC responded with a letter granting special temporary authority to transmit with 125 Watts non-directional at night in accordance with a rule that directional stations can use emergency non-directional facilities at one-quarter of licensed power. KWBG continues to transmit with 1kW non-directional during the day.
Meanwhile, Fieldview’s KZWC/1570 (Webster City) was granted special temporary authority to use its 137-Watt nighttime signal 24 hours per day. The station’s request said the temporary reduction from 232 Watts during the day is due to unspecified technical reasons.
Michigan
Aurora Media’s W280GB/103.9 (Escanaba) reported that it has completed the move of its transmitter to Gladstone, remaining 250 Watts. An earlier application indicated that W280GB would change its input from WDBC/680 to the HD2 signal of WYKX/104.7.
Minnesota
Carpenter Broadcasting closed on its purchase of WZBY/92.7 (Grand Portage) from Multi-Cultural Diversity Radio on Sept. 13 and also submitted a notification that the station was off the air as of Sept. 12. Carpenter Broadcasting is a partnership of Dennis Carpenter and his son, Lucas Carpenter.
On Sept. 15, Carpenter Broadcasting closed on its purchase of WLKX-FM/95.9 (Forest Lake) and KBGY/107.5 (Faribault) and the remaining 75% of KLCI/106.1 (Elk River) and WQPM/1300 (Princeton) from companies owned by the D.M. Peters Family Trust.
Edge Spectrum filed an amendment to its license to cover application for K25QC-D (Lake Crystal), saying the station “transmitted broadcast signals” but had to shut down due to problems with its transmission line. Edge requested that the FCC “hold its pending License to Cover application in abeyance and/or for temporary authority to remain silent.”
Nebraska
With its license to cover now formally granted, KEZL/89.7 (Culbertson) has applied for a future upgrade from 6kW to 32kW. It had previously sought a similar modification but then withdrew the application before signing on last month, instead constructing the station’s initial facility at 6kW.
Edge Spectrum requested cancellation of its construction permit for new low-power TV station K16NO-D (Beatrice/Fairbury), which had not been built. The permit was first granted to EICB-TV East in 2012 and transferred to Edge in 2017.
DTV America’s KQMK-LD/20 (Omaha) reported that it has returned to its fully-licensed power of 10kW after resolving HVAC issues.
North Dakota
The FCC formally approved a construction permit to BEK Sports Network for the new TV station on channel 27 in Grand Forks that it won in the recent auction. The station will transmit with 48.5kW/102m from a tower in Grand Forks and will be able to exert must-carry rights on cable and satellite providers across the Fargo market.
Fargo Baptist Church was granted a modification to the construction permit for KCBJ/90.7 (Jamestown) to increase power from 260 to 550 Watts and move to a taller tower southeast of town.
South Dakota
Prairie Winds Broadcasting’s KSDN/930 (Aberdeen) has submitted an application for a license to cover its new 1kW day/270 Watts night non-directional facility, replacing a four-tower directional array damaged by lightning a decade ago. The station had been operating with 1.25kW day and 250 Watts night, non-directional, under special temporary authority. It had used 5kW day and 1kW night, with different day and night directional patterns, prior to the lightning strike. Its filing says two of the towers have been removed and the others have been detuned.
Wisconsin
The FCC formally approved a construction permit to Weigel Broadcasting’s TV-49 Inc. for the new TV station on channel 31 in Wittenberg that it won in the recent auction. The station will transmit with 17kW/96m from a tower just outside Wittenberg, also reaching Shawano and Clintonville, and will be able to exert must-carry rights on cable and satellite providers across the Green Bay market.
The FCC also formally approved a construction permit to Gray TV for channel 26 in Eagle River following the auction. The station will use 80kW/161m, matching the facilities of sister station WYOW/34.1 (RF 28, Eagle River), reaching Rhinelander and Tomahawk. It will be able to exert must-carry rights on cable and satellite providers across the Wausau-Rhinelander market.
The Salvation Poem Foundation applied to change the frequency of future station WEQC/103.1 (Crandon) to 103.9. The station would stay at its planned transmitter site in Crandon but increase power slightly from 2.85kW to 3.3kW and use an antenna that allows slightly more coverage to the southwest.
Civic Media closed on its purchase of WRCO-FM/100.9, WRCE/1450, and W299CD/107.7 (Richland Center) from Fruit Broadcasting on Sept. 15. As previously reported Friday, the ownership change was accompanied by a format change at WRCE/W299CD.
UW-Platteville’s WSUP/90.5 (Platteville) informed the FCC that it returned to the air on Sept. 11.
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.