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.
National
The FCC granted a declaratory ruling allowing foreign interests to hold up to 100% of Alpha Media Holdings. The ownership changes are an outgrowth of the company’s bankruptcy reorganization. New Alpha asked the FCC to use its discretion to allow it to exceed the 25% foreign ownership cap set in the Communications Act. There was no opposition to the petition. Alpha’s holdings include 17 radio stations in Iowa, 14 in Minnesota, 11 in Nebraska, 15 in South Dakota, and two in Wisconsin.
Iowa
Less than a month after the applications were filed, the FCC has given formal approval to a trio of frequency changes that will create a new core Des Moines FM signal. VCY America’s KVDI/99.3 (Huxley) will move to 99.5 and upgrade to 50kW/146m from a site on the east side of Des Moines. Meanwhile, Eldora Broadcasting’s KDAO-FM/99.5 (Eldora) will move to 92.9 and get a slight power boost to 6kW and VCYs unbuilt construction permit for KVPI/92.9 (Rockford) will move to 94.7 with 3.1kW/65m. An application to move displaced translator K224FM/92.7 (Grundy Center) to 94.3 remains pending.
The FCC has entered consent decrees with Gendreau Broadcast LLC over alleged violations at KCLN/1390 (Clinton) and KMCN/94.7 (Clinton). The licensee will pay civil penalties of $6,000 for KCLN and $3,000 for KMCN, which are less than the $11,000 and $8,000, respectively, that had originally been proposed in notices of apparent liability. As previously reported here, the concerns had to do with the stations’ online public inspection files and KCLN operating at reduced power without special temporary authority.
A2Z Broadcasting’s KLGZ/1600 (Algona) returned to full power on Sept. 23. The station had reported in May that it was using reduced power at night due to a problem switching to its nighttime directional pattern. It is licensed for 1kW directional daytime and 500 Watts directional at night.
Minnesota
The FCC granted Christensen Broadcasting’s K257FP/99.3 (Pipestone) a construction permit to change its antenna and reduce power slightly from 250 to 205 Watts.
Central Baptist Theological Seminary’s K250BY/97.9 (Plymouth) has requested a second extension of tolling of its construction permit to move to the IDS Center. The current tolling ends Oct. 12, at which point the countdown clock for the construction permit to be implemented would begin. The move remains mired in administrative judicial review as KPPS-LP/97.5 (St. Louis Park) battles for an upgrade instead. (For the long background, see this story and links to several updates at the bottom of the post.)
Nebraska
Gray TV’s KSTF/10 (Scottsbluff) returned to the air at full power on Sept. 25 after earlier trouble with its transmission line.
After an earlier approval of the change to the table of allotments, the FCC has issued a formal construction permit giving Nebraska Public Media’s KUON-TV/12.1 (Lincoln) final approval to move its RF broadcast from channel 12 to 27. The move from VHF to UHF will improve reception with indoor antennas. KUON-TV will use 650kW at 253m above average terrain on channel 27, continuing to transmit from its site midway between Lincoln and Omaha.
With the KUON-TV move finalized, the FCC also granted construction permits for displaced low-power TV stations KFDY-LD/27 (Lincoln) to move to channel 34 and KOHA-LD/27 (Omaha) to move to channel 30. As noted here previously, KFDY-LD will also get a power boost from 3.65kW to 15kW as part of the change.
The FCC approved a modification to the planned facilities for future MyBridge Radio station KNPE/88.5 (North Platte) to specify 100kW vertical only at 98m. The original construction permit had been for 100kW vertical 700 Watts horizontal at 128m.
South Dakota
The FCC granted Prairie Winds Broadcasting’s K251CX/98.1 (Milbank) a construction permit to move its transmitter from its present site at South Shore to a site south of Watertown, improving its coverage of the city.
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.