Two Tiny Stations Go Off Air, Several Report Tech Difficulties

Posted on by Jon Ellis

There’s been a trickle of FCC filings seeking requests for special temporary authority this winter, including:

KFNK/89.5 (Franklin, MN), KNEF/90.1 (Franklin, NE), and several other stations owned by South Central Oklahoma Christian Broadcasting reported that they went off the air at the beginning of February for financial reasons. Filings say the licensee “cannot acquire enough donations to keep the station[s] on the air” and that it is in the process of selling them to another non-commercial group. KFNK and KNEF have both been licensed since 2013 as 100-Watt stations.

The normally big nighttime signal of KRVN/880 (Lexington, NE) is temporarily smaller than usual, according to a Feb. 5 filing. KRVN normally uses 50kW nondirectional daytime and 50kW directional at night, with the nighttime signal shooting west. The filing says the apparatus that switches to the night pattern was damaged by an electrical miswiring at the transmitter site. The station is temporarily using 5kW nondirectional at night until replacement equipment can be installed. KRVN is the flagship station of the Nebraska Rural Radio Association.

Townsquare Media’s KJOC/93.5 (Bettendorf-Quad Cities) has been operating at half of its usual 6kW since early January due to a “major transmitter malfunction.”

Wennes Communications Stations’ KDEC/1240 (Decorah) will eventually be broadcasting from a temporary site after the site of its licensed facility is sold. The station currently uses 1kW and is seeking approval to temporarily broadcast with 250 Watts from the site of sister station KVIK/104.7 (Decorah) while it seeks a permanent site. The station says it is still using its licensed 1kW facility as of Feb. 18.