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.
The FCC will vote Aug. 6 on whether to drop the 39% national ownership cap for full-power TV licenses and replace it with case-by-case analysis. (As previously explained here, the analog-era UHF Discount means the current ownership cap is much higher in actual practice.) Here is the FCC’s fact sheet on what is up for a vote.
The FCC issued its quarterly station totals, as of June 30. After multiple reports about AM stations shutting down, it’s probably not a surprise that the total number of AM stations fell by 60 from one year earlier. But it may be surprising to some that the number of commercial FM stations has also fallen, down 42 over the year. That was offset by an increase of 117 non-commercial stations since last year, largely due to new signals signing on in rural areas. The number of new full-power TV stations rose by ten over the year. When all full-power, low-power, and translator stations on AM, FM, and TV are counted, the total number of licenses rose by only seven, year-over-year.
Minnesota
HC2 Station Group’s K33LN-D (Minneapolis) and DTV America’s KMBD-LD/43.1 (Minneapolis) report they went off the air July 4 due to a power issue at their transmitter site. The stations have requested special temporary authority to remain silent.
iHeartMedia’s KFAN/1270 (Rochester) has been granted an extension of special temporary authority to operate at reduced power at night. As previously reported, the issue is a failure in the system that switches between daytime and nighttime antenna patterns. Normally 5kW day and 1kW night, KFAN is using 250 Watts at night with the daytime pattern.
Nebraska
Walnut Media’s WOW/590 (Omaha) has applied to move its transmitter to the KCRO/660 site, reducing power slightly from 5kW to 4.75kW. It would remain non-directional day and night. Previous owner SummitMedia told the FCC earlier this year that WOW’s longtime transmitter site, in use since 1936, has been sold. WOW returned to the air earlier this month.
Connoisseur Media closed on its purchase of five stations in the Omaha market from NRG Media on July 13. They include KQKQ-FM/98.5 (Council Bluffs), KOPW/106.9 (Plattsmouth), KZOT/1180 (Bellevue), KOIL/1290 (Omaha), and KOZN/1620 (Bellevue).
Gray Media’s K33FF-D (Wallace, Etc.) went off the air July 16 due to a technical issue. K33FF relays KNPL-LD/10.1 (North Platte).
Wisconsin
Family Radio/Loam Media’s WMWK/88.1 (Milwaukee) submitted a notification that it has activated an HD Radio signal.
Cumulus Media’s WNAM/1280 (Neenah-Menasha) requested a six-month extension of special temporary authority to remain silent, telling the FCC, “discussions about whether to change the format or sell the Station continue.” WNAM went silent Dec. 31, 2025.
Mazur LLC’s WBDK/96.7 (Algoma) was granted special temporary authority to transmit at reduced power of 250 Watts after early July storms damaged the station’s transmitter. WBDK normally transmits with 8kW/164m (class C3).
Scripps’ WACY-TV/32.1 (Appleton-Green Bay) has applied to move its antenna higher, rising from 297 to 344 meters anove average terrain, and increase power from 85kW to 98kW.
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.