The FCC has found that a small-town North Dakota FM radio station’s license has expired after its competitor raised questions about when it returned to the air.
Synergy Broadcast North Dakota’s KLTQ/97.9 (Beulah) had gone silent on August 15, 2018, citing financial reasons. Federal law required KLTQ to return to the air by Aug. 16, 2019, at 12:01 a.m.
Synergy initially filed a resumption of operations notice stating that KLTQ had returned to the air on August 15, 2019. However, Digital Syndicate Network, the owner of KDKT/1410 (Beulah), alleged that KLTQ did not actually return to the air on that date, and Synergy later said that it had not returned until August 16.
Synergy asked the FCC to use its rarely-used discretion to grant a waiver of the one-year rule, stating that it encountered “circumstances beyond its control” including difficulty finding a tower crew and rain that made the tower site inaccessible.
The FCC determined that KLTQ’s situation does not meet its narrow criteria for a waiver, which has only been granted in cases of natural disasters or other circumstances beyond the licensee’s control. Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner writes:
[D]espite being aware of the need to find a new tower on which to mount the Station’s antenna, Synergy did not begin its search for a new tower until at least mid-May 2019, and did not attempt to line up a tower crew until August 12, 2019. This allowed a mere three days for Synergy to hire a tower crew, and have the crew arrive on site and perform the necessary work. Even with such a tight timeline, Synergy did not indicate it had a contingency plan such as to seek STA to operate with temporary facilities to save the Station’s license.
It appears Synergy will have an opportunity to appeal the FCC’s decision before its callsign is changed to DKLTQ.
KLTQ first signed on in 2008 and was licensed as a class A (6kW/100m) station. It was last known to have relayed KDKT’s Sports format before it went silent in 2018. DSN once had a deal to buy KLTQ but it was never consummated; FCC filings indicate KDKT signed on FM translator K293CS/106.5 around the same time KLTQ went off the air.
Beulah is a community of about 3,000 people that’s 60 miles northwest of Bismarck by air. Translators relaying KDKT and a Mandan Christian radio station provide the only city-grade FM signals to the community.