Winter Storm Knocks Down KDLO Tower in South Dakota (Updated)

The winter storm that moved through the Plains knocked down a 1,700-foot TV tower in northeastern South Dakota.

The tower near Garden City was owned by Nexstar and was home to the antennas for Nexstar CBS affiliate KDLO-TV/3.1 (Florence) and Alpha Media’s KDLO-FM/96.9 (Watertown). FCC records indicate the tower was constructed in 1978.

KELOLAND reported that the tower fell at 8:53 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, and an adjacent 800-foot tower fell later in the morning. (The station’s report on the height of the main tower differs from FCC records.)

There were no reports of injuries.

In a notification to the FCC, the station wrote, “Nexstar is exploring all options in restoring the Station to on-air operations, including a temporary facility, etc., but because of the severity of the damage it will take longer than 30 days for operations to resume.”

A separate notification reported that KDLO-TV translator K24DT-D (Aberdeen) is also off the air.

KDLO-TV is a satellite of KELO-TV/11.1 (Sioux Falls) and viewers can still find KELO programming on satellite and major cable providers.

The KDLO-TV signal normally reaches rural areas served by few other broadcast TV services. It’s one of four full-power transmitters carrying KELOLAND programming across South Dakota.

Meanwhile, KDLO-FM reported that it is back on the air using a backup facility closer to Watertown. Exact facilities are not immediately known.

The radio group’s engineer, Bruce Erlandson, was quoted as saying that buildings at the site were also damaged.

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.