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.
Iowa
Following a March 31 tower collapse during a tornado, iHeartMedia’s KKRQ/100.7 (Iowa City-Cedar Rapids) has applied for an auxiliary facility using 1.8kW/192m from its studio site in Cedar Rapids.
Minnesota
Central Baptist Theological Seminary’s K250BY/97.9 (Plymouth) was granted continue tolling of the deadline to relocate its transmitter to the IDS Center in Minneapolis as Park Public Radio’s challenge to the FCC decision continues.
One Day Church Project and Southern Minnesota Catholic Radio filed a joint petition for reconsideration asking the FCC to vacate its earlier grant of a new station on 88.7 in Mankato to ODCP. Instead, the groups want the FCC to consider a joint settlement that would also allow SMCR to be granted a new station on 88.9 in Waseca. The petition says the two groups were unable to reach a settlement prior to the FCC action. The petition does not specify how the proposed facilities would be modified.
Wisconsin
Civic Media’s WBZH/910 (Hayward) requested special temporary authority to operate at reduced power of 1kW day and 75 Watts night and informed the FCC that it returned to the air April 2 using those facilities. The filing says it will return to full power of 5kW daytime when site conditions are dry enough to allow heavy equipment to reinstall the repaired 5kW transmitter.
Civic Media closed on its purchase of WRPQ/740 (Baraboo), W259BC/99.7 (Baraboo), and W279EG/103.7 (Baraboo-Reedsburg) from Baraboo Broadcasting on March 31.
Roseland Broadcasting reported that new low-power TV station W17ET-D, which is licensed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but transmits from a tower near Darlington, WI, has been constructed as authorized. (The permit was previously known as K17OO-D.) The license to cover application was filed two days after the FCC approved a modification to the construction permit specifying a 6.7kW facility from the Darlington site. The amendment replaced a previous proposed modification that would have moved the transmitter to Mount Horeb. As reported here previously, the FCC has said that the original permit was issued in error because the specified site was too close to Madison under rules at the time of the initial grant, and said the permit could not be moved any closer to Madison.
Disclosure: Jon Ellis was an employee of Gray Media Group at the time this item was posted. The statements and views expressed in this posting are his own and do not reflect those of Gray Media Group.