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
Fieldview Broadcasting’s KWBG/1590 (Boone) notified the FCC that it returned to full-power operation of 1kW day and 500 Watts night on Sept. 21.
Fieldview’s KZWC/1570 (Webster City) requested an extension of special temporary authority to operate at reduced power of 137 Watts day and night for unspecified technical reasons.
The FCC approved Calvary Chapel Iowa’s sale of KEWR-LP/97.5 (Cedar Rapids) to Friendship Baptist Church for $1. Calvary Chapel Iowa has a construction permit for new station KEWR-FM/89.9 (Cedar Rapids) and must divest the low-power license before signing on the full-power station.
Minnesota
Prairie Public Broadcasting has returned the license of K202BK/88.3 (Thief River Falls), which was displaced by new station KTGT/88.3 (Thief River Falls), owned by We Have This Hope Christian Radio. K202BK had been on the air since 1990 and did not seek a frequency change.
Herbert M. Hoppe Revocable Trust’s WMIN/1010 (Sauk Rapids-St. Cloud) submitted a license to cover application requesting program test authority for changes that include an upgrade of its daytime power from 1.7kW to 2.5kW, while its nighttime power was changed slightly from 240 to 230 Watts. It is also making changes to its daytime directional pattern that improve the signal to the west and southwest during the day.
Nebraska
The FCC granted Theatre Organ Preservation of Nebraska’s KEZL/89.7 (Culbertson) a construction permit to upgrade from 6kW to 15kW vertical only, and the station submitted a license to cover application the next day (Oct. 11) indicating that the new facility is operating under program test authority. KEZL continues to use an antenna mounted 102 meters above average terrain.
The FCC approved the callsign KNNE-FM for Nebraska Public Media’s future station on 90.7 in McCook. The callsign could not be assigned to the McCook station until the U.S. Coast Guard informed the FCC that the vessel Bangor was no longer using it.
CSN International’s recently-acquired KNEF/90.1 (Franklin) was granted special temporary authority to transmit with 80 Watts, rather than its licensed 100 Watts, from a nearby temporary site. The station went silent Oct. 24, 2022, under its previous owner and faces a one-year statutory deadline to return to the air. The station’s filing says it is continuing to look for a permanent location.
South Dakota
The Educational Media Foundation returned the license of K204EO/88.7 (Yankton), which was displaced by co-owned KLRK-FM/88.7 (Yankton) last fall.
Wisconsin
Morgan Murphy Media’s WKBT/8.1 (La Crosse) reported that it has completed an upgrade from 25.7kW to 38.7kW.
The FCC granted a license to cover for W17ET-D, which is licensed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but actually transmits from a tower near Darlington, WI, with 6.7kW. The application had been pending for six months, longer than normal for such an application, and was approved Oct. 12 with a special condition that it operate with the newly-licensed facility continuously for at least 12 months. 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. The issue came to light when owner Roseland Broadcasting attempted to modify the permit to specify a site closer to Madison; the FCC said the permit could not be moved any closer to the capital city.
Wyoming
KWBB/104.5 (Upton), which normally reaches the northern Black Hills in South Dakota, reports that it resumed full-time broadcasting on Oct. 12 at 7 a.m. but is only able to operate at half-power while it awaits the return of a tube that is being rebuilt. It was granted special temporary authority to operate at the reduced power level.
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.