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.
“…we are not persuaded by the sweeping claims that for the broadcast television industry to remain viable, broadcasters must be given greater opportunities to consolidate…”
FCC Report and Order, 2018 Quadrennial Regulatory Review (released Dec. 26, 2023)
The FCC has tightened regulations affecting local TV as part of its long-delayed review of ownership rules. While existing combinations will be grandfathered, the FCC says it will no longer allow broadcasters to circumvent “top four” rules by putting major network affiliations on subchannels or low-power stations. Existing combinations cannot be transferred to new owners without the FCC making a “case-by-case consideration” to allow such a transfer, similar to a procedure that has already been in place for full-power stations. The FCC noted that it approved three case-by-case requests for flexibility in 2018 and 2019.
The exact text of the new language is:
“Further, an entity will not be permitted through the execution of any agreement (or series of agreements) to acquire a network affiliation, directly or indirectly, if the change in network affiliation would result in the affiliation programming being broadcast from a television facility that is not counted as a station toward the total number of stations an entity is permitted to own under paragraph (b) of this section (e.g., a low power television station, a Class A television station, etc.) or on any television station’s video programming stream that is not counted separately as a station toward the total number of stations an entity is permitted to own under paragraph (b) of this section (e.g., non-primary multicast streams) and where the change in affiliation would violate this Note were such television facility counted or such video programming stream counted separately as a station toward the total number of stations an entity is permitted to own for purposes of paragraph (b) of this section.”
The FCC noted that its new rule does not apply to a network independently making a decision to move its affiliation from one station to another.
As for radio, the FCC did not make any changes other than dropping the word “interim” from the contour-based method that has been used to regulate ownership in unrated markets for decades. (The “interim” label had been attached when the FCC switched regulation of rated-market stations to market-based definitions rather than contours.)
LINK: FCC Report and Order, 2018 Quadrennial Regulatory Review (released Dec. 26, 2023)
Iowa
KM Radio of Independence’s KQMG/1220 and KQMG-FM/95.3 (Independence) reported that they returned to the air Dec. 29 and Dec. 28, respectively.
Des Moines-based St. Gabriel Communications applied to modify the planned facilities of future KCLG/88.7 (Odebolt) to move to a tower about ten miles east of Odebolt using 36kW/84m instead of the originally-permitted 100kW/51m. The original plan was for the station to transmit from Faith Lutheran Church, which later sold the authorization to St. Gabriel Communications. The new application replaces a previous application to use 40kW/84m from a tower just northeast of Odebolt. St. Gabriel says the proposed facility will still provide new non-commercial service to more than the minimum number of people required under the competitive process used to award the permit.
Michigan
West Central Michigan Media Ministries requested the callsigns WHFJ for its future station on 88.9 in Houghton and WGTM for its future station on 90.3 in Manistique.
Minnesota
EICB-TV East and Edge Spectrum submitted cancellation applications for K19MS-D (Alexandria), K14QM-D (Duluth), and K28QJ-D (Duluth). No reason was specified for returning the licenses.
Edge Spectrum requested tolling to extend the deadline for K44GH-D/K28PW-D (Alexandria) to return to the air until May 1, 2024. The station’s latest filing says Edge has procured all of the necessary equipment and arranged for a crew to install it, but does not yet have all of the permissions and authorizations to install equipment at the planned transmitter site.
Nebraska
Educational Media Foundation’s K211FN/90.1 (Norfolk), which was displaced by the sign-on of a new station on 90.1, has been granted a construction permit to move to 88.9 as K205GK. It will downgrade from 250 to 30 Watts.
Theatre Organ Preservation of Nebraska’s KEZL/89.7 (Culbertson-McCook) was granted special temporary authority to transmit with 11.5kW ERP, rather than its licensed 15kW, due to excessive heating in the station transmission line and harmonic filter.
Edge Spectrum submitted a cancellation application for K36MO-D (Lincoln). No reason was specified for returning the license.
North Dakota
Edge Spectrum submitted cancellation applications for K34LO-D (Bismarck), K09AAC-D (Fargo), and K10RQ-D (Fargo). No reason was specified for returning the licenses.
South Dakota
Prairie Winds Broadcasting closed on its purchase of K253AB/98.5 (Aberdeen) from Christian Heritage Broadcasting on Dec. 28. The buyer had already been operating the station under a local marketing agreement since August.
Disclosure: Jon Ellis is an employee of Gray Television. The statements and views expressed in this posting are my own and do not reflect those of Gray Television.