June 2016

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Midwest Communications is buying the construction permit for a future FM translator in Sioux Falls from Horizon Christian Fellowship for $35,000. The FCC application to transfer the license states Midwest will use K258CU/99.5 to relay its KELO/1320. KELO's News/Talk format is already simulcast on KELQ/107.9 (Flandreau-Sioux Falls), but its rimshot signal is not as strong in Sioux Falls as other stations. Midwest already has another translator, K251BH/98.1, relaying the Sports format of KWSN/1230. (6/29/2016)

MINNESOTA:
Midwest Communications is buying another FM translator to use for one of its AM stations in Duluth. The deal calls for Midwest to pay David M. Stout $47,500 for W269CV (Chippewa Falls, WI). The application to transfer the license, filed with the FCC, states that Midwest will apply to move the translator license to Duluth on an undisclosed FM frequency to relay KDAL/610 (Duluth). Regular readers may recall that Midwest has also purchased a translator in Moose Lake, MN, and obtained a construction permit to move it to Duluth as W251CD/98.1 to relay WDUL/970 (Superior-Duluth). W251CD is not yet on the air. (6/28/2016)

IOWA:
Riverfront Broadcasting has changed the formats at its two recently-purchased stations in Keokuk. KOKX/1310 has dropped Soft Oldies for Country, while WCEZ/93.9 (Carthage, IL-Keokuk) has dropped Adult Contemporary for Classic Hits as "Z93." The formats also stream through a new website, radiokeokuk.com. Under previous ownership, KOKX and WCEZ had been sisters to FM stations carrying Classic Hits and Classic Rock formats, but they were sold to the non-profit Educational Media Foundation. KOKX-FM/95.3 (Keokuk) is currently silent but is slated to carry the "K-Love" Contemporary Christian network, while KRNQ/96.3 (Keokuk) is carrying the Spanish Christian "La Nueva Vida" network. (6/27/2016)

MINNESOTA:
Leighton Radio Holdings is buying an FM translator that it intends to move to Fergus Falls under the AM revitalization window. Leighton will pay iHeartMedia $20,000 for K253BK/98.5 (East Grand Forks). K253BK recently signed on and has been heard relaying KKEQ/107.1 (Fosston). The application states that Leighton will move it to 92.1 in Fergus Falls to relay KJJK/1020, which currently carries a Sports format. (6/27/2016)

MINNESOTA:
Cumulus Media has "parked" another out-of-state heritage callsign in Minnesota, changing the callsign of WGVZ/105.7 (Eden Prairie-Minneapolis) to WWWM-FM. The callsign had been used for several decades in the Toledo, Ohio, market until Cumulus changed the former WWWM-FM/105.5 (Sylvania) to WQQO last week. The new WWWM-FM continues to carry the "Vibe" Classic Hip-Hop and R&B format in simulcast with suburban signals WGVX/105.1 (Lakeville) and WRXP/105.3 (Cambridge). 105.7 is the core station of the trimulcast, transmitting from the IDS Center in Minneapolis. WRXP is another "parked" callsign, having been used in New York City until 2013. The WGVZ callsign had been a holdover from the short-lived "V105" format that aired on the stations in 2001. (6/26/2016)

NEBRASKA:
KOAQ/690 (Terrytown-Scottsbluff) and FM translator K269DO/101.7 (Scottsbluff) have stopped carrying the "Juan" Spanish Variety Hits format and are advertising "El Toro" as coming soon on their website. As of Wednesday (6/22), KOAQ was silent and K269DO was on open carrier. The stations are operated by Armada Media's Bluffs Broadcasting. (6/26/2016)

MINNESOTA:
250-Watt FM translator K299BT/107.7 (Albany) has signed on, relaying KASM/1150. KASM owner Starcom moved the translator up from Iowa under the FCC's AM revitalization filing window. KASM carries an information-heavy format featuring Country and Old Time music.

Meanwhile, K277AS (Big Lake-Princeton) has moved from 103.3 to 106.9 as W295BZ. It transmits from Princeton and relays the Oldies format of WQPM/1300 (Princeton), which is owned by Milestone Radio, a sister company to Starcom. The translator got a slight upgrade to 170 Watts and the frequency change allows it to escape fringe area interference from another translator on 103.3 to the west and a low-power FM station on 103.3 to the east. (6/21/2016)

MINNESOTA:
KKCK/99.7 (Marshall) tells the FCC in a request for special temporary authority that it does not plan to rebuild the top of its tower near Lake Benton after weather-related damage. The station had reported a partial tower collapse last December. KKCK had formerly used 100kW at 282m and is now seeking to use 100kW at 253m permanently, retaining its class C1 status. The downgrade will only remove a few miles from KKCK's main coverage area, which will continue to include Brookings, South Dakota, but its fringe signal to Sioux Falls will be slightly reduced. KKCK carries Contemporary Hits and is owned by the Linder family's KMHL Broadcasting. (6/21/2016)

NEBRASKA:
KFKX/90.1 (Hastings) may not be going off the air permanently, after all. As earlier mentioned here, local TV stations had reported that Hastings College had decided to let the station's license expire, though the license is actually valid until 2021. The college has now filed a notification of suspension of operations revealing that it is considering the sale of the license, rather returning it and taking the frequency off the air permanently. The filing says KFKX will go silent June 30 because "Hastings College is no longer certain that the radio station should be part of its academic world." (6/21/2016)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
The Calvary Chapel of the Black Hills' KFND-LP (Rapid City) has completed its move from 97.1 to 98.3. It had faced interference from South Dakota Public Broadcasting's KPSD/97.1 (Faith), a pre-existing station, on its old frequency. (6/21/2016)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
The FCC is taking comments on whether to allot an FM frequency for tribal use in north-central South Dakota. According to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has proposed alloting 93.5 to Eagle Butte as a class C1 station. The tribe has applied for a station on the frequency using 100kW/203m, which would cover a large area of tribal lands that have few FM listening options. The FCC is taking comments on the proposed allotment through Aug. 8 as detailed in the NPRM. (6/20/2016)

WISCONSIN:
Nationally-syndicated programming will replace "Whad'Ya Know?" on Wisconsin Public Radio's weekend schedule when the longtime Madison-based show ends production, but the network's new schedule announcement says it's working to develop new Wisconsin-based weekend programming. "Ask Me Another" and "Says You!" will take over WYK's Saturday 10 a.m. to Noon timeslot on the Ideas Network beginning July 2. Meanwhile, "The Whad'Ya Know? Radio Hour" will be replaced by "The Best of Car Talk" on the Ideas Network Sunday at 11 a.m. (moving from Noon Saturday), and by an additional hour of "Weekend Edition" on the NPR News & Classical Music network Saturdays at 9 a.m. The Ideas Network is also making other changes to its weekend lineup, adding "Travel with Rick Steves," "Podcast Playlist," and "Only A Game." Leaving the schedule are "The TED Radio Hour" and a second airing of "This American Life." (6/18/2016)

IOWA/MICHIGAN/WISCONSIN:
More digital TV subchannels are coming to a half-dozen Upper Midwest markets as a result of a newly-announced deal between Nexstar Broadcasting and Katz Broadcasting. Nexstar stations will add some of the networks distributed by Katz: Grit, Escape, Laff, and Bounce. Nexstar's stations include WFRV (Green Bay), WLAX (La Crosse) and satellite WEUX (Chippewa Falls-Eau Claire), WJMN (Escanaba-Marquette), WOI and KCWI (Ames-Des Moines), WHBF (Rock Island-Quad Cities) and KGCW (Burlington-Quad Cities), and KCAU (Sioux City). It hasn't been announced exactly which networks will be carried by which stations or when they will launch. (6/16/2016)

MICHIGAN:
The FCC has granted WCUP/105.7 (L'Anse) a transmitter move which will improve its signal to Houghton but weaken its signal to rural areas south of L'Anse. WCUP will join sister station WGLI/98.7 (Hancock-Houghton) on its tower in Hancock, with each station using 100kW/176m. (That reflects a slight increase in antenna height for WGLI from its current 100kW/159m.) WCUP "Eagle Country" and WGLI "The Rockin' Eagle" are owned by the Keewanaw Bay Indian Community. The KBIC had also applied to add a new station on 106.5 licensed to Baraga in 2014 using tribal priority, but the FCC rejected that application last year for being too close to an unused Canadian allotment. (6/15/2016)

NEBRASKA:
KBPY/107.7 (Hay Springs-Chadron) has returned to full power nearly a year after a lightning strike destroyed its antenna. The station, owned by Kathleen Brown's Chadrad Communications, uses 50kW/142m and carries a Rock format. It had been using 42 Watts from Chadron since last August's storm. (6/15/2016)

NORTH DAKOTA:
Christian Heritage Broadcasting has returned the license for K252CW/98.3 (Ellendale). No reason for the decision was given in a surrender letter. The organization owns the Minnesota-based "Praise FM" network. (6/15/2016)

IOWA/MINNESOTA:
KIMT/3.1 (Mason City-Rochester) is getting its fourth owner in four years as a result of a national media deal. The station, currently owned by Media General, is among five that will be sold to USA Television MidAmerica Holdings, LLC for $115 million. Nexstar is in the process of buying Media General and is divesting the stations to gain federal approval of the merger. KIMT carries CBS on 3.1, MyNetworkTV on 3.2, and ION on 3.3. (6/13/2016)

IOWA/NEBRASKA/WISCONSIN:
Several Upper Midwest markets are affected by a national dispute between Tribune Broadcasting and DISH Network. WITI (FOX-Milwaukee), WHO (NBC-Des Moines), and WQAD (ABC-Moline) left DISH on Sunday evening as a the retransmission consent agreement between the two parties expired. The dispute also affects WGN America, Denver stations seen in much of western Nebraska (KWGN-CW and KDVR-FOX), and feeds of KWGN, KTLA, and WPIX seen in DISH's grandfathered SuperStation package. (6/13/2016)

IOWA:
Coloff Media, LLC is buying an FM translator to use for its KCNZ/1650 (Cedar Falls-Waterloo), which carries a Sports format. Coloff will pay Starboard Broadcasting $20,000 for K293CH/106.5 (Waterloo). The permit for the 250-Watt translator doesn't expire until 2019. It will be Coloff's second AM-on-FM translator in the Waterloo market; the company already owns K286CI/105.1 (Waverly-Waterloo) relaying Oldies-formatted KCFI/1250 (Cedar Falls-Waterloo). The company has one full-power FM station in the Waterloo market, "Mix 93.5" (KCVM Hudson). (6/9/2016)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Homeslice Media Group's KKLS/920 (Rapid City) tells the FCC a new power line may have caused changes to its antenna pattern and it may have to downgrade as a result. KKLS normally uses 5kW daytime and 111 Watts nighttime with the same directional pattern day and night. The station says in a request for special temporary authority that a new Western Area Power Administration line was constructed a quarter-mile away from its two-tower array. After the construction, engineers noticed that one monitoring point was well above its limit and another was well below the limit. They believe the power line's metal structures are causing changes to KKLS' antenna pattern. The station has dropped its daytime power to 3.2kW and its nighttime power to 70 Watts. The filing says that due to "the difficulty in terms of time and financial resources," it's anticipated that KKLS will seek a non-directional pattern at a reduced power level. KKLS carries the syndicated "Smash Hits" `80s and `90s format and is rebroadcast on K284BA/104.7 (Rapid City). (6/8/2016)

IOWA:
Cornerstone Community Radio is buying K285GR/104.9 (Burlington) from the American Family Association for $30,000. The 50-Watt translator is not yet on the air and faces a Dec. 5 construction deadline. The application states it will relay Cornerstone's KMDY/90.9 (Keokuk), which carries Christian programming from a studio in Carthage, IL. (6/8/2016)

NORTH DAKOTA:
KKWZ/95.3 (Rugby) signed on Monday (6/6), according to its Facebook page. The station carries an Adult Contemporary format and is a sister to Country-formatted KZZJ/1450. It's the first FM signal to deliver a city-grade signal to Rugby. Rugby Broadcasters bought KKWZ and moved it west from Crary, where it had never operated other than for program testing. To "backfill," KQZZ/96.7 agreed to change its community of license from Devils Lake to Crary but continues to use the same facility. (6/7/2016)

WISCONSIN:
Wisconsin Public Radio has signed on W256CZ/99.1 (Stevens Point), bringing the Ideas Network to the FM band in the city. W256CZ was moved to Stevens Point with a waiver under the FCC's AM revitalization window to relay WLBL/930 (Auburndale). The translator signed on Friday (6/3) using 29 Watts from a tower west of Stevens Point. W256CZ is the former W272CN/102.3 (Ashland), which had been the only analog outlet for WPR's HD2 Classical service. W272CN, originally W275AF/102.9, was no longer needed after WPR constructed two full-power stations in the Chequamegon Bay area. (6/7/2016)

NEBRASKA:
"Lobo 97.7" (KBBX Nebraska City-Omaha) is temporarily operating at reduced power due to an antenna problem. KBBX normally uses 100kW/298m from a tower south of Omaha but has told the FCC that it's currently using 950W/40m from its studio site in southwest Omaha. The station, owned by Flood Communications of Omaha, says in a request for special temporary authority that its licensed antenna is malfunctioning, but that they hope the temporary facility will only be in operation for less than a month. KBBX carries a Regional Mexican format and the power reduction comes at a bad time, as iHeartMedia recently launched a direct competitor in the form of "El Patron" on K272FE/102.3 (Council Bluffs-Omaha) and KFFF-HD2. (6/6/2016)

NORTH DAKOTA:
Townsquare Media's KBYZ/96.5 (Bismarck) and KUSB/103.3 (Hazelton-Bismarck) are operating at reduced power due to antenna damage. In requests for special temporary authority filed with the FCC, the stations say their shared antenna was severely damaged by lightning on May 25. Replacement parts are on order. The current power level of the stations, which both normally broadcast with 100kW, was not specified. KBYZ carries Classic Rock as "The Fox" while KUSB is "US Country." (6/6/2016)

MINNESOTA:
WREY/630 (St. Paul) has apparently dropped plans to construct a new tower site in the southeast Twin Cities metro. Earlier this year, the FCC granted WREY a construction permit to use 5kW daytime and 1.6kW nighttime from a new three-tower directional array near the oil refinery in Rosemount. Now, WREY has applied to remain at its present site in Woodbury, upgrading daytime power from 1kW to 3kW and dropping nighttime power slightly from 2.5kW to 2.4kW, using the same directional pattern day and night. (The current situation is unusual, as there are very few AM stations that actually increase power at night.) The Woodbury array is shared with WCTS/1030 (Maplewood), which owns the site. WREY is owned by Greg Borgen's 630 Radio, Inc. and carries a Spanish-language format as "Radio Rey." (6/6/2016)

NORTH DAKOTA/MINNESOTA:
The entire state of North Dakota, plus northwestern Minnesota, has been without ABC on DirecTV since Thursday (6/2) due to a retransmission consent dispute between DirecTV and Forum Communications. Forum owns ABC affiliates WDAY-TV/6.1 (Fargo), WDAZ/8.1 (Devils Lake-Grand Forks), and KBMY/17.1 (Bismarck). The outage coincides with the NBA Finals on ABC, though the date of the outage actually resulted from the end of an extension of a carriage agreement that originally expired earlier this year. A Q&A posted on WDAY's website suggests that carriage of subchannels is among the issues in dispute. Besides the outage of ABC, WDAZ offers the only Grand Forks-based TV newscasts. (6/5/2016)

IOWA/WISCONSIN:
Gray TV is continuing its expansion across the Upper Midwest, buying WBAY-TV/2.1 (ABC, Green Bay) and KWQC/6.1 (NBC, Davenport) from Nexstar for $270 million. Ownership caps require Nexstar to spin off the two stations as part of its purchase of Media General because it already owns other top-four stations in the two markets. Gray says WBAY and KWQC are the top-rated stations on their markets. The company already owns stations in five markets that border on either Davenport or Green Bay. It will own stations in four markets in Wisconsin and two in Iowa once the deal is completed. (6/3/2016)

MANITOBA:
After initially being denied a chance to fulfill his lifelong dream of building a radio station, a Winnipeg man has been granted permission by a different regulator. Baldev Gill's CKYZ-FM/92.9 (Winnipeg) is now on the air testing with 50 Watts. The CRTC had denied Gill a license for a new 1.8kW (class A) station on 92.9 last year, saying that the proposed station's format would overlap with Dufferin Communications' CKJS/810 and that the market would be "highly challenged" to sustain a second ethnic station. But Gill later received permission from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to build a low-power station on 92.9. Gill told the Winnipeg Sun the station will be called Awaz 92.9 and will serve the East Indian community with at least 11 different languages per week. According to his original CRTC application, Gill was born in India and immigrated to Canada in 1969. He owns taxi, communications, propane, and auto repair businesses in Winnipeg and says he has had a passion for radio since childhood. 92.9 had previously been occupied in Winnipeg by Red River College/Cre-Comm Radio's CKIC-FM, which went silent in 2012. (6/2/2016)

NORTH DAKOTA/MINNESOTA:
Classic Hits outlet "92.7 The Drive" (KZDR Kindred-Fargo) has ended its format as another radio ownership shuffle begins in the Fargo market. On June 1, KZDR's Facebook page and website began referring listeners to a different Classic Hits outlet, "106.9 The Eagle" (KEGK Wahpeton-Fargo), since both stations are now owned by the same family. Robert Ingstad's Mediactive, LLC sold KZDR to Brooke Ingstad's Radio Wahpeton Breckenridge, which has obtained a construction permit to move KZDR south to Breckenridge, MN, to serve as a sister station to KBMW/1450. Meanwhile, Radio Wahpeton Breckenridge bought KEGK from Dakota Broadcasting. Separately, i3G Radio LLC -- owned by three members of the Ingstad family -- bought KQLX/890 (Lisbon) and KQLX-FM/106.1 (Lisbon-Fargo) from Dakota Broadcasting. Brooke Ingstad is also a minority partner with her father, James D. Ingstad, in Radio Fargo-Moorhead, which does business as Radio F-M Media, operating four full-power FM stations, two HD2-fed FM translators, and one AM station targetting Fargo-Moorhead. Almost every commercial radio station in the Fargo area has been sold at least once in recent years. (6/2/2016)

NEBRASKA/WYOMING/COLORADO:
Christian broadcaster KCMI (Terrytown-Scottsbluff) has completed its move from 96.9 to 97.1, ending a years-long dispute over whether it should be required to change frequency. The move, first proposed in 2007, will allow KIMX/96.7 (Laramie, WY) to move to 96.9 in Nunn, CO, reaching Fort Collins. KCMI's Facebook page indicates its frequency switch happened on May 17. KCMI continues to use the same 100kW/211m (class C1) facility as before, but fought the move over the feared loss of 65,000 potential fringe area listeners due to interference from KELN/97.1 (North Platte) and KBCO/97.3 (Boulder, CO). In a 2012 decision, the FCC said that fringe reception is not protected by FCC rules and protecting KCMI's fringe reception would "would wreak havoc with the system of FM station spacing." There are translators relaying KCMI's programming in Sidney and rural Rushville. (6/1/2016)