September 2001

MINNESOTA:
Educational Media Foundation's 195-Watt KMKL/90.3 (North Branch) was on the air testing shortly Saturday night. The call letters of the station have been changed from KJLV, and the station will carry the K-Love format, not Air-1 as earlier thought. There are still a few small things left to be done before the station begins regular programming. (9/30/01)

MINNESOTA:
25kW KRJM/101.5 (Mahnomen) is on the air with a satellite-delivered Oldies format. The station appears to be co-operated with R&J Broadcasting's other station, KRJB/106.3 (Ada). (9/28/01)

MINNESOTA:
KS95 changed its positioner early this week to "Today's Best Variety without the rap." The music selection is sounding a little more current. (9/28/01)

MINNESOTA:
Miles Riker has taken over as program director and morning co-host at Kiss 92.1 (WWAX Hermantown-Duluth) after Paul Jirovetz left the business. Riker was last assistant PD and music director at WLOL/100.3 (Minneapolis). Kiss 92.1 has also added a Thursday night dance show. (9/28/01)

NEBRASKA:
Waitt Broadcasting's KOTD/1020 (Plattsmouth) has been granted a power bill upgrade from 1kW to 50kW day, with 1.4kW night. (The station is currently a daytimer.) Different directional patterns would be used day and night. With the upgrade, KOTD will have an excellent daytime signal in Omaha and Lincoln. (9/28/01)

IOWA:
Lisa Carponelli has joined WOI-TV/5 (Ames-Des Moines) as 5 and 10 p.m. anchor. (9/27/01)

NORTH DAKOTA:
Walters Broadcasting is buying KHND/1470 (Harvey) from Two Guys Broadcasting for $183,000. Walters has been running the station through a lease management agreement since August 15. (9/27/01)

MINNESOTA:
The FCC has cleared News Corporation's purchase of WFTC/29 (Minneapolis), satellite station KFTC/26 (Bemidji), and translators K27CW Rochester and K38CL Winona. NewsCorp, the parent company of FOX, already owns KMSP/9, and FOX programming is expected to eventually move from WFTC to KMSP. KMSP/WFTC will the third duopoly in the Twin Cities market: KSTP-TV/5 owns and operates KSTC/45, while KARE/11 operates KPXM/41. (9/27/01)

MINNESOTA:
Just a few months after buying KHME/101.1 (Winona), Family Radio is selling KHME to Jerry Papenfuss, which also owns the other four commercial radio stations in Winona. Papenfuss is already operating KHME under a time brokerage agreement. (9/27/01)

NEBRASKA:
Tracy Broadcasting's new 100kW blowtorch KAWQ/101.3 (Bridgeport) is apparently on the air, since the station has applied for a license to cover from the FCC. The format is unknown. Tracy Brodcasting's website has no mention of the station. (9/27/01)

NEBRASKA:
KQKY/105.9 (Kearney) should be getting out a little better, having recently moved its antenna from 306m to 367m above average terrain. (9/27/01)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
50kW KYBB/102.7 (Canton-Sioux Falls) has increased it's signal with an antenna height increase from 61m to 148m. (9/27/01)

MICHIGAN/MINNESOTA:
Trinity Broadcasting Network has been granted construction permits for new low-power stations in Albert Lea (K63CQ, 10kW) and Escanaba (W32CL, 5kW). (9/27/01)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Erna H. Stewart has been granted a construction permit for low-power TV station K52HD in Buffalo. The 999-Watt station has a mailing address of MS Communications in Los Angeles. (9/27/01)

IOWA/WISCONSIN:
Construction permits have been issued for KWQC-DT/56 (Davenport) and WSAW-DT/40 (Wausau). (9/27/01)

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
President George W. Bush delivered what may have been the most important speech of the last 60 years Thursday night. The following stations did not carry it: KQRS, KXXR, WIAL, KSTP-FM, WGMO, KTTB, KTCZ, KSJN/MPR Music, KDWB, KEEY, WGVY, and WATQ. (This incomplete list is based on a bandscan in Luck, WI.) (9/21/01)

ONTARIO:
Big Pond Communications' CJUK/99.9 (Thunder Bay) has been on the air testing for several days and is slated to begin regular broadcasting this week. It appears the station will air a broad Adult Contemporary/Oldies format called "Magic 99.9," positioned as "Best Music Mix." In applying for the station, Big Pond promised hourly news, weather, and sports updates seven days a week, and 39% Canadian music content. The station's website is up at http://www.magic999.fm, and billboards are up throughout Thunder Bay.

Up until recently, Thunder Bay had only three commercial radio stations run by one company: CKPR/580, CJSD/94.3, and CJLB/105.3. The stations' owner opposed the new station, saying the city of 112,000 could not support a fourth commercial radio station. The CRTC decided differently, noting in last November's approval that "the profitability of the Thunder Bay radio market over the past four years has exceeded both the Canadian and the Ontario average." CJUK will have a significantly weaker signal than the existing stations: 37 Watts versus 100kW for the FM competitors and 5kW for the AM station.

50-Watt CFQK/104.5 in nearby Kaministiquia recently signed on as well, delivering a fair signal into Thunder Bay, though Northwest Broadcasting promised in its application that programming would not be directed toward Thunder Bay. "Max 104.5" runs an AC/Oldies format similar to what CJUK is expected to offer. Also, noncommercial Christian CJOA/95.1 and tourism information CITB/97.1 have signed on in recent years. Thunder Bay is also served by two CBC stations and one Radio-Canada station.

NorthPine.com will soon be adding a section on northwestern Ontario similar to other pages offered on this site. (9/9/01)

MINNESOTA:
It appears Red River Broadcasting has turned off KAOD/106.7 (Babbitt), WXXZ/95.3 (Grand Marais), and KBAJ/105.5 (Deer River). This weekend WXXZ was not heard anywhere along the north shore. KAOD and KBAJ were not heard in locations where they had been heard in the past (though I didn't get close enough to their transmitters to be 100 percent certain they're off the air). All three had been rebroadcasting Red River's KQDS/94.9 (Duluth), which was still including the other stations in it's ID's Sunday. (9/9/01)

MINNESOTA:
KARE-DT/35 (Minneapolis) is now on the air. There are now five digital TV stations on the air in the Twin Cities: KTCI-DT/16, KMSP-DT/26, WCCO-DT/32, KARE-DT/35, and KSTP-DT/50. Programs avaiable in HDTV include NYPD Blue, The Tonight Show, and ABC movies. KTCI-DT is carrying five program streams: PBS Kids, PBS You, Weather, and rebroadcasts of KTCA/2 and KTCI/17. (9/6/01)

IOWA:
Ryan Burchett has left his position as chief meterologist at KIMT/3 (Mason City) to become weekend meterologist at KGAN/2 (Cedar Rapids). (9/5/01)

MINNESOTA:
KQIC/Q102 (Willmar) overnighter Travis Wold has resigned to take a job out of the industry. (9/5/01)

NEBRASKA:
Dean Wysocki has joined FOX42/KPTM (Omaha) as chief meterologist. He was last chief meterologist at KLKN/8 (Lincoln). (9/5/01)

MINNESOTA:
After only 11 months on the air, KDUL-LP/12 (Duluth) signed off Friday afternoon (8/31). The low-power UPN affiliate is up for sale and the cable system serving Duluth-Superior had planned to pull it from the lineup on September 15. KDUL has suffered from equipment problems and a poorer-than-expected over-the-air signal in the Twin Ports. The station's website has been deleted. (9/2/01)