CC-Minneapolis Maneuvers For Seventh FM Signal

The FCC has approved a plan that essentially gives Clear Channel a seventh FM signal in Minneapolis.

The Commission gave the OK to an application to move translator W225AP/92.9 (St. Paul) to the Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis, where the application states it would relay Clear Channel's KFXN-FM.

(Rules allow HD2 and HD3 channels to be carried and originating stations can be changed without FCC approval.)

 In approving the application, northpine.com reports the FCC dismissed an informal objection from low-power FM activist Jeff Sibert, who argued the frequency should be preserved for low-power FM use and that the translator would effectively be used to originate its own programming.

The FCC found the proposal complied with all rules and noted that it allows translators to rebroadcast HD2 channels, even though they aren't otherwise available on analog radios. W225AP is owned by Christian broadcaster Educational Media Foundation, which sold what's now K278BP/103.5 to Clear Channel after moving it to the IDS Center in 2010. K278BP carries the News/Talk format of KTCN/1130 via a simulcast on KFXN-FM-HD2.

EMF has also applied to upgrade three other translators on 93.3, 99.9, and 102.5, with applications stating they would relay Clear Channel stations. The translators currently carry EMF's "K-Love" and "Air-1" networks.

Clear Channel could have programming on a total of ten FM signals in Minneapolis if all of the applications are approved; translators do not count towards ownership caps.

Read More Now.