Tribal FM Station Applies to Enter Sioux City Market

Posted on by Jon Ellis

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has applied to upgrade an FM radio station to add coverage of Sioux City, Iowa.

The tribe received KWTN/100.9 (Allen) as a donation from Cochise Broadcasting two years ago as part of an FCC consent decree. The 100-Watt station has been mostly off the air both before and after the donation, according to FCC records.

KWTN is now proposing that it move to 97.1 and transmit with 9.6kW/123m (class C3) from a tower near Jackson that’s owned by Dakota County. The tower is also used by Catholic station KFHC/88.1 (Ponca-Sioux City).

97.1 was previously allotted to Moville, Iowa, but Iowa Public Radio surrendered a construction permit for the frequency in 2015. KWTN’s application does not mention the Moville allotment and it’s not clear whether Moville is still on the FCC’s table of allotments.

KWTN faces a statutory Oct. 3 deadline to return to the air.