Jon Ellis

Update: “K-Love,” “Air1” Launch on Major Milwaukee Signals Two major Milwaukee commercial radio stations have made their anticipated switches to national non-commercial Christian music networks. "Air1" debuted on WLUM-FM/102.1 on Tuesday, Oct. 28, followed by...

Update: Two major Milwaukee commercial radio stations have made their anticipated switches to national non-commercial Christian music networks.

northpine.com/2025/10/30/a...

Mason City Gets Over-The-Air Access to FOX for First Time For the first time in its 39-year history, the FOX broadcast network is now available over the air in Mason City, Iowa. Gray Media's KXLT-TV/47.1 (Rochester, Minn.) announced the expansion of its cove...

For the first time in its 39-year history, the FOX broadcast network is available over the air in Mason City, Iowa.

northpine.com/2025/10/30/m...

2024 Christmas Flips Came Later, Then Surpassed Previous Years It appears a record number of Upper Midwest radio stations may have flipped to All-Christmas playlists this holiday season, despite getting off to a later start. 136 Upper Midwest and Manitoba station...

It may not feel like it, but the first flips to All-Christmas radio formats are likely days away. Last year appeared to set a record in the Upper Midwest - here's a look at the trends:

Minnesota Radio Legend Ed De La Hunt Passes Away Radio legend Ed De La Hunt has died following a decades-long career of building and running radio stations in northern Minnesota. Ed and Carol De La Hunt signed on KPRM (Park Rapids) in 1962, followed...

Radio legend Ed De La Hunt has died following a decades-long career of building and running radio stations in northern Minnesota.

northpine.com/2025/10/27/m...

Not the FCC Monitor: Things That Haven’t Happened A look at some of the applications remain pending before the FCC as a partial government shutdown continues. In Milwaukee, the situation has led to two stations using the same slogan.

With the FCC now mostly closed for nearly four weeks, many applications remain pending. Here's a look at what's on hold in the Upper Midwest.

northpine.com/2025/10/27/n...

With Halloween approaching, how about listening to some dead radio stations? The tower site for the former KPNP/1600 (Watertown, MN) is shown here. Follow the link to hear some other now-deleted Upper Midwest AM and FM stations.

northpine.com/2025/10/25/v...

Newsroom Notes: The Future of Local TV is Already Streaming After decades of audience erosion, the model for how legacy TV operates is changing quickly. One thing is clear: the only future for local media is local content. It may sound like an obvious statemen...

After decades of audience erosion, the model for how legacy TV operates is changing quickly. One thing is clear: the only future for local media is local content.

A YouTuber reaching millions just travelled through Minnesota on a 50-state fundraiser for St. Jude. We legacy broadcasters might want to pay attention to what he’s doing.

Wow, this is horrible. I was there for the first time just last year. It was a beautiful building.

Data Dump: The Number of U.S. Stations on Each AM Frequency Some broadcasters say that the AM band is too crowded, causing stations to interfere with each other at night. So, which frequencies are the least and most crowded?

One of broadcasters’ frequent complaints about the AM band is that there are simply too many stations on it. The more stations on each frequency, the more potential for interference.

So, that raises the question: exactly how many stations are on each AM frequency?

Off Topic: After Three Years, Resuming a “Mini-Retirement” I consider myself very fortunate that, after more than a quarter-century in a volatile business, this is the first time that leaving a job was not my idea.

I consider myself very fortunate that, after more than a quarter-century in a volatile business, this is the first time that leaving a job was not my idea.

Pro side of living near Lake Superior: you can verify your furnace still works in mid June

Last weekend I set out to camp and hike, but ended up logging 124 FM stations from six states and provinces too

Why does Spotify’s AI DJ explain what it does everytime I start it? Once should be enough

Over the winter I did a lot of monitoring of nighttime skywave using an SDR and was surprised to find that KMOX has the most consistently strong skywave signal to northern Wisconsin. For decades I’d assumed the Chicago stations would be strongest here, but no.

Can’t help but notice that 3 of the 6 top stations in Minneapolis are non-comm, and only 2 of the top 6 are traditional commercial music radio formats (one of which is heavily community-involved)

Totally mind-blowing that the standard for one season was originally *39* episodes (based on the old radio practice of “summer replacements”)

KQRS Escalates Stunting Days Ahead of Promoted Change KQRS has escalated its stunting, switching to a loop of a Soul Asylum song with a few other Minnesota Alternative artists added to the mix.

Not an April Fools' stunt? KQRS may be doing more than just making minor adjustments: northpine.com/2025/04/01/k...

Great to see that the hiking bridge at Tettegouche is going to be replaced, but quite a bummer that the entire trailhead will be closed during construction. Specifics not yet posted on park website…

A sedimentary ice boulder

Ice boulders on the shore of Lake Superior

Interesting sedimentary-style ice boulders along Wisconsin Point

Windy afternoon at the Head of the Lakes. The little ice that did form near the shore this year is still around in the form of ice boulders.

61 degrees on the North Shore in early March!

Snake Pit Falls, Amnicon State Park

-Cleared space on DVR
-Remembered to play the Wordle almost every day
-Added a few new stations to the AM log
-Shoveled before the neighbors
-Kept up with my BlueSky feed

Hiking trail covered in snow

A freshly stomped snowshoe trail

An ice- and snow-covered river with a snow-covered hillside in the background

And Sunday the snow was fresh and ready to be stomped down along the Gooseberry River

Saturday, the snow rolled in at Pattison State Park

A fun weekend here at the Head of the Lakes! Friday, the sun glinted on what looked like thousands of glass shards floating at Wisconsin Point

Canadian regulators are considering the sale of silent AM radio stations in Winnipeg and Calgary to a broadcaster who owns two radio stations in western Canada.

And a Catholic radio network based in central Illinois has signed on a new FM signal in southern Wisconsin.

More new FM stations are signing on as deadlines near for permits issued as a result of a 2021 filing window. Nebraska Public Media has signed on a new FM radio station in the central part of the state, filling a long-running gap in its coverage area.