Text and photos by SCOTT FYBUSH
We’re back at home base after two weeks on the road across America, and while we catch up from a drive to Denver to back (and lots of interesting visits along the way that you’ll see in this space soon), here are a few final looks at the Omaha and Lincoln markets that were omitted from our coverage these last few weeks from our February visits there.
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The drive from Omaha to Lincoln on I-80 is a short one – it’s a wide, straight highway where traffic moves at close to 80 miles per hour, so it’s easy to get from one city to another in under an hour.
Unless, of course, one gets distracted by the tall towers that sit south of 80 – and of course, we did get distracted that way, especially when we had the chance to meet up with Salem’s Mike Shane at the aux site of his KGBI (100.7) near Gretna, off gravel roads a few miles south of 80.
This was once the KGBI main site, before Salem moved the religious station in to the Omaha Crown Point tower farm (we saw its new main facility in this installment a few weeks back), and it remains a fully-functional aux site. It’s also now the main site for NRG Radio’s KOOO (101.9 La Vista), a former Lincoln-market signal that’s moved in to the Omaha market.
The two stations have separate transmitter rooms, but share an antenna at the top of this 1200-foot tower by way of a combiner behind the KGBI transmitter.
Just a couple of miles to the north and west, another tall tower out here is home to the market’s Fox affiliate, KPTM (Channel 42/RF 43) and CW affiliate, KXVO (Channel 15/RF 38); this tower was also home to Omaha’s old KEFM (96.1), which has since moved in to the Crown Point tower farm as iHeart’s KISO.
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On the way back in to Omaha, there’s one more small site to be seen, far away from most of the rest of the market’s towers.
Out Dodge Street (US 6) near the famed Boys Town, a short utility tower holds the antenna for Salem’s K233CO (94.5), the translator for “Answer” talker KOTK (1420) that gives the station’s AM coverage a boost where it needs it, out in the fast-growing western suburbs of Omaha.
Thanks to Salem’s Mike Shane for the tours!
The 2020 Tower Site Calendar will soon be off the press, but orders are already coming in, and we want to keep them coming.
From now through November 11, you can order your copy in advance for 10% off the regular price.
Note to our regular buyers (and our irregular buyers — we love every one of you): This is not this year’s cover, as this year’s calendar is still in production. We promise the real cover will be just as beautiful, if not more.
Have a suggestion for a cover photo? Look through our Tower Site archives, and if you see a beautiful photo we haven’t featured yet, suggest it to us!
Visit our store to buy the new calendar and check out our other products.
And don’t miss a few more Omaha-Lincoln IDs next Wednesday, over at our sister site, TopHour.com!
Next week: Southern California in Transition
