The Telefarm Towers is a transmission site for

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

Shoreview, Minnesota Shoreview is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,921 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Geography According to the United ...

consisting of two guyed towers. The towers, called ''Shoreview Towers'' by local residents, are owned by Telefarm, Inc., a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

broadcasters

CBS Television Stations CBS News and Stations is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of United States, American television stations along with CBS News. , the division owns 28 stations: 15 are the core stati ...

( WCCO channel 4),

Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri ...

( KSTP channel 5, KSTC channel 5.2,

KSTP-FM KSTP-FM (94.5 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in St. Paul, Minnesota, serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul media market, radio market. It is the flagship FM station of Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a hot adult contempor ...

94.5 FM, and

KTMY KTMY (107.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is an entertainment-oriented talk radio, talk radio station, serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Twin Cities as well as portions of West Central Wisconsin. The station is owned and operated by Hubbard Broadcasting ...

107.1 FM), and

Tegna Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publi ...

( KARE channel 11) for the transmission of

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

and

throughout the Greater Twin Cities. Along with

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

WUCW WUCW (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of The CW. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios in the Pence Building on 8th S ...

(channel 23),

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...

flagship station

KNOW-FM KNOW-FM (91.1 MHz) is the flagship radio station of Minnesota Public Radio's news and information network. It is licensed to Saint Paul and serves the Minneapolis-Saint Paul radio market. The station is non-commercial and listener-supported. ...

(91.1 MHz) are additional tenants on the tower.

History

The towers were built in the 1970s for

analog television Analog television is the original television technology that uses analog signals to transmit video and audio. In an analog television broadcast, the brightness, colors and sound are represented by amplitude, instantaneous phase and frequency, ...

, and were replacements for a single "candelabra" style tower that collapsed prior to completion in 1971, killing six workers on the tower and one on the ground. The towers were upgraded at the turn of the century to support digital TV transmitters to meet

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

requirements. Because each antenna assembly weighs many

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s, the towers had to be strengthened. Work took longer than expected, and KSTP notably used its original broadcast tower along University Avenue in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

for digital transmission for about a year starting in late 1999 before construction was finished.

Digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

upgrades to the South facility were completed in 2000 and the North facility was finished in 2001. During the summer of 2019, an antenna section on the north tower was removed. Television station KSTC moved to RF channel 30, from its previous channel of 45. This was due to the

spectrum reallocation The 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction, officially known as Auction 1001, allocated approximately 100 MHz of the United States Ultra High Frequency (UHF) spectrum formerly allocated to UHF television in the 600 MHz band. The sp ...

of the late 2010s. This move was completed by early September. On October 4, 2021, the new

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

was installed on the north tower.

FM

Television

References

External links

* (Tower 1) * {{ASR, key=125253, number=1023883 (Tower 2) Towers in Minnesota Radio masts and towers in the United States 1970s establishments in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Ramsey County, Minnesota

History

FM

Television

See also

References

External links