Telefarm Towers Shoreview facts for kids

Telefarm Towers Shoreview (Shoreview, Minnesota)

The Telefarm Towers Shoreview are two very tall towers in Shoreview, Minnesota. They are used to send out signals for FM radio and television shows. Many people in the Twin Cities area simply call them the Shoreview Towers.

These towers are owned by Telefarm, Inc., which is a partnership of several big TV and radio stations in the Twin Cities. These include CBS Television Stations (WCCO channel 4), Hubbard Broadcasting (KSTP channel 5, KSTC channel 5.2, KSTP-FM 94.5 FM, and KTMY 107.1 FM), and Tegna (KARE channel 11). They help send digital TV and FM radio signals all over the Greater Twin Cities area. Other stations like Sinclair Broadcasting Group's WUCW (channel 23) and Minnesota Public Radio's main station KNOW-FM (91.1 MHz) also use these towers.

The towers were first built in the 1970s for older types of TV signals. Before these towers were finished, another tower collapsed in 1971. This was a very sad accident where several workers lost their lives. The current towers were built to replace it.

Around the year 2000, the towers got a big upgrade. This was to help them send out new digital TV signals, as required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Because the antennas are very heavy, the towers had to be made much stronger. The work took a bit longer than expected. For about a year, KSTP used its old tower in St. Paul for digital broadcasts until the new construction was finished.

The upgrades to the first tower were completed in 2000. This tower stands about 437.7 meters (1,436 feet) tall from the ground. The second tower, which is about 438.3 meters (1,438 feet) tall, was finished in 2001.

In the summer of 2019, a part of the antenna on the north tower was removed. This happened because television station KSTC moved to a different RF channel (channel 30) from its old channel (45). This change was part of a big plan to reorganize how radio signals are used, which happened in the late 2010s. This move was completed by early September.

The Telefarm tower complex and KMSP tower.

FM Radio Stations

Here are the FM radio stations that broadcast from the Telefarm Towers:

Television Stations

Here are the television stations that broadcast from the Telefarm Towers: