Richland Towers Buys WYIN-TV Tower Near Chicago


GARY, IND: Richland Towers of Tampa, Fla., picked up its second tall tower within a month. The firm acquired the 950-foot guyed structure used by WYIN-TV, a public broadcaster licensed to Gary, Ind., and serving the Chicago market. No financial details were disclosed. Richland’s Dave Denton said the location and height of the structure will create a “cost-effective redundancy site for Chicago TV and FM broadcasters.”

WYIN moved to the tower, located at its Crown Point, Ind., transmitter site, in November of 2003. With a $2 million state grant, WYIN installed a 54-foot digital antenna on the tower in February of 2004. The station transmits on Ch. 17 at 300 kW ERP, according to the FCC database.

Richland last month announced its acquisition of a Los Angeles tower site formerly owned by Emmis Communications. The company paid a reported $6 million for the 40-acre site.

~ Deborah D. McAdams, Television Broadcast