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CHAPTER 24, Inc., MADISON, WI |
Electronic Version: Leonard Charles Electronically Distributed by Chris Cain Contributors this month: Paul Stoffel Tom Smith Leonard Charles Articles Welcome!! Send correspondence to: Chapter 24 Newsletter 34 Rustic Parkway Madison, WI 53713-4700 or call (608) 271-1025 (home) or (608) 221-1979 (work) or Email at mcroom@aol.com MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT Dutch Treat Dinner: 5:30pm at Denny's on Gammon, across fromWest Towne Mall. Business meeting and Program: 7pm at WISC TV studios 7025Raymond Road UPCOMING MEETINGS Tentative Program Subjects Tue, Apr 23, 1996 Elections and NAB review (this is a change of date) Thu, May 23, 1996 TBA Tue, Jun 18, 1996 Related technology; Internet/software support Sat, Jul 27, 1996 3rd annual Chapter 24 Family Picnic CHAPTER ELECTIONS COMING Steve Paugh 274-4000 Jim Hermanson 836-8340 STOLEN CAMCORDERS: FEBRUARY MINUTES Newsletter Editor's Report (reported Mark Croom): The deadline for the March Newsletter is midnight 3/8/96; the folding party is 5:30 pm 3/12/96 at WKOW-TV. Special Events: no report. Sustaining Membership Report (reported Fred Sperry): Two new sustaining members are Becky Hilborn of Richardson Electronics and Tom Harle of Harris Corporation. In addition, Stan Scharch, of Scharch Electronics, has renewed. Certification and Education (reported by Jim Hermanson): The new TV Operators' Handbook (including a new EAS section) is now available. The next local certification examination period will be June 14 through 24; application deadline is April 29. Examinations also will be available at the NAB Convention. Frequency Coordination Report (reported by Tom Smith): Coordination activity has been minimal. The SBE national headquarters has published a new Frequency Coordination handbook containing state maps cross-referenced to chapter-level frequency coordinators. Using this handbook, Tom can assist members identify local frequency coordinators in other states. Program Committee (reported Steve Zimmerman): forthcoming meetings are scheduled for March 20 (creation of World Wide Webpages, conducted by Chris Cain) and April 24 (Chapter Elections and NAB Convention review). Note that the March meeting date has been changed. Chairman's Report (reported by Paul Stoffel): (1) The Chapter's EAS committee held its first meeting in early February. The committee plans to host a meeting for station personnel in June. (2) Chapter elections will be held during the April meeting; nominations are now open for the following offices: chairperson, vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer. Nomination deadline is March 30, 1996; any member interested in running for any of these offices should contact a member of the Elections Committee: Jim Hermanson (836-8340), Herb Jordan (271-4763) or Steve Paugh (274-4000). Special Report (reported by Leonard Charles): The new EAS primer has been completed, and is now being printed. EAS devices from two manufacturers (TFT and Sage) have been type-accepted, and are now available for purchase. A second rulemaking is expected to be issued by the FCC shortly; this report may contain significant changes in the rules applicable to cable television systems. All FCC documents related to EAS are now available on the FCC's WWW page. Special Report (reported by Tom Smith): Tom personally filed a pleading with the FCC in connection with the HDTV proceeding. Special Report (reported by Chris Cain): (1) Two video cameras,worth close to $100,000, were recently stolen from a WISC-TV ENG van. (2) The Chapter 24 WWW page (accessible via the SBE national WWW page) is now active; contributions from Chapter members are welcome. Professional Announcements (reported by Paul Stoffel, Leonard Charles, and Dennis Behr): (1) WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee, is looking for temporary vacation relief help. (2) The annual Symposium "The Future of Broadcast Entities," presented by UW-Platteville, is scheduled for May 1, 1996. (3) David Felland (Milwaukee Area Technical College) has been appointed Director of Engineering at the Educational Communications Board, on a 25% basis. (4) ECB is looking for persons interested in working at the TOC during the 11:00 pm to 6:00 am shift. (5) Vicki Way, a Chapter 24 Student Member and UW-Platteville graduate, was recently awarded ascholarship by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. The business meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm. The program featured a presentation by Marshall Frey, New Business Marketing specialist with TCI Communications Inc. discussing the proposed Madison Area Video Network. Submitted by Neal McLain, Secretary. LOCAL LEGALS By Tom Smith EAS UPDATE - PURCHASING EQUIPMENT By Leonard Charles National EAS Committee Chairman The only manufacturers to submit designs to the FCC for certification have been awarded that certification in late January. TFT and Sage Alerting say they will have plenty of product for sale at the April NAB Convention in LasVegas. Both companies have pricing available if you contact them or one of their distributors. With certification coming early in the year, the January 1, 1997 EAS implementation date appears attainable by broadcasters. The EAS Committee has a few tips for you as you begin to shop for EAS equipment. -- We urge you to purchase equipment with more monitoring inputs than the two that are mandated by the rules. We feel that the full utilization of the system for local emergency alerting purposes will evolve over years. If and when your local system is developed or expanded and your station participates in it, you will find a need for additional monitoring inputs of local emergency sources. It will be less expensive to purchase them up front with the equipment now than to add them later. We feel that four audio monitoring inputs will be adequate for most stations. -- The FCC will allow for addition codes to be added to local systems with proper approval. This brings concern that theequipment you purchase will allow adding codes in the field. Itwould be wise to check with the equipment manufacturer to see ifyou can add codes to the encoder and decoder yourself or willthat require factory intervention. If so get an idea of how muchadditional cost will be incurred at the time. Make sure tofactor this into any price comparison you do.-- For Television Broadcasters, don't forget about therequirement to get the message on the air as video text. Bothmanufacturers offer character generator interfaces but you mustspecify which character generator you intend to use to insurethat your EAS equipment will communicate properly with it. Also,if you need to add a character generator to your system for EASpurposes, both manufacturers will recommend inexpensive program-loop-through character generators that will work well with theirequipment.-- Once you have been assigned your new monitoring sources,determine if you will need to purchase receiver modules with yourEAS equipment. Remember, you are only interested in thedemodulated audio from these sources which you can get from anygood receiver/antenna. However, if you feel more comfortablewith a fixed tuned factory module to provide this audio, factorin this cost before comparison.-- If you need to service more than one station with the sameencoder/decoder, you will need to shop carefully. Eachmanufacturer has a way to do this but costs vary depending on howmany stations are involved. Also consider the need you may haveto remotely control the equipment from multiple studios. Again,both manufacturers have different ideas and costs on how toaccomplish this. Shop carefully!-- If an entire area purchases equipment from the samemanufacturer, there can be large discounts involved. Eachmanufacturer offers such discounts but you will need to gettogether with your fellow broadcasters and cable systems beforeyou shop. AMATEUR RADIO NEWS by Tom Weeden, WJ9H Wisconsin Representative Ben Brancel (R-Endeavor) and Senator Richard Grobschmidt (D-Milwaukee) introduced legislation February 12 to codify the FCC ruling known as PRB-1 as Wisconsin law. The bills are known as Assembly Bill 900 and Senate Bill 544. PRB-1 provides for federal preemption of "unreasonable" state and local laws which prohibit amateur radio antennas. Several co-sponsors have signed on to the bills, which would have to pass both houses by the end of the May floor period to become law this session. (Excerpts from March 1996 "QST" and "Badger State Smoke Signals") AREA CODE 612 SPLITS THREE WAYS by Neal McLain Minnesota's area code 612 will be split this month, the firststep in what will eventually be a three-way split:The Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area will retain 612. The western part of what's now 612 will move to a new area code. Permissive dialing begins on March 17; mandatory dialing becomes effective September 15. Six communities south of Minneapolis, just north of the existing 612/507 boundary, will be moved into 507 effective September 15. These communities include Arlington, Gaylord, Green Isle, Henderson, Le Center, Le Sueur, and Montgomery. This plan differs from the three-way split in 708 (Chicago suburbs) we discussed last month. In the 708 split, two new area codes (630 and 847) are being created. But in Minnesota, there's only one new code; the other piece being split from 612 will be moved into an existing area code. Other multi-way splits are in the works elsewhere: In northeast Ohio, 216 is being split in three pieces. The first split occurred last week (March 9), when Akron, Canton, and Youngstown moved to new area code 330. The second split will take place in 1997 or 1998; the new code hasn't been announced yet. By the end of the process, only Cleveland and suburbs will be left in 216. South Carolina (which originally had just one area code, 803),has already split once, creating 864 in the northwest corner of the state. In 1997, a third area code (843) will be assigned to the "shore counties." In California, San Francisco's area code 415 will be split three ways within the next two years; new codes haven't been announced yet. Marin County, north of the Golden Gate, will get one of the new codes. The other one will probably go to San Mateo county, south of San Francisco; however, the boundary hasn't yet been established. In the Caribbean, area code 809 is undergoing a ten-way split: Antigua (268), Bahamas (242), Barbados (246), Bermuda (441), British Virgin Islands (284), Grenada (473), Puerto Rico (787),St. Kitts/Nevis (869), and St. Lucia (758) are all getting newcodes. These new codes will be inefficiently utilized (British Virgin Islands has only four exchanges!), but they will make it easier for PBX administrators to identify call destinations forbilling purposes. ---------------- Follow-up on last month's overlay-vs-split report: On February 9, the Texas Public Utility Commission voted 2-1 in favor of geographic splits in the Houston and Dallas areas: 281 will split from 713 in Houston, and 972 will split from 214 in Dallas. However, there's a new twist: in an attempt to forestall further geographic splits, the PUC asked Southwestern Bell to request two additional area codes, one for each city, to be used for "wireless services only." So maybe overlays aren't dead afterall. In any case, the PUC's action creates a unique situation in the Houston area: a donut-within-a-donut. The City of Houston and nearby suburbs retain 713; they're surrounded on all sides by 281(outlying suburbs), which in turn is surrounded by 409 (the rest of east central Texas). Sources: Minnesota Telephone Association; TELECOM DIGEST. AUCTION DEBATE CONTINUES By Tom Smith Some members in the House and Senate had made a proposal that the auction for ATV spectrum be included in the debt ceiling bill, while one group in Congress proposed that the government reclaim TV channels 57 to 69 and auction them. If existing stations were not grandfathered, over 130 full power and 1000 low power and translators could be forced to move or leave the air. These proposals have been rejected by congressional leadership for now. The White House has, also, made an auction proposal that would earn the government $17 billion. Their proposal is that broadcasters would be given their ATV channel with their analog channel being auctioned in 2002. The broadcasters would have to vacate their analog channel in the year 2005. If the analog channels did not raise the $17 billion, broadcasters would becharged a one-time spectrum fee for the difference. Congressman Jack Fields made a proposal that the unused educational channels be auctioned and the proceeds be used to fund a trust for public TV. His proposal would also allow public TV duopolies to sell one of their channels to a commercial operator. In a forum conducted by NEWSWEEK and Bell Atlantic on February 21st and broadcast on C-SPAN, a number of leaders from both the House and Senate, involved on committees concerned with telecommunication issues, voiced their opposition to including auctions in budget actions. The general feeling among the panel was that auctions should be considered in spectrum planning and management. They were also concerned that congress was beginning to look at auctions as a source of handy cash when balancing budget actions. There was also a feeling that broadcasters public interest obligations were of value for use of spectrum and should be considered. All stated that broadcasters would pay for the spectrum in either cash or public interest obligations. The members of the panel were senators Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.) and representatives Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and Mike Oxley (R-Ohio). In most FCC rulemakings concerning allocation matters, auctions are being included as the method of determining who will get the use of the spectrum. There have been recent auctions for direct broadcast satellite, wireless cable and personal communication services, and auctions are proposed for specialized mobile radio. Some of these rulemakings have been completed. One proposed rulemaking would issue microwave frequencies in the 38 and 39 GHzband by auction. These frequencies would be used for interconnect of PCS and cell phone tower sites. The interesting twist in this plan is that blocks of frequencies would be issued as a group within a basic trading area as defined by RAND-MCNALLY instead of coordinated reuse of frequencies, as is done now. In another rulemaking, the FCC is modifying the rule concerning the first deadline in the construction on Interactive Video and Data Service (IDVS). The FCC auctioned these frequencies in July of 1994 and few of the winners of these frequencies have met the first-year deadline. When the FCC granted the frequencies, there was little equipment available and few had clear plans for services to offer to the public. A few bidders defaulted shortly after the auction because of these problems. Radio broadcasters are not free of the auction threat either. There is a provision in the Balanced Budget Act of 1995 that would require the FCC to use auctions to determine the winner of a comparative licensing proceeding. The major concern is how the proposal would affect applications currently on file. Auctions will remain a major issue for broadcasters and all spectrum users for the near future. The auction issue is a regular subject of articles and editorials in broadcast, landmobile and satellite trade magazines. These industries are also conducting major lobbying efforts in Washington to defeat or lessen the impact of auctions on their services. (Compiled from BROADCASTING and CABLE, ELECTRONIC MEDIA, TUNEDIN,BROADCAST ENGINEERING and the FEDERAL REGISTER) NATIONAL NEWS WULLIMAN TO BE HONORED DURING NAB'96 SBE will honor the tremendous contributions to the Society by James Wulliman, CPBE at a special reception to be held during the NAB'96 Convention in Las Vegas. Jim is referred to by many as the "Father" of SBE's Certification program. After many years as the Certification program's chairman and director, he has announced his retirement from those positions as of June 30, of this year. The reception will be held on Tuesday, April 16, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM in Conference Rooms 13 and 14 of the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. All SBE members are invited as well as others who have known or worked with Jim over the years. If you are attendingthe NAB Convention, we hope you will include this special event on your list of "must do's." No pre-registration is necessary for the reception. SBE/NAB EVENTS TO NOTE: SBE Certification Exams Tuesday April 16, 9 AM Conference Rooms 11/12 Las Vegas Hilton. The SBE Membership Meeting Tuesday April 16 at 5:00 PM Rooms 109-110 Las Vegas Convention Center Chapter Chairman's Meeting following membership meeting to conclude by 6:30 PM JOHN PORAY RECERTIFIED AS CAE Just as the SBE promotes a strong and active Certification Program for broadcast engineers, the American Society of Association Executives is very proud of its CAE Certification, which is granted to association executives who demonstrate continuing professional development over a successive three-year period. "I am very pleased to announce that SBE Executive Director John Poray has recently completed all of those requirements, and has been recertified as a Certified Association Executive. This certification exemplifies a commitment to excellence in association management, and SBE is fortunate indeed to have a person of John's professional accomplishment as our Executive Director. Congratulations, John, from all of your associates in SBE-- we know the positive difference certification can make!" (from Terry Baun, President, SBE) SBE EAS PRIMER RELEASED MID-MARCH The SBE EAS Primer will be released in mid-March. The 40 page publication is a guide to the new Emergency Alert System and its implementation. The SBE EAS Committee reports that the FCC has granted certification to EAS equipment from both TFT and SAGE. The SBE EAS PRIMER can be ordered now, and will be shipped to you immediately upon publication. The cost for SBE members is $25. The rate for non-members is $30. Call the SBE National Office at (317)253-1640 to order or use the order form on page 18 of the February/March 1996 issue of the SBE SIGNAL. SBE SEEKS DATA ON PCS INTERFERENCE TO 2 GHz ENG OPERATIONS SBE Headquarters has received reports from certain East Coast and West Coast areas of the country of severe interference from newly-constructed PCS facilities at 1950 and 1965 MHz to 2 GHz ENG operations on Channels A1 and A2. SBE is interested incollecting data from any member who has knowledge of such incidents. It is unclear whether this interference is the result of brute force overload or otherwise. There are a number of relatively high power PCS transmitters which have been installed recently in certain markets, and the source of the interference to ENG feeds is apparently those transmitters. Please send a brief description of any such incidents to SBE General Counsel Chris Imlay, by fax at (202) 293-1319 or via E-Mail at cimlay@mcimail.com, or to SBE Headquarters. RECRUIT JUST "ONE NEW MEMBER" AND YOU MAY WIN A TRIP TO CALIFORNIA! EARN DISCOUNTS OFF YOUR 1997 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TOO! SBE's annual membership drive is now on! From March 1st through May 31st, SBE members are encouraged to recruit at least one new member. Recruiters will be eligible to win great prizes and discounts off their 1997 membership renewal! The Grand Prize will be a trip to the SBE Engineering Conference and World Media Expo, October 9-12, in Los Angeles, California. The prize includes: airfare for two to Los Angeles from within the continental United States, five nights accommodations at SBE's headquarters hotel, the Universal Hilton Hotel in Universal City and use of a rental car from Hertz. The winner will also receive complimentary full registration to the SBE Engineering Conference and World Media Expo, including all receptions and the Awards Dinner, admission to the Expo and all SBE technical sessions and workshops. Your guest will receive a two day complimentary "spouse program" ticket and tickets to the SBE Conference receptions and Awards Dinner. Other winners will receive broadcast engineering related books from the SBE Bookstore, courtesy of CRC Press, McGraw Hill, Focal Press and Practical Radio Communications. Members in good standing can earn a $5 discount for each new member recruited during the Drive on their 1997 Membership Renewal, up to a maximum of five. That's up to $25 off your dues in 1997! Each SBE member will receive a Membership Drive Flyer, membership application and SBE Membership Brochure in the mail, providing you with the tools you'll need to sign up that new recruit. These can be duplicated locally if needed. Have your new member complete the application and send with their membership fee to the National Office along with the "RecruiterSlip" found at the bottom of your Drive Flyer. All applications, fees and Recruiter Slips must be received in the National Office by Friday, May 31. Prize winners will be drawn on June 28. Make a list today of co-workers or friends at other stations or companies who should be a member of SBE and give them a call! The more people you recruit, the more chances you have of winning a prize! SBE CO-ORGANIZER OF 50TH NAB BROADCAST ENGINEERING CONFERENCE The Society of Broadcast Engineers is co-organizer of the NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference (BEC), April 14-18 in Las Vegas. The Conference is part of NAB '96, the largest broadcaster's showin the world. This will be the 50th BEC, and will be marked by glimpses of broadcasting's remarkable past though video clips and displays. Besides over 600,000 square feet of exhibits in two venues, participants of the BEC will be able to attend some of the many workshops, technical paper presentations, panels and tutorials held over a five day period. SBE MEMBERS GET $300 BREAK ON NAB '96 REGISTRATION You are reminded that your SBE membership entitles you to receive the NAB member registration rate for the upcoming NAB'96 Convention in Las Vegas, April 14-18. This is a savings of $300, more than five times the price of one year's membership in SBE! Registration and Housing information is available from NAB. Call 1 (800) 342-2460. SBE MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS DUE APRIL 1 SBE members should have received in February, their 1996 Membership Renewal in the mail. Your prompt renewal insures that you won't miss the next issue of the SBE SIGNAL, access to the SBE Job Line or lose membership discounts on technical publications and educational conferences and workshops. Your renewal also ensures that you will be included in the 1996 SBE Membership Directory, to be published in September. SBE members, who participate in the SBE sponsored Life Insurance program through Seabury and Smith, are reminded that you must continue membership to maintain your coverage. SBE CALL FOR PAPERS The Society of Broadcast Engineers announces a "Call For Papers" for the 1996 SBE Engineering Conference and World Media Expo. The Conference and Expo will be held in Los Angeles, California, October 9-12, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. SBE requests paper submissions for presentation on the following general topics: Digital Technology For Radio Digital Technology For Television RF For Radio RF For Television Internet Applications for Broadcasters Digital Audio Broadcasting Advanced Television Regulatory Issues A brief abstract of your paper idea must be submitted in writing to the SBE National Office by March 15. Authors whose abstracts are selected will be notified by April 1. The completed paper will be due to the SBE National Office by July 1. Papers submitted by the deadline will be considered for inclusion in the 1996 SBE Conference Proceedings. Paper presentations should be 25 minutes in length and will be followed by a 5 minute question and answer period. Authors whose ideas are selected will be provided a Presenter's Packet, containing all the information needed to complete a paper and prepare for its presentation. Send your abstract to the SBE National Office by March 15! CHAPTER CHAIRMEN INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN STRATEGIC PLANNING DAY SBE President, Terry Baun, CPBE, invites any interested SBE Chapter Chairman to participate in the upcoming StrategicPlanning Day, June 29, in Indianapolis. Announced in January by President Baun, the strategic planning meeting will identify strategies for growth and service to members of SBE. Participation by Chapter Chairmen is needed to ensure that abroad cross section of views and interests are incorporated into the process. A personal invitation will be mailed to each Chapter Chairman in March, which will provide all the details needed to plan your participation. Travel and accommodation costs for all participants in the Strategic Planning Session will be their own responsibility. SBE SPONSORS 29th LEADER-SKILLS SEMINAR FOR BROADCAST ENGINEERS SBE is proud to announce the resumption of a program started many years ago, dedicated to the professional education and advancement of broadcast engineers - the Leadership Skills Management Development Seminar, presented by Richard Cupka. Originally sponsored by the NAB, this program has trained over 1,000 broadcast engineers over a 28 year period. Many of the most respected broadcast engineering managers in the country today are graduates of the program. Designed to take technically adept people and in still in them sound supervisory and management skills, the Leadership Skills Management Development Seminar can also be viewed as a tremendous tool for personal growth and development, even for those without management or supervisory responsibility. The seminar fee for the five day program is $650 and includes instruction, materials, classroom refreshments and a certificate of completion. Transportation to and from the seminar site, housing and meals are additional. This year's seminar is scheduled for June 17-21, 1996 at the Airport Courtyard by Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana. To register, or for more details, contact the SBE National Office or see page 10 of the February/March issue of the SBE SIGNAL. UPDATED 2ND EDITION OF TV OPERATOR HANDBOOK NOW AVAILABLE SBE has announced the publication of the Television Operator's Certification Handbook, Second Edition(. The First Edition, released in early 1995, in cooperation with the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust, has more than 800 copies in circulation. The Second Edition, updated by the original authors, Fred Baumgartner, CSTE and Douglas W. Garlinger, CPBE, includes FCC operator licensing changes regarding unattended operation and the new Emergency Alert System (EAS). The exam has also been updated to reflect these changes. The cost of the SBE Television Operator's Certification Handbook, Second Edition(, is $39 each, which includes shipping within the United States and an optional exam. To order the SBE Television Operator's Certification Handbook, Second Edition, call the SBE National Office at (317) 253-1640. Bulk order discounts on five or more copies are available. NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR 1995 ANNUAL SBE AWARDS Awards Year: January 1, 1995 through December 31, 1995 Awards Nominations JUNE 1, 1996 The Award Winners will be announced August 2, 1996. Presentation: Awards will be presented during the 1996 Awards Banquet, Saturday, October 12, at the SBE Engineering Conferenceand WORLD MEDIA EXPO in Los Angeles, California (October 9-12,1996). THANKS TO ORGANIZERS and SPONSORS OF ALABAMA ENNES WORKSHOP A record 75 people attended the Ennes Regional Workshop presented by SBE in Montgomery, Alabama, February 10. The Workshop was co-sponsored by the Alabama Broadcasters Association. Thanks to Richard Farquhar, CPBE, National Ennes Workshop Chairman, who organized the technical programs for the day and to Larry Wilkins, CPBE (Montgomery) and Troy Pennington, CSRE(Birmingham), who promoted the workshop and recruited several corporate sponsors. Manufacturer sponsors included Continental Electronics and Sony Business and Professional Products. Local lunch and refreshment sponsors were Kenny Rodgers Roasters, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation and Coca Cola. (Information from SBE SHORT CIRCUITS, written by John L. Poray,CAE, National SBE Executive Director. Additional informationfrom the National SBE homepage on the WWW and from SBE Chapter28, Terry Baun, newsletter editor) CHAPTER 24 SUSTAINING MEMBERS Our recent renewals: Maney Logic WMTV-TV 15 Thanks to all ourSustaining Members: BTS Broadcast Communications CCA Electronics CTI Clark Wire and Cable Comark Communications Electronic Industries Emmons Associates Fuji Film Harris Corporation MRC Telecommunications Panasonic Broadcast Richardson Electronics Roscor Wisconsin Scharch Electronics Skyline Communications Sony Broadcast Tectan, Inc. Teleport Minnesota Video Images WISC-TV 3 WKOW-TV 27 WMSN-TV 47
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