Nebraska Public Media plans to improve reception in McCook

FALLS CITY, Neb. — Nebraska Public Media is enhancing its FM radio coverage with the installation of a new transmitter near Falls City this week, alongside plans for further upgrades near Columbus, Broken Bow, and McCook in the coming years.

This expansion aims to provide more listeners with access to news, music, and public safety information, including alerts from entities such as the Nebraska State Patrol, Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, and the National Weather Service during severe weather events.

Mark Leonard, Nebraska Public Media’s general manager/CEO, said the FCC was providing a rare opportunity to enhance their signal and service to reach more Nebraskans with local and NPR news.

The new station in Falls City, KQNE 89.9 FM, will significantly increase coverage from 62 watts to 3.2 kilowatts. Additionally, call letters and frequencies for new stations will include KGNE 89.3 FM in Broken Bow, KUNE 88.7 FM in Columbus, and KNNE 90.7 in McCook.

Following the installation, coverage will extend to communities in Nemaha and Richardson Counties, including Rulo, Preston, Falls City, Salem, Dawson, Humboldt, Howe, Nemaha, Stella, Shubert, Barada, and Verdon. Importantly, this radio signal improvement will not impact television coverage.

Listeners can access live radio streams online at NebraskaPublicMedia.org or via the Nebraska Public Media App on mobile devices.