The transmitter move northward by country station WEXT-FM (104.7) is causing problems for listeners on the periphery of the signal for Hartford's polka music station, WTKM-FM (104.9). "We've been getting inundated with calls here," says WTKM owner Scott Lopas. The problems for polka fans started when WEXT moved its transmitter north from the Kenosha area to the Oak Creek area on March 1. "I feel bad for these people," says WEXT general manager Kira Lafond, who has been taking calls from WTKM listeners as well. She says WEXT is broadcasting well within the area allocated to it by the Federal Communications Commission. WTKM - and sister station WTKM-AM (1540) - play a polka format much of the day, with WTKM-FM doing its own classic country programming afternoons. Lopas says engineers for both stations have been in contact since the problem started a couple weeks ago. "We are looking at what alternatives, what options, we have," Lopas says. WTKM targets Washington, Dodge and Waukesha counties. But its signal reaches beyond those county lines. For listeners having trouble with getting their polka music, WTKM-AM simulcasts the FM signal much of its broadcast day, which runs from dawn to dusk. WTKM-FM also can be heard at www.webcenteramer.com/wtkm/ around the clock.

This is sooooo wrong. And this is no Tim Goodman, either, but it's POLKA dammit!

Credit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
--Deb