KVLY-TV mast
The KVLY-TV mast is a television-transmitting mast in Blanchard, North Dakota. It is used by Fargo station KVLY-TV and KXJB-LD's Argusville/Valley City/Mayville translator K28MA-D, along with KNGF. Completed in 1963, it was once the tallest structure in the world, and stood at 2,063 feet until 2019, when the top mount VHF antenna was removed for the FCC spectrum repack, dropping the height to.
In 1974, the KVLY-TV mast was succeeded by the Warsaw radio mast as the world's tallest structure. The Warsaw mast collapsed in 1991, again making the KVLY-TV mast the tallest structure in the world until the Burj Khalifa surpassed it in 2008. The KVLY-TV mast remained the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere and the tallest broadcasting mast in the world until the removal of its antenna in 2019.
Location
The mast is located west of Blanchard, North Dakota, halfway between Fargo and Grand Forks. It became the tallest artificial structure, and the first man-made structure to exceed in height, upon the completion of its construction on August 13, 1963.Construction
The tower was built by Hamilton Erection Company of York, South Carolina, and Kline Iron and Steel, and required thirty days to complete, at a cost of approximately $500,000. Construction was completed August 13, 1963.Owners
Owned by Gray Media of Atlanta, Georgia, the tower broadcasts at 350 kW on channel 36 for television station KVLY-TV which is based in Fargo, North Dakota. The tower provides a broadcast area of roughly, which is a radius of about. CBS/CW+ affiliate KXJB-LD's translator K28MA-D also broadcasts on this tower at 15 kW on UHF channel 28.When the mast was built, the call letters of the television station for which it was built were changed to KTHI for "Tower High". The top is reachable by a two-person service elevator or ladder.