The KVLY-TV mast (formerly the KTHI-TV mast) is a 2,063 ft (629 m) tall television-transmitting mast in Blanchard, Traill County, North Dakota, United States, used by Fargo station KVLY channel 11. Completed in 1963, it is considered the third tallest structure ever built, after Burj Dubai and the Warsaw radio mast (which collapsed in 1991).
The tower is located three miles 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 2,000 feet in height, upon the completion of its construction on August 13, 1963. The mast was surpassed in height by 57 ft (17 m) in 1974 by the Warszawa radio mast near Konstantynów, Poland, which collapsed on August 8, 1991, making the KVLY-TV mast again the tallest structure on land.
The recently opened Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates has surpassed the mast as the tallest land structure. Burj Dubai is reported to have a height of 818 metres (2,684 ft).
The tower was built by Hamilton Electric Company York, South Carolina and Kline Iron and Steel, and took thirty days to complete, at a cost of US$500,000.
Owned by Hoak Media of Dallas, Texas, the tower broadcasts at 316 kW for television station KNLY (channel 11, an NBC affiliate) which is based in Fargo. The tower provides a broadcast area of roughly 30,000 sq mi (78,000 km2) which is a radius of about 97 miles (156 km).
Its height above mean sea level is 3,038 ft (926 m). Some time after its completion, the FCC and FAA imposed a policy that states, "Although there is no absolute height limit for antenna towers, both agencies have established a rebuttable presumption against structures over 2,000 feet above ground level."[1] The FCC and FAA may approve a taller structure in "exceptional cases."
The call letters of the television station for which it was built were originally KTHI, the "HI" referring to the height of the mast. The top is reachable by elevator or ladder.
