GRAND FORKS -- KVLY-TV's mast 3 miles west of Blanchard, N.D., was the world's tallest structure ever built from its completion in 1963 until 1974.
The 2,063-foot tower was topped by Poland's Warsaw Radio mast at 2,121 feet, but that collapsed in 1991.
Now, it's officially second again, this time to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which towers 2,717 feet, and opened Monday.
KVLY's Web site, www.valleynewslive.com , lists the tower as "the largest manmade structure in America."
"It was a nice thing to have recognition for, but it wasn't constructed to be a record holder," said Charley Johnson, general manager of KVLY in Fargo. "It was made that high for a purpose, to serve the Red River Valley."
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The KVLY signal reaches north and south from the Canada border to the South Dakota border, and east to west from Jamestown, N.D., to Detroit Lakes, Minn., though Johnson said at those points it takes a good antennae to pick up the digital signal.
The mast could be surpassed by taller structures three more times in the next five years.
- The Tokyo Sky Tree will be a 2,080-foot broadcasting tower expected to be completed in 2011.
- The Shanghai Tower is will be 2,073 when finished in 2014.
- The Digital Media City Landmark Building, under construction near Seoul, South Korea, is expected to be 2,100 feet tall and have 133 floors. If completed in April 2015, it would be the second tallest building in the world with the tallest observatory and hotels in the world.
Burj Khalifa will hold the distinction of the world's tallest building, world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest man-made structure.
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