KSMQ, the PBS affiliate for Austin, MN avoided a broadcasters nightmare after they were taken off the air when their transmission tower was brought down during a fast moving storm Tuesday.  Station management was preparing viewers for the reality of the station remaining dark for anywhere from a couple of days to two weeks.

The station posted a picture of the broken tower and an explanation of what viewers could expect from station president and general manager Eric Olson to their website.

However, a post to the station’s Facebook page last night credits the hard work of chief engineer Tim Gassmann and KTTC, the local NBC affiliate, in returning the station to the airwaves.  See the post after the jump.

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Aereo, the streaming TV service that launched last week in New York, has filed a second countersuit against companies that own stations in the market.

Reuters reports that the company, which is backed by former TV executive Barry Diller, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan this week against News Corp’s Fox, the Public Broadcasting Service, Univision, as well as WPIX and WNET.

The lawsuit is similar to the one Aereo filed last week against CBS, ABC/Disney, and NBCU/Comcast, and comes in response to the companies’ claims of copyright infringement. Read more