AM 1450 KCTI off the air?

[jras20]

AM 1450 KCTI has been off the air for sometime now. Wonder what's going on?

 

[Anonymouse]

Nothing seems to be filed with the FCC lately. No clue.
There is this, which says it signed off the air on August 31st. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCTI
Not sure what happened, but my guess is they ran out of life and money and had to give up. That article seems to be final. Unless they're having major technical problems...

 

[purpledevil]

Nothing seems to be filed with the FCC lately. No clue.
There is this, which says it signed off the air on August 31st. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCTI
Not sure what happened, but my guess is they ran out of life and money and had to give up. That article seems to be final. Unless they're having major technical problems...

Gentlemen, Gonzales no longer Cradles Texas Independence @ 1450.

It's a goner....

http://m.gonzalesinquirer.com/news/...cle_85e56f1e-589f-11e5-b3ed-7bf88bd8cc68.html

 

[jras20]

Wow that's sad. They use to have a lot of local content and even had the cowboy games at one point. Sad to see them out. They really didn't have much local content any more.

 

[b-turner]

This might not be the end for KCTI. I suspect the station will sell to another broadcaster. That might mean a format only a few might listen to but then again, it might be a broadcaster wanting to do local radio. It is always sad to see such a station close up shop. Sometimes community remorse spells success for the next broadcaster to pick up the station. Let's hope the current owner will price the station so as to allow a new broadcaster to make it.

 

[LibertyNT]

I noticed TSN had put something out about KCTI on their last day of broadcast.

 

[jras20]

Maybe they should come back as FM like before maybe LP FM?

 

[davideduardo]

Maybe they should come back as FM like before maybe LP FM?

They turned in the license, and without an AM license they can't get a translator.

As to LPFM, that is limited power and non-commercial.

 

[jras20]

Back before they got the antenna near Lulling, they had 106.3 FM broadcasting at pretty low power. It mainly just covered Gonzales.

 

[Kent]

The FCC has listed it as "Licensed and Silent" for several months. AllAccess reported this morning that Texas Public Radio will be buying it. It didn't list format specifics, but I suspect they'll use it as a simulcast of KSTX 89.1, like they do with KTXI 90.1.

 

[LibertyNT]

That's way better than killing it completely.

 

[purpledevil]

That's way better than killing it completely.

Agreed, but it won't be the same without Gonzales having its own little voice at 1450. Any wagers on how long before an attempt is made to uproot KCTI and plant it closer to San Antonio?

 

[frankberry]

Gonzales Communications intends to sell a Texas AM station.

The station is KCTI, Gonzales, Texas. Gonzales is close to both San Antonio and Austin.

Texas Public Radio has agreed to pay $90,000 for the station, less a $4,500 deposit.

Read more at http://rbr.com/texas-public-radio-has-special-plans-for-texas-am/#Tmfe2GcxUVcu043o.99

 

[Kent]

Agreed, but it won't be the same without Gonzales having its own little voice at 1450. Any wagers on how long before an attempt is made to uproot KCTI and plant it closer to San Antonio?

Not sure quite what you mean by "uproot and plant it closer to San Antonio," but, if you mean move the transmitter, I'm not sure you'll see that happen as KCWM is likely in the way. Plus, I can't imagine moving an AM that's capped at 1 kw day/night on its current frequency into San Antonio would be worth the trouble.

I got a chance to read the sale application, and it does indicate it will be mostly relaying KSTX, like KTXI 90.1 and several other KSTX repeaters TPR already owns do. It will air some Gonzales specific programming, probably in single minute blocks. It also has applied for a main studio waiver. So, in that sense, it will definitely be planted closer to San Antonio unless the sale falls through.

 

[b-turner]

If what I think may be happening here, it might just work and begin quite a trend.

KSTX, as I recall, is NPR News/Talk. We know major market FM NPRs can afford to acquire some frequency in an outlying area or two (usually another non-commercial FM frequency) to replay their programming. When the investment matches the potential return, there's a good deal: expanded reach, more members and maybe even some Underwriting.

Now, more than ever, it is tougher to get that FM translator and even tougher to get that non-commercial FM frequency. The chance of having other applicants apply for the same frequency as you are, well, is pretty close to 100%, and that can take years to resolve. It is just much easier to buy an AM cheap, ask for a main studio waiver and place your programming on the station.

This might be a trend we are seeing happen right before our eyes. The struggling AM is struggling in part because maintaining staff and a main studio make it harder to make revenue match costs of operation when the FM stations in the surrounding counties are actively selling in your county and listeners these days have so many choices. And there are some great deals on AM. The best I've heard of lately is a station going for $11,000 in a small community (and no assumption of debt either) and that station was ready to roll without doing anything but turning on the switch. Certainly acquiring a struggling or dark AM station is cheaper than an MXed translator or NCE FM application when all is said and done, if there is a vacant channel and assuming a filing window happens in the coming years in the first place. You can bite now with an AM or possibly wait a decade and maybe you'll win that frequency when the MX fight is done. If you do win, it will likely have cost you more than that AM station anyway. And those people that wanted a NPR signal locally and said they'd support it are confident it was you, not the manner of acquiring such an FM frequency, that had you dragging your feet as they waved the potential of financial support your way. The public thinks if you want a radio station it's like opening a business on main street. You simply find a vacant storefront, toss in some inventory and hang your open sign, something that can happen in days not possibly years or a decade. Many LPFMs from the first filing window never got on the air because in the 2 year wait to get a CP, boards lost interest and resolved and more than a few that instigated the LPFM idea for their town were accused of conning or wasting people's time over something they thought would never happen.

 

[Kent]

Something else to keep in mind is that TPR can now buy any translator within a 250 mile radius of Gonzales, move it and relay KCTI, thus giving it a de-facto FM signal that will cover an area where KSTX is weak. After four years, they could dump the AM if there was an interested buyer and keep the FM translator.

 

[b-turner]

That's something I had not thought of. Grabbing a translator for KCTI might be a very good move. At that distance from the big cities it is potentially possible to go high enough in the air to have decent coverage throughout the county with a translator centrally located.

 

[purpledevil]

Not sure quite what you mean by "uproot and plant it closer to San Antonio," but, if you mean move the transmitter, I'm not sure you'll see that happen as KCWM is likely in the way. Plus, I can't imagine moving an AM that's capped at 1 kw day/night on its current frequency into San Antonio would be worth the trouble.

I meant along the lines of KTMR Edna, Kent.

Make that KTMR Converse. A 1kW can make a lot more money brokering out its time from the San Antonio airwaves, than it can from Gonzales County. I guess I'll take the wait and see approach, because airing "some Gonzales specific programming" sounds a bit like lip service from this vantage point. I don't know hardly anything about KSTX's overall operation, but I don't hold out much hope for Gonzales' representation on the new KCTI.

It was always nice to hear KCTI playing a polka on the way home from San Antonio...lol.

 

[b-turner]

I can say that from the perspective of programming, they will likely have little programming exclusively for Gonzalez. They will likely ask an advisory board what subjects can be covered by KCTI, choosing those that are also concerns of all areas covered by KSTX. Maybe they'll do a couple of community announcements in Morning Edition. Possibly they might to a polka show but that depends on several things. Certainly, I do not know their minds or intent, but rather form my opinion based on what I have seen happen elsewhere. It's less about not doing that much as it is practicality.

If you look at various NPR statewide services such as in northern states, exclusive programming for one station isn't the norm, but also, no community is ignored. Forecasts, for example, might be just local, but rather statewide with perhaps an emphasis on cities where a station is simulcasting (ie: for Western Nebraska including North Platte and Scottsbluff...)

 

[purpledevil]

I can say that from the perspective of programming, they will likely have little programming exclusively for Gonzalez. They will likely ask an advisory board what subjects can be covered by KCTI, choosing those that are also concerns of all areas covered by KSTX. Maybe they'll do a couple of community announcements in Morning Edition. Possibly they might to a polka show but that depends on several things. Certainly, I do not know their minds or intent, but rather form my opinion based on what I have seen happen elsewhere. It's less about not doing that much as it is practicality.

If you look at various NPR statewide services such as in northern states, exclusive programming for one station isn't the norm, but also, no community is ignored. Forecasts, for example, might be just local, but rather statewide with perhaps an emphasis on cities where a station is simulcasting (ie: for Western Nebraska including North Platte and Scottsbluff...)

We have two fine examples of this right here in Houston, Bill. KHCB & KSBJ. Other than the hourly TOH ID, "in Navasota a high today of 61°, low of 42°." is as local as it gets for KSBJ owned KWUP. Same with KHCB, and its slew of Class A's and/or translators. Prime example of theirs is KHML Madisonville, where there is only a mention of anything Madison County related on the TOH where there's an ID and a time and temp reading for ALL areas covered by the HCB. It's this that causes my pessimistic view when looking at what KCTI's future holds. I still hope to be proven wrong, I simply believe that's it only time standing between KCTI and a closer San Antonio outlier than Gonzales, Texas.

Just returned home from SA. 1450 is still as dead as a door nail, for those keeping score at home.