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KBRE 1660 AM 105.7 lp-FM Merced

K

kenrayc

Guest
I noticed KBRE 92.5 gave up there full power FM Active Rock station to start another Spanish Language station, like the Valley needs more, and move it to 1660 AM with a low power 250 watts FM(105.7), when did this happen? Haven't heard 92.5 Merced since The lp-FM in Clovis went on the air.
These FM lp stations simulcasting their AM is really starting to be a trend, a good way to save AM stations in trouble.
 
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Have no idea about the 92.5 or 1660 other than the 1660 gets out well and has been heard at night in the Palmdale area. Your statement about all of the new FM translators helping save AM radio stations has another point of view All the new translators only "Junk Up" the FM band so that the FM band will end up like the over crowded AM band. Just a pile of noise.
Give the over 2000 AM daytimers a full powered FM signal --- on a NEW extended FM band on the lower TV Channels (2 - 6) and delete all of the over 2,000 AM Daytimers and the over 2,000 low powered TIS stations as well. Move them all over to a new clean digital FM band. Solve the problem - don't just delay or extend the problem.
 
These are translators for the AM stations. In other words the AM station, after an engineering study and awaiting a time period when the FCC lets them file for a station, has a chance at getting a repeater for their AM station. A filing window just concluded to AM stations required to go off the air at night (daytime only stations). They get to run the translator 24/7. An AM station can purchase an existing translator from another broadcaster or can lease a translator from a licensee.

Don't blame the the stations. The FCC allowed this. The FCC approves every application based on their rules to prevent interference. This has nothing to do with the stations deciding to crowd up the FM dial and prevent you from listening to a distant station. The FCC uses the rules they've had in place, just now they permit this.

Going to frequencies nobody can receive on their radios does work. Assign all the stations you want below the FM band but who has the radios to tune them in? I think adding to the FM dial is a good idea but how many years might it take for manufacturers of radios to get them saturated throughout the populace? Would that even happen? In the day when few car radios had FM, it was another era but it still took about a decade until FM could equal an AM in the ratings. FM stations were forced upon AM stations by the FCC back then and most had the cash to pay the bills to simulcast the AM or operate a Muzak styled service on the subchannel then.

To change this pattern, you need to change listener patterns. Only a small percentage will listen to AM radio. If AM listening was not so low, this never would have happened. In Mexico and Canada, the AM dial is nearly vacant now since each nation allowed virtually all that could find an FM frequency to drop the AM and go purely FM. Some posters on this site are outside the norm of the average listener. The average listener is unaware and could care less about a distant station they can no longer hear. In fact the distant station could care less because they, for the most part, have virtually no distant listeners and their advertisers and/or supporters are not in the distant areas anyway. About the best we can hope for as time moves on is maybe that distant FM streams and is not geofencing its audience.
 
Kenrayc, this station switch a couple months ago, they carried the same programing on all 3 signals for several weeks. The interesting thing is that the the new 105.7 signal is actually licensed to Los Banos, however is located just west of Atwater and doesn't seem to put much of a footprint over Los Banos.
 
I listen to KBRE 1660 here in the greater Seattle area. Great mix of rock. I tune them in online when the AM band isn't cooperating.

I think the FM translator / AM simulcasting is cool, because it brings music back to AM... There is a station in the Tri-Cities in WAshington that does the same thing; they have an FM translator serving the cities and run the AM as a back up for coverage. They play AAA or alt-pop.

Because of the way FM is received, I see no problem with more translators, unless they are interfering with another local station.

With AM you can hear two stations simultaneously -- which non-DXers will not like -- but with FM you either hear one station or the other, and I think the FCC is fairly good at protecting the local stations when allowing new translators.

Most of the complaints I've heard about FM translators are from guys who DX FM or have a favorite fringe FM station.
 
That Tri-Cities station is 960 KALE. Simulcasted on 106.1 K291BS, it's called "106.1 More FM" with soft rock.
Speaking of Seattle area, two new translators have been granted in Everett - 95.3 (KRKO) and 101.1 (KKXA). Wonder how that will change reception of the Vancouver FMs on those channels.
 
boombox4 said:
I listen to KBRE 1660 here in the greater Seattle area. Great mix of rock. I tune them in online when the AM band isn't cooperating.

I think the FM translator / AM simulcasting is cool, because it brings music back to AM... There is a station in the Tri-Cities in WAshington that does the same thing; they have an FM translator serving the cities and run the AM as a back up for coverage. They play AAA or alt-pop.

Because of the way FM is received, I see no problem with more translators, unless they are interfering with another local station.

With AM you can hear two stations simultaneously -- which non-DXers will not like -- but with FM you either hear one station or the other, and I think the FCC is fairly good at protecting the local stations when allowing new translators.

Most of the complaints I've heard about FM translators are from guys who DX FM or have a favorite fringe FM station.
Click to expand...

I'm one of them!

It is getting hard to enjoy stations that I once got, with the addition of more stations, and HD,it is very difficult!
 
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boombox4 said:
I listen to KBRE 1660 here in the greater Seattle area. Great mix of rock. I tune them in online when the AM band isn't cooperating.

I think the FM translator / AM simulcasting is cool, because it brings music back to AM... There is a station in the Tri-Cities in WAshington that does the same thing; they have an FM translator serving the cities and run the AM as a back up for coverage. They play AAA or alt-pop.

Because of the way FM is received, I see no problem with more translators, unless they are interfering with another local station.

With AM you can hear two stations simultaneously -- which non-DXers will not like -- but with FM you either hear one station or the other, and I think the FCC is fairly good at protecting the local stations when allowing new translators.

Most of the complaints I've heard about FM translators are from guys who DX FM or have a favorite fringe FM station.
Click to expand...

I Agree, and I take back about the "Down Grade" of KBRE being bad, the original 92.5A is on the valley floor with 6000 watts at 329 ft. near Atwater and never served Fresno/Clovis, or any other major area except Merced, with a good signal except for tropo conditions, and 92.5 is now blocked by 92.5LP Clovis, so putting KBRE on the AM Sky Wave is awesome, the "Active Rock" format is not available in many markets so it's a good thing, 1660 being in the newer part of the AM that is not clogged up yet, and I think AM should get LP FMs even if it only has a 5 mile radius over the metro area, in many markets there are like 10-15 Combination Sports/News/Talks Stations that many don't even show in the ratings, yes more music on AM with a FM repeater.
 
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MisterGort said:
Have no idea about the 92.5 or 1660 other than the 1660 gets out well and has been heard at night in the Palmdale area. Your statement about all of the new FM translators helping save AM radio stations has another point of view All the new translators only "Junk Up" the FM band so that the FM band will end up like the over crowded AM band. Just a pile of noise.
Give the over 2000 AM daytimers a full powered FM signal --- on a NEW extended FM band on the lower TV Channels (2 - 6) and delete all of the over 2,000 AM Daytimers and the over 2,000 low powered TIS stations as well. Move them all over to a new clean digital FM band. Solve the problem - don't just delay or extend the problem.
Click to expand...

First of all The FM band is already a mess , and second the lower VHF TV channels will stay TV because Channels 30- 69 have been eliminated for Cell Service and many UHF channels 30 and beyond will have to go to those lower VHF channels.
 
This thread reminded me I wanted to say AM 1270 (my 97.5) sounds horrible. Obviously they only care how 97.5 sounds. It's sad really, when 1270 was country it was the best around, maybe its the type of music, but I know anything is possible. The bumper music on KMJ and KCBL (KCBL sounds really great with modern music) sound fine. Somebody just needs to care enough to tune up 1270! Shame.
 
I caught 1660 today on Hwy 41 south of Manning, I would give my reception a 7.5 out of ten. Tom Sawyer by Rush was playing. Sounded awesome! That is the way music on AM should sound.
 
1660 sounds good with music. Not grainy or poorly modulated like some AM stations. Unless it sounds differently in their local area in California, they sound well engineered.

KBRE now geofences, so DXers no longer have that choice if they want to listen. The 1660 station comes in decently enough here in the PNW most nights.
 
boombox4 said:
1660 sounds good with music. Not grainy or poorly modulated like some AM stations. Unless it sounds differently in their local area in California, they sound well engineered.

KBRE now geofences, so DXers no longer have that choice if they want to listen. The 1660 station comes in decently enough here in the PNW most nights.
Click to expand...

So they don't want you to stream it? Wow.

I used to get 620 kpoj out of Portland when the local 620 was off the air, but its no 1000 watt station.

A quick check at radio-locator shows that KBRE is damn near a clear channel. Awesome.
 
brettbutlerisok said:
So they don't want you to stream it? Wow.

I used to get 620 kpoj out of Portland when the local 620 was off the air, but its no 1000 watt station.

A quick check at radio-locator shows that KBRE is damn near a clear channel. Awesome.
Click to expand...

It seems a lot of stations are geo-fencing because of increased streaming costs... so they keep it local. If non-local stream listeners cut into KBRE's revenue, I can't really blame them...

Luckily the 1660 is listenable most nights, although about half of them I add a small loop to the radio. I like their mix of rock -- new stuff along with 90's and 00's heavy gold tracks.
 
Just out of curiosity, How does this translator and KMJ-FM 105.9 interact with each other in Merced/Atwater? Can both be received without much pushing and shoving from their neighbor?
 
bjmtech said:
Just out of curiosity, How does this translator and KMJ-FM 105.9 interact with each other in Merced/Atwater? Can both be received without much pushing and shoving from their neighbor?
Click to expand...

That's a good question, also how many listeners have switched to 105.1 KKBZ The Blaze for that Format since the downgrade? Many of listeners are not going to listen to AM for Active Rock, I talking about Eastern and Southern Merced including UC Merced and all points South-East from there, like Chowchilla.
Same North-West from there like Livingston, and Turlock, probably more listeners for KMRQ 96.7 Modesto which means the The "Active Rock" format is covered by FM ,just much less of them.
Music on AM is for the 50s, 60s, and Early 70s like KYNO 1430, because that the we heard it back then, and KYNO is well tuned if you know what I mean.
What doesn't make sense is that KBRE does not stream.
 
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RE: KBRE 105.7 The Bear online...

Of course I'm out of state (up here in WA), so their geo-fencing on their stream is understandable. No sense in them paying extra royalties for out-of-area listeners.

But I just discovered that they are on TuneIn, and it works. Cool. I really like their mix of new rock and classics. Kudos to them for getting on TuneIn.
 
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