FCC Auction

[xmtrland]

Was looking at the list for the upcoming FCC auction for the FM band and notice Coupeville, WA on the list. Actually it’s the second time around (2015 Auction no bidders) for the allocation at channel 266, 101.1mhz. It’s a class A but you would think it should get better coverage than the translators for KAPS, KBRC or KRPA. You would think this would be a huge upgrade for KRPA which is Daytime only Oak Harbor. Start saving now, opening bid is $25,000.

Also Raymond, WA. Truly you could call this station the end by location, 107.9. Class A, starting bid at $7,500.

Browse the list for yourself and find that perfect retirement spot (Rawlins, WY)!!!
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-1027A2.pdf

*Disclaimer – Transmitter and Studio not included in price. Just the frequency allotment.

 

[The New Chico]

Well, KRPA/KWLE isn't particularly interested in broadcasting to the US, and a class A on South Whidbey competing against class C CFMI Vancouver is not going to make an impact anywhere in Canada. As far and KAPS or The Brick, Coupeville is a heck of a long reach to the Skagit Valley, and again fighting CFMI.

The logical bidder here would be Andy Skotdal, current owner operator of KRKO and KKXA. He is currently operating an FM translator for one of his AMs on 101.1 Everett, which would likely be wiped out by a new "Coupeville" station anyway. Kills two birds with one stone by upgrading to the class A, and I bet if engineered correctly would still cover Coupeville COL legally while broadcasting from Everett. 6000 watts equivalent sure beats the snot out of 250. C'mon Andy- don't let this go to another religious satcaster!

 

[bobdavcav]

Hmm, that could be an interesting possibility for 101.1. I'm more interested in the 107.9 in Raymond, who would get that? Since KJET is moving to Union, I could see Bill W making a run for it to simulcast 105.7, maintaining a local signal for that station in Pacific County. That station will likely transmit from the current KJET site, where KLSY also had its transmitter.

 

[Kelly A]

Kills two birds with one stone by upgrading to the class A, and I bet if engineered correctly would still cover Coupeville COL legally while broadcasting from Everett. 6000 watts equivalent sure beats the snot out of 250.

Having a 'studio' located in the city of license, or even in the coverage area, is no longer required. One could have a Coupeville signal and the studio feeding it in Buffalo NY.

 

[seattlesarchiebunker]

Well, KRPA/KWLE isn't particularly interested in broadcasting to the US, and a class A on South Whidbey competing against class C CFMI Vancouver is not going to make an impact anywhere in Canada. As far and KAPS or The Brick, Coupeville is a heck of a long reach to the Skagit Valley, and again fighting CFMI.

The logical bidder here would be Andy Skotdal, current owner operator of KRKO and KKXA. He is currently operating an FM translator for one of his AMs on 101.1 Everett, which would likely be wiped out by a new "Coupeville" station anyway. Kills two birds with one stone by upgrading to the class A, and I bet if engineered correctly would still cover Coupeville COL legally while broadcasting from Everett. 6000 watts equivalent sure beats the snot out of 250. C'mon Andy- don't let this go to another religious satcaster!

It could be an Everett “rimshot”. Assuming it ends up on the KXIR tower (ideal location to cover Everett while being close enough to Coupeville to put a city grade signal), the 60 dBu contour will skirt the waterfront of downtown and that’s it. However, downtown Everett is an advantageous location to pick up stations from the North and West, so it would probably do quite well with real world reception.

Andy S. buys 101.1/Coupeville...I would imagine the translator would have to move to 101.3. At that point, 101.1 provides a better signal to people in Marysville/Stanwood/etc. Most of your listeners from Everett going south and east would still get a better signal from the translator.

 

[AQH]

Well, KRPA/KWLE isn't particularly interested in broadcasting to the US, and a class A on South Whidbey competing against class C CFMI Vancouver is not going to make an impact anywhere in Canada. As far and KAPS or The Brick, Coupeville is a heck of a long reach to the Skagit Valley, and again fighting CFMI.

The logical bidder here would be Andy Skotdal, current owner operator of KRKO and KKXA. He is currently operating an FM translator for one of his AMs on 101.1 Everett, which would likely be wiped out by a new "Coupeville" station anyway. Kills two birds with one stone by upgrading to the class A, and I bet if engineered correctly would still cover Coupeville COL legally while broadcasting from Everett. 6000 watts equivalent sure beats the snot out of 250. C'mon Andy- don't let this go to another religious satcaster!

Logical does not always mean practical. Always fun to spend other people's money, but there are some very harsh financial realities in broadcasting.

 

[The New Chico]

Logical does not always mean practical. Always fun to spend other people's money, but there are some very harsh financial realities in broadcasting.

Oh, totally agreed. I just LOVE spending other people's money, and I am pretty good at it too!

 

[b-turner]

The real honey of a frequency is Essex, California. Just think, you could serve the 40-50 people in the zip code. Cheap land, lots of potential tower sites and if you always wanted to play really long sets of music between commercials, you can do it here.

 

[davideduardo]

The real honey of a frequency is Essex, California. Just think, you could serve the 40-50 people in the zip code. Cheap land, lots of potential tower sites and if you always wanted to play really long sets of music between commercials, you can do it here.

I'm amazed that this kind of allocation would even be made. The nearest town with any kind of businesses would be Needles, CA, which has proven itself barely able to support radio stations despite a population nearly 50 times greater than Essex.

Wikipedia says, "With an estimated population of just 89 people in 2005 (down from 111 in 2000), Essex is on the verge of becoming one of many ghost towns scattered throughout the Southwestern United States displaced by the creation of Interstate 40."

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Agreed on Essex. But there are several allocations in this auction that don't seem to have a good business case, for example:

Class A at Lovelady, Texas with 70 dBu population of 7100
Class C1 at Stratton, Colorado with 70 dBu population of 9900
Class A at Crandon, Wisconsin with 70 dBu population of 5800

The only buyers I could imagine for allocations like these would be broadcasters who already have a facility in a nearby community and want to expand.

 

[b-turner]

Lovelady, Texas might not be bad. You could set up at the halfway point between two decent communities that support stations. The question is whether the advertising pie can be sliced to create another piece ample enough for all to survive.

Some spots look horrible but really are not. There are two frequencies assigned to San Isidro, Texas. While Class A, they're 30 miles from McAllen. Still, on the surface, San Isidro is only a couple of hundred folks and the surrounding towns you see on the map are smaller. With 42% below the poverty line and just a handful of owner/operator small businesses, the local area would have a tough time supporting a Low Power FM. A good automated format would be essential for the area's 98.5% Hispanic population mostly engaged in farming and ranching if trying for the local area. Maybe you could get a few clients in the $20 to $100 a month range...maybe a dozen. You'd be selling lots of 'for sale ads', birthday salutes and other such stuff because it would be the bulk of your income. In places like this, creative stations might sell a quarter hour on Mother's Day to a family that sends out best wishes to Mom and the station plays a couple of her favorite tunes for maybe $20 to $40 a pop. San Isidro has 2.5 million in retail sales with a convenience store being the biggest volume business out of the 13 businesses, grossing $260,000 a year.

Mullin, Texas looks horrible but pick a spot 10 miles northwest and you have a Brownwood station. From Mullin you can reach Goldwaithe easily but there's already an FM there and I doubt it bills much money. Mullin is 180 folks if they're home, counting that dog that acts like a human. There is one business as I recall. Downtown is crumbling buildings.

A real loser of a spot is Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Even as a Class C3, it doesn't cover much at all. At best, you might hit Hanna and a couple of much smaller towns but forget reaching much more than 1,500 folks. If you could get high enough terrain, you might not need lots of power (assuming several bays) to get to a full class C3 but just paying off the investment would be impossible much less getting the monthly expenses covered. The volunteer newspaper in Hanna only takes in about $100 a month. Medicine Bow has 10 businesses, total $1.2 million in retail sales.

 

[ftballfan]

Agreed on Essex. But there are several allocations in this auction that don't seem to have a good business case, for example:

Class A at Lovelady, Texas with 70 dBu population of 7100
Class C1 at Stratton, Colorado with 70 dBu population of 9900
Class A at Crandon, Wisconsin with 70 dBu population of 5800

The only buyers I could imagine for allocations like these would be broadcasters who already have a facility in a nearby community and want to expand.

Some other bad ones:
Class A at Custer, Michigan (covers more population than the above examples, but there are already seven commercial stations in the Manistee/Mason/Oceana area, not counting the currently silent 102.7 WMOM or Traverse City-based 103.5 WTCM, which might actually be the most popular station in this area; this would work A LOT better if it could move into the Fremont area as Newaygo County has one radio station with nearly as much population as Manistee and Mason counties combined)
Class C3 at Onekama, Michigan (see notes for Custer, but is much closer to all the Traverse City area sticks)
Class A at Wamsutter, Wyoming (unless it were paired with a Rock Springs or Rawlins area station)
The three Class A's in northern New Hampshire (unless they're used as a trimulcast)
Also, most of them in the mountain west (except those that could get mountain sites or would be the sole radio service for a decent-sized community)

Some good ones include (most if not all of these used to be home to stations that ended up either voluntarily turning in their license or getting their license yanked):
Class B at Sacramento, California (this one will likely go for over a million dollars)
Class C3 at Sanger, Texas
Class C3 at Lovington, New Mexico
Class C3 at Maryville, Missouri
Class A at Fort Walton Beach, Florida (not much power, but right in the middle of the FWB/Destin/Niceville area)

 

[bobdavcav]

Speaking of really bad allocations for stations, the last auction in 2013 had two class C sticks and a C0 later downgraded to C1 in Grand Portage, MN. Me as a 19-year-old kid wanted to drop out of school and make a bid for one of those, but decided that, while I could have afforded the license, I probably wouldn't be able to build the thing. I tried to do some research a year or so ago and couldn't find anything about those stations. I just couldn't resist dreaming though about buying a class C signal for only 750 bucks and actually doing something with it. Still wonder what happened to them?

 

[b-turner]

It seems the 'cheap ones' don't ever get built. I recall a pair of frequencies assigned to Rocksprings, Texas years ago. Neither one is on the air. In the last auction, places like Guthrie with under 300 in the whole county claim to be built and on the air, yet I've never heard the station. There's a pair of frequencies in Sanderson, Texas, population 800 with about 900 in the whole 2,400 square mile county. Both have CPs but aren't built as far as I know. One is for sale, maybe both. I doubt any will be built and kept on air. At least the Guthrie station is claiming 100 watts ERP on a low height stick.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

The C0 allocation on channel 245 (96.9) in Grand Portage, MN was won by a bidder called Resonance Media, for 487 dollars after bidding credits. It looks like they filed for a construction permit, which subsequently expired in 2016. The proposed facility would have primarily covered the waters of Lake Superior, with a directional antenna aimed away from the Canadian border.

The full C allocation on channel 274 (102.7) in Grand Portage, MN was won by a bidder called Multi-Cultural Diversity Radio for $1050 after bidding credits.
It appears this licensee has an active construction permit for 100 Watts at 24 meters, on channel 224 (92.7). I'm not sure how this frequency change came to be. The licensee says in the application they intend to pursue the full class C allocation, but have only requested the 100 Watt facility to date.
The licensee also holds a CP for 100W at 24m on channel 251 (98.1) at Grand Portage, which was filed for on the same day as the channel 92.7 permit. I'm assuming one of these filings is in error.

 

[crainbebo]

This 101.1 for auction with Coupeville COL...could Andrew Skotdal win it, cease operation of K266CJ and make it a full power simulcast of KKXA? It would have to be very directional towards Snohomish County due to CFMI, however. I mean, I could be out there with that questioning, but who knows.
Or Bill W wins it and brings back Q Country. The KMCQ calls are no longer used on any full-power FM after 103.3 went Spanish and changed to KZNW.

Also noting a 95.1 in Trout Lake WA (north of Hood River) up for auction too...95.1 has nothing full powered pretty much anywhere in the PacNW, at least over 1000 watts. Would be a first.

 

[davideduardo]

Some other bad ones:
Class A at Custer, Michigan (covers more population than the above examples, but there are already seven commercial stations in the Manistee/Mason/Oceana area, not counting the currently silent 102.7 WMOM or Traverse City-based 103.5 WTCM, which might actually be the most popular station in this area; this would work A LOT better if it could move into the Fremont area as Newaygo County has one radio station with nearly as much population as Manistee and Mason counties combined)
Class C3 at Onekama, Michigan (see notes for Custer, but is much closer to all the Traverse City area sticks)
Class A at Wamsutter, Wyoming (unless it were paired with a Rock Springs or Rawlins area station)
The three Class A's in northern New Hampshire (unless they're used as a trimulcast)
Also, most of them in the mountain west (except those that could get mountain sites or would be the sole radio service for a decent-sized community)

Some good ones include (most if not all of these used to be home to stations that ended up either voluntarily turning in their license or getting their license yanked):
Class B at Sacramento, California (this one will likely go for over a million dollars)
Class C3 at Sanger, Texas
Class C3 at Lovington, New Mexico
Class C3 at Maryville, Missouri
Class A at Fort Walton Beach, Florida (not much power, but right in the middle of the FWB/Destin/Niceville area)

While this post is off-track and off-thread per the original post about a local station in the Seattle Metro, you bring up a bunch of valid points that can't be seen looking at just one channel allocation: the FCC uses math to fit stations in wherever they will go, even if they are not viable.

Docket 80-90 was a bit of this, where thousands of stations got dropped into small and medium markets without those markets having one penny of new revenue to sustain two, three, four and sometimes five new stations in what had been a subsistence 3 or 4 station market.

They don't see the mistake. They could have learned from Canada, where new stations had to do economic studies to prove they would not damage service to existing stations. They could have learned from Mexico, and Colombia and Brazil that licensing crippled daytimers and highly directional stations did not serve communities... they just congested the dial and prevented service.

That horse is in the barn. Now the Volkswagen is discharging an infinite amount of clowns, each with a license for a station in an un-viable market.

 

[Kelly A]

I can't recall what the exact number was, but back in the early days of the 21st Century there used to be a population count that could theoretically support a radio station within a town or community. I believe that number was originally published by BIA Kelsey.

Even back then, I'm pretty sure the number was around or north of 5,000 residents inside the primary coverage area. In the community for one of the stations I sold a couple years ago, had a population of around 18,000, and had plenty of listeners to the station. Problem was, local businesses staying in business and paying their advertising bill, while remaining in business.

 

[Ai4i]

I have always wanted to run a non-com, but I suppose they require populations that are large, upscale, and well-educated. Even Miami could not support a classical station, though admittedly it had a rimshot signal which covered half the market and in the wrong language.

 

[bobdavcav]

The C0 allocation on channel 245 (96.9) in Grand Portage, MN was won by a bidder called Resonance Media, for 487 dollars after bidding credits. It looks like they filed for a construction permit, which subsequently expired in 2016. The proposed facility would have primarily covered the waters of Lake Superior, with a directional antenna aimed away from the Canadian border.

The full C allocation on channel 274 (102.7) in Grand Portage, MN was won by a bidder called Multi-Cultural Diversity Radio for $1050 after bidding credits.
It appears this licensee has an active construction permit for 100 Watts at 24 meters, on channel 224 (92.7). I'm not sure how this frequency change came to be. The licensee says in the application they intend to pursue the full class C allocation, but have only requested the 100 Watt facility to date.
The licensee also holds a CP for 100W at 24m on channel 251 (98.1) at Grand Portage, which was filed for on the same day as the channel 92.7 permit. I'm assuming one of these filings is in error.

No, the way I remember it Multicultural Diversity Radio won both the 92.7 and 102.7 allocations, but moved 102.7 to 98.1 to eliminate interference between it and CILU/Thunder Bay, ON. It is the 92.7 that I was dreaming of bidding on, as that frequency looks wide open. Wow, 100 W at 24 M? That's a far cry from a class C.