C
CAVEMANager
Guest
First a little background info: Ted Tucker has a long history of moving small market FM stations in outlying areas into the big city. His two biggest triumphs were establishing 106.3 in Tucson which he sold for over $6 million, and moving a Winslow station into a suburb of Phoenix, now 95.1, which he sold for over $18 million. In 2001 Tucker’s Cochise Broadcasting LLC bought KKYZ -101.7 in Sierra Vista for $500,000. KKYZ had a rock oldies format which it still has, and for many years Nielsen has rated it number one in Cochise County. KKYZ is little more than a jukebox and its small spotload is probably a major reason for the high ratings.
Shortly after buying KKYZ Tucker got permission to move the station to a suburb of Tucson but the move wasn’t carried out. Over the years, different suburbs of Tucson were named in construction permits but KKYZ remained in Sierra Vista. From what I’m seeing, the present game plan is to use KKYZ to establish two new F.M.s in the Tucson market and also keep KKYZ in Sierra Vista. It’s the old line about having your cake and eating it too. A very recent development is that there’s a new station licensed to Catalina Foothills on 101.1 which just came on the air. That would be on KKYZ’s third adjacent channel.
The FCC data base presently shows three facilities for KKYZ and two call signs with the second being KXKR. KXKR is the call sign used by the new station on 101.1 in Tucson. Several months ago KKYZ's community of license was moved from Sierra Vista to Huachuca City which is a few miles north of Sierra Vista along Highway 90.
The licensed facility is on a tiny tower behind a landscaping company that happens to be a KKYZ sponsor. It is right next to the Huachuca City Post office. See the photos at CAVEFM.com/cz . One problem is that this transmitting facility is not being used by any broadcasting station including KKYZ.
The second facility is a construction permit for the Texas Canyon communications site which is just south of I-10 about ten miles Northeast of Benson. See photo. Texas Canyon is owned by the State of Arizona and it has no broadcasting stations, only microwave relays and two way radio installations. One is owned by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. In addition to KKYZ Tucker also proposes to place his Douglas station on Texas Canyon with 96 kw. My best guess is that the Texas Canyon CP s are strictly on paper and will never be built. Their only purpose is to extend the predicted contours of both stations.
KKYZ’s third facility is described as an “FS auxiliary station” and it is on a tower that was originally built for an AM station on 1470 which Cochise Broadcasting now owns. It’s about 180 feet tall. See photo. Tucker acquired KNXN from Doug Martin in 2018 when Martin decided to get out of radio. It was a religious station and that explains the message purportedly from Jesus on the front of the building. It is this tower just east of Sierra Vista that is used by KKYZ and also by KNXN(1470) and by several translators. The licensed transmitting facility in Huachuca City is clearly a sham. From that tower KKYZ would cover hardly anything.
Also on 101.7 is the translator for KDRI and I’m wondering if that might be forced off the air.
There could be some interesting developments in the months to come.
Shortly after buying KKYZ Tucker got permission to move the station to a suburb of Tucson but the move wasn’t carried out. Over the years, different suburbs of Tucson were named in construction permits but KKYZ remained in Sierra Vista. From what I’m seeing, the present game plan is to use KKYZ to establish two new F.M.s in the Tucson market and also keep KKYZ in Sierra Vista. It’s the old line about having your cake and eating it too. A very recent development is that there’s a new station licensed to Catalina Foothills on 101.1 which just came on the air. That would be on KKYZ’s third adjacent channel.
The FCC data base presently shows three facilities for KKYZ and two call signs with the second being KXKR. KXKR is the call sign used by the new station on 101.1 in Tucson. Several months ago KKYZ's community of license was moved from Sierra Vista to Huachuca City which is a few miles north of Sierra Vista along Highway 90.
The licensed facility is on a tiny tower behind a landscaping company that happens to be a KKYZ sponsor. It is right next to the Huachuca City Post office. See the photos at CAVEFM.com/cz . One problem is that this transmitting facility is not being used by any broadcasting station including KKYZ.
The second facility is a construction permit for the Texas Canyon communications site which is just south of I-10 about ten miles Northeast of Benson. See photo. Texas Canyon is owned by the State of Arizona and it has no broadcasting stations, only microwave relays and two way radio installations. One is owned by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. In addition to KKYZ Tucker also proposes to place his Douglas station on Texas Canyon with 96 kw. My best guess is that the Texas Canyon CP s are strictly on paper and will never be built. Their only purpose is to extend the predicted contours of both stations.
KKYZ’s third facility is described as an “FS auxiliary station” and it is on a tower that was originally built for an AM station on 1470 which Cochise Broadcasting now owns. It’s about 180 feet tall. See photo. Tucker acquired KNXN from Doug Martin in 2018 when Martin decided to get out of radio. It was a religious station and that explains the message purportedly from Jesus on the front of the building. It is this tower just east of Sierra Vista that is used by KKYZ and also by KNXN(1470) and by several translators. The licensed transmitting facility in Huachuca City is clearly a sham. From that tower KKYZ would cover hardly anything.
Also on 101.7 is the translator for KDRI and I’m wondering if that might be forced off the air.
There could be some interesting developments in the months to come.
