This is news to me. I'll report back to you guys if you are correct. Very interesting.
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Potential 97.5 Changes Coming
- Thread starter radioislife2020
- Start date
This is news to me. I'll report back to you guys if you are correct. Very interesting.
D
Deleted member 108832
Guest
Meaning you haven't been "let go". Not that either of us would get much of an advanced heads-up if such a thing were to happen, but it confirms my suspicion. You would know if David Gow was winding down the sports operation, in preparation of an impending switch in programming. Kind of renders the whole point of this topic moot.
I am happy to hear you remain on a payroll, 975.
With speculation about KFNC and Gow Media having gone on for almost a year with nothing happening, I’m about to the point where I’m going to put it all on ignore. Wake me up when something actually happens.🥱😴
Both signals are terrible, particularly during tropo season.
97.5 used to have a slight edge because co-channel KFTX in Corpus Christi had a damaged transmission line for a very long time while Cumulus owned the station. When they got that fixed, country music was blasting in on top of KFNC on a regular basis.
EMF did what Cumulus should have done and bought the former KOUL 103.7 to simulcast on it. That's why 103.7 appears to have a better signal than 97.5. The station that tore it up during tropo season during Cumulus ownership (now KXAI 103.7) is carrying the same programming.
Of course, KWTX Waco also pummels KFNC, but it's much less frequent than KFTX.
I suspect KFTX isn't purchasable. IIRC, it's a plaything for the Whataburger money.
Anything is possible, but I'd be shocked if EMF bought another Houston rimshot. They seem to be going for the big sticks these days.
With KRBE's longtime PD relocating to Atlanta to program WWWQ in October, and this week's announcement that KRBE's night jock is moving there with her to be APD and middays, while voice tracking KRBE nights, I'm seriously wondering if something positive and encouraging might be coming to 104.1.
RadioInsight reported this week that EMF is on the verge of another big deal with a large commercial broadcaster they've done business with before. That could be either Audacy or Cumulus, but KRBE's PD and night jock both moving to WWWQ makes me wonder if there's a connection.
I have no idea what the demos look like, but KRBE hasn't looked good in the beauty contest numbers for a while.
If KLOVE on 104.1 were to happen, I can see EMF shifting Air1 to 97.1 and putting Nueva Vida on 103.7.
I don't know about all that....
Both KHJK and KFNC have the same antenna and are at the same height. I am not discounting co-channel interference, but I think the primary reason for the meaningful signal difference is that KHJK is approximately 5 miles closer to downtown than KFNC.
I don't even know what this means, but for what it is worth, Whataburger moved the HQ to San Antonio about a decade ago.
When both stations were under Cumulus ownership, 97.5 had the better signal by far. Again, this was primarily because KFTX was operating at greatly reduced power due to technical issues for quite some time.
When 103.7 was being built, Cumulus management told the staff of then Rock 97.5 KIOL that the 103.7 signal would perform better than 97.5. It didn't. In fact, it was worse, which led to some rather tense discussions between the local staff and corporate engineering. (One of which apparently involved an air talent from the rock format screaming at then Cumulus engineering VP Gary Kline shortly after the rock format moved from 97.5 to 103.7.)
Cumulus attempted to address the 103.7 signal issue by building an aux site at Baytown. I don't remember exactly what it was licensed for, but it was something like 12kW at 600'. Cumulus wasn't really interested in a backup transmitter site for the station. It was built as a test, and if it had performed better than the main site in the Houston metro, it would have become the main transmitter site. It didn't, and EMF let the aux site go shortly after acquiring the station.
Again, what did improve 103.7, was EMF purchasing KOUL and simulcasting Air1 on it. That eliminated the biggest co-channel interference issue that the station had.
It means KFTX isn't for sale, so it can't be purchased for simulcast purposes the way KOUL was. Unlike KOUL in 2013 when EMF bought it, KFTX primarily exists as a very wealthy man's toy.
Whataburger was founded by the late Harmon Dobson. His son, former Whataburger CEO Thomas Dobson, is the president of Quality Broadcasting Corporation, which owns KFTX.
Did that clear things up for you?
All rimshots are susceptible to this. And it's not like tropospheric ducting happens every day.
It has never had an edge. You're laser focused on tropospheric ducting interference, which is something only us radio dorks marvel at. For most people, it is a rare inconvenience that is only noticed on a few select morning drives. And even when it is noticed, it has always hit 97.5 way worse than it has hit 103.7.
At the end of the day, 103.7 was a much more successful move-in than 97.5. There's a reason why the Rock format "KIOL" moved from 97.5 to 103.7 while 97.5 became stereo-less "FM News channel" (and has stayed doing some type of talk format since then). 97.5 rimshots straight from the east and misses the vast expanding northern/northwest suburbs. KQBU, KTJM, KKHT, KQQK and KHJK all have a weaker, yet more evenly distributed signal up and down the entire 45 corridor between Conroe and Galveston.
I disagree. That doesn't match my experience at all or many of the other commenters on this board. 97.5 has been the worst of the eastern rimshots since they moved in. I can't remember a time when 97.5 was better overall than 103.7, including when it was AAA and Jack, back before EMF bought it.
97.5 is also substantially worse overall than the other eastern rimshots: 93.3, 98.5, 100.7, and 107.9.
Does having a co-channel with near-identical program audio help hide ducting sometimes? Probably, but that is not the primary reason 97.5 is perceived as being such a dog.
And for what it is worth, those other eastern rimshots are also, on the whole, pretty awful if you take the market dimensions into account. Very poor signals in the western half of the market where a lot of growth is happening.
It just so happens that 98.5 and 107.9 are slightly less terrible and they have programming that is better suited for the audiences where the signals are adequate.
97.5 definitely gets the most tropos interference by far from the eastern rimshots at my location. Although I usually get Waco instead of Corpus Christi.
103.7 it’s common for KXAI to come in strong. It’s noticeable from KHJK because they’re not perfectly synced. Sometimes I’ll get KXAI’s RDS on the 95.3 translator.
98.5 and 107.9 I’ll only sometimes get San Antonio and Victoria respectively but I’ll have to really pull them in.
93.3 is actually the most rare, but I do often get KGSR’s HD signal from the Austin area.
Normal conditions 97.5 is so much more weaker than the other stations though. Only slightly better than 99.9
103.7 it’s common for KXAI to come in strong. It’s noticeable from KHJK because they’re not perfectly synced. Sometimes I’ll get KXAI’s RDS on the 95.3 translator.
98.5 and 107.9 I’ll only sometimes get San Antonio and Victoria respectively but I’ll have to really pull them in.
93.3 is actually the most rare, but I do often get KGSR’s HD signal from the Austin area.
Normal conditions 97.5 is so much more weaker than the other stations though. Only slightly better than 99.9
In the heights, I've only caught KWTX interfering with 97.5. In my experience, stations with directional patterns, such as KFTX, are harder catches when DXing. It's almost like they are more prone to become submissive rather than domineering during tropospheric events.
98.5 is probably the best rimshot when it comes to avoiding tropospheric shenanigans. Catching KBBT or KGBT has always been a challenge.
107.9 on the other hand struggles even under normal conditions against KIXS anywhere southwest of Sugarland. I'm not exaggerating when I say that KIXS is a daily catch if you park in specific locations around Richmond and Rosenberg.
I've heard WQUE more often than KGSR. But even that is very rare.
I wouldn't go that far. While KFNC lacks in the northern parts of the metro, it performs far better than the rest of the rimshots in the southern parts of town. KFNC is a much easier catch in Galveston Island than the Senior Rd stations.
Having said all that, one station that doesn't get enough scrutiny is KKHT FM. It seems to be the weakest out of the Devers area for some odd reason. It is static prone and has a lot of dropouts around town.
My post is my observations in Montgomery County. I know KFNC is a much better signal than KHIH.
And I knew I was forgetting a station. KKHT does often get interference from KASE and more recently whenever I find a weak spot WTGE HD will lock. KASE HD is much harder to get for some reason.
D
Deleted member 108832
Guest
Is it? KFNC wastes nearly half it's signal over the Gulf of Mexico. KHIH covers mostly land.
Just saying. Hope Media could have picked up either 97.5 or 103.7. The foundation had already begun mapping out their strategy to grow the outreach ministry, beginning with the purchase of 96.9 in Wharton County, when the pair went to auction. They didn't even submit a bid or give either Cumulus property a second look. Instead, they chose to buy out the retiring Bill Buchanan over in Liberty, and the FM from the Haley estate in Livingston and hope (no pun intended) for the best. One thing about the foundation is that they extremely meticulous in their broadcasting acquisitions, and perform an extraordinary amount of due diligence. 97.5 is the bigger signal, that's true, but better? Debatable.
Personally, if ever afforded the opportunity to take the wheel, I'd take the old Shine All 9 signal every day, and twice on Sundays. At least I know how to program to the farmers, cattlemen, and the rig hands that 99.9's signal serves. I don't know the first thing about how to program for fish, nor shrimp boat captains.
KHIH's entire 60 dbu contour fits inside KFNC's current 60 dbu contour.
As far as KHIH's coverage in urban areas of Montgomery County (Conroe, The Woodlands, Montgomery, Magnolia, Willis), it is non-existent in most radios. KVST splatters all over it.
There’s also a translator that can mess with that
It happens frequently enough in Houston, and 103.7 was obliterated routinely until EMF purchased the 103.7 frequency in Corpus to simulcast on.
Tropospheric ducting is a "rare inconvenience" for full market signals. It's a much larger problem for rimshots.
Well, I can't help with short memories, but there was most definitely a time when 97.5 outperformed 103.7 before the KFTX repairs, and before EMF bought and made several improvements to 103.7.
I have zero doubt that 97.5 performs worse today than it did under Cumulus ownership.
I also have zero doubt that 103.7 performs better today than it did during Cumulus ownership.
I'd be willing to bet almost anything that 97.5 is still rocking along with the same Harris HT35 tube transmitters that were installed after the site was badly damaged by Hurricane Ike. I'd also say it's likely they're no longer tuned for minimum AM noise, and there may be other technical issues with the antenna system and/or transmitters.
On the other hand, EMF replaced the 103.7 antenna that was in place under Cumulus ownership, and I would be absolutely shocked if EMF is still using the Harris HT35s that were original to the facility. It's much more likely that they've installed a shiny, new Nautel solid state transmitter, like they have at so many other acquisitions. Those boxes are incapable of being out of tune, and they would produce a more stable signal than the Harris tube boxes on their very best day.
The antenna EMF installed for KHJK is tuned just for 103.7 and uses a power divider and matched lengths of transmission line going from the power divider to the antenna bays, so everything is phase matched. When every ounce of performance counts, this can make a difference.
The 103.7 antenna that was in place when Cumulus owned KHJK was broadbanded, and designed to accept everything from 94.1 to 103.7, which is how the 103.7 site became home to 97.5 for many months after Hurricane Ike badly damaged the main 97.5 site. Little known fact - Cumulus had aspirations of moving KQXY Beaumont to Devers and making it a Houston rimshot as well. I forget exactly where, but there was a blocking station that refused to downgrade or change frequency, so the KQXY move never happened.
The antenna for KFNC is either center fed or end fed (I honestly don't remember which) but it doesn't have phase matching advantages that KHJK does now.
So in a nutshell, 103.7 is equipped to perform better now than when Cumulus owned it.
Not that this couldn't have changed, but Cumulus has always hung onto KRBE because it has been highly profitable despite being a standalone station. Cumulus has also seen it as a property that would have more value being traded than sold outright. I suppose the private equity companies that own Cumulus might be more willing to sell now, but I wouldn't think the value of KRBE would've fallen enough to make a deal with K-Love look palatable. Plus, the most recent big K-Love deal involved Salem allowing K-Love to essentially buy its music stations on credit. Cumulus isn't likely to accept a promissory note like that. Private equity firms usually want to get paid right away. I don't know what level of cash K-Love has on-hand, but I'd think it would need a lot to buy multiple major market properties from Cumulus.
My suspicion on that is Cumulus is more likely to be the seller than Audacy. If a long rumored swap happens, KRBE will be involved, but K-Love won't get it. Cumulus will divest some stations in another market to K-Love so it can clear room for the stations it will add.