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560

Mark Roberts said:
It would be very difficult for a new entrant to get even a translator in the Bay Area.
Click to expand...

Maybe, maybe not. Pacifica filed applications on Friday to sell their translators in Monterey and Santa Cruz to some entity called "Common Communications Southern California".
 
K.M. Richards said:
Maybe, maybe not. Pacifica filed applications on Friday to sell their translators in Monterey and Santa Cruz to some entity called "Common Communications Southern California".
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I know I could look this up myself, but did Pacifica sell those translators or donate them? They just filed an application to donate a translator near Livingston, Texas to KEOS in Bryan/College Station, Texas, which is a similar operation.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
I know I could look this up myself, but did Pacifica sell those translators or donate them? They just filed an application to donate a translator near Livingston, Texas to KEOS in Bryan/College Station, Texas, which is a similar operation.
Click to expand...

I have not looked at the actual applications. I saw it in the FCC Daily Digest.
 
Mark Roberts said:
I'm going to break my self-imposed rule about not speculating.

If anyone steps up for 560, I think it'll be Bott.

Here's why I think that.
  1. Bott runs AM stations. I don't think they've acquired any lately, but they haven't gotten rid of the ones they have. Counterargument: all their AMs (11 total) have either FM translators or full-power FM complements (the latter in Kansas City, St. Louis, and Nashville). It would be very difficult for a new entrant to get even a translator in the Bay Area.
  2. This would be one of their few opportunities to break into the Bay Area market, and on a fairly decent AM signal. Corollary: There are no FM opportunities for a new entrant unless Cumulus gets really desperate and has to sell KSAN(FM). Minor irony there in that Dick Bott's father-in-law used to own KSAN(AM) (KEST since 1971), and Dick Bott was the manager before he bought KDON (point #4 below) in Salinas.
  3. In its regulatory filings, Cumulus has made oblique references to negotations for KZAC, using wording that's different from the boilerplate language that they've used in other STA extensions. So I think something's cooking, even if at a slow boil.
  4. Dick Bott spent time in the Bay Area, and owned KDON in Salinas from 1957-60. Sure, that's a long time ago, but there might be just a little more of an incentive to get into the Bay Area for them than might otherwise be the case. It's a company that seems cognizant of its history.
  5. Counterargument: possible overlap with the programming on KFAX. I'm not conversant with this type of programming, so I don't know how much of a problem duplication presents for the producers of teaching-style programs.
  6. Another counterargument: any sale wouldn't include the transmitter site. That said, at least it's one not owned by the major tower companies.
  7. There is precedent in the Family Radio trade that brought KEAR to 610. Yes, that was 20 years ago and Family was then based in the Bay Area. But it is a data point.
I'll concede that I think this is a long shot. There are still 3+ months to go before something definitive has to happen with the 560 frequency. But turning in the license gets Cumulus nothing. What we don't know is how motivated a seller Cumulus might be.

Edit: I'll admit that I was also ignoring the possibility that Bott's noncommercial arm could acquire an NCE FM. But there are few good choices of those in the Bay Area.
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You got me! When I saw an alert for the 560 thread, I thought FINALLY, a sale is in the works!

Three months will go by pretty quickly. We are getting down to the final stretch before cancellation, and I'm losing hope for a resuscitation of 560 AM.

I believe the expense of the tower lease is the biggest obstacle to finding a buyer.
 
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KilowattKat said:
You got me! When I saw an alert for the 560 thread, I thought FINALLY, a sale is in the works!

Three months will go by pretty quickly. We are getting down to the final stretch before cancellation, and I'm losing hope for a resuscitation of 560 AM.

I believe the expense of the tower lease is the biggest obstacle to finding a buyer.
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I don't understand why they can't diplex 560 with 1050 across the Bay in Hayward. AFAIK, Cumulus owns that site. (Or at least they used to, back when they acquired KOFY 1050 from Jim Gabbert.) Is there any technical or regulatory reason that signal couldn't originate from across the Bay?
 
Weiserguy said:
I don't understand why they can't diplex 560 with 1050 across the Bay in Hayward. AFAIK, Cumulus owns that site. (Or at least they used to, back when they acquired KOFY 1050 from Jim Gabbert.) Is there any technical or regulatory reason that signal couldn't originate from across the Bay?
Click to expand...

Maybe they have already explored that option and don't think the investment to do so is worth it.
 
Weiserguy said:
I don't understand why they can't diplex 560 with 1050 across the Bay in Hayward.
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K.M. Richards said:
Maybe they have already explored that option and don't think the investment to do so is worth it.
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That's my thought. It would cost money for engineering, rigging, filing with the FCC, etc. All of that is more than it's worth.

Much cheaper to just shut it down, and make it someone else's expense. As of now, no one else wants that expense either.
 
Devil's advocate: Would anyone in this thread's lives and listening habits be any different if 610 had gone dark instead of becoming Family Radio?

If the answer is no, there's your answer for 560.

If they "save" it, if it goes back on the air, the odds of it being anything you'd want to listen to, much less in any way honoring the history of KSFO, is microscopically small.
 
OR....someone could purchase the license only, and use a longwire antenna at 1 KW, string it between two poles somewhere. There you have it, a hobby station. I wonder if Cumulus would sell the license only?
 
michael hagerty said:
Devil's advocate: Would anyone in this thread's lives and listening habits be any different if 610 had gone dark instead of becoming Family Radio?

If the answer is no, there's your answer for 560.

If they "save" it, if it goes back on the air, the odds of it being anything you'd want to listen to, much less in any way honoring the history of KSFO, is microscopically small.
Click to expand...
I’m hoping for polkas.

 
michael hagerty said:
Devil's advocate: Would anyone in this thread's lives and listening habits be any different if 610 had gone dark instead of becoming Family Radio?

If the answer is no, there's your answer for 560.

If they "save" it, if it goes back on the air, the odds of it being anything you'd want to listen to, much less in any way honoring the history of KSFO, is microscopically small.
Click to expand...
Agreed.

If it goes back on air, it will probably be one of the following:
  • Religious (in either English or another language, probably Spanish)
  • Spanish-language secular talk and/or music
  • Indian Punjabi music
  • Chinese talk/music (because San Francisco has a sizable Chinese-American population, this isn't inconceivable)
KilowattKat said:
OR....someone could purchase the license only, and use a longwire antenna at 1 KW, string it between two poles somewhere. There you have it, a hobby station. I wonder if Cumulus would sell the license only?
Click to expand...
I doubt it, though that would be nice, because then it *could* actually open the door to an unusually wealthy hobbyist to do such things.

Michael Rivers Kramer said:
I’m hoping for polkas.
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Polkas? In San Francisco?

c
 
cc333 said:
Agreed.

If it goes back on air, it will probably be one of the following:
  • Religious (in either English or another language, probably Spanish)
  • Spanish-language secular talk and/or music
  • Indian Punjabi music
  • Chinese talk/music (because San Francisco has a sizable Chinese-American population, this isn't inconceivable)

I doubt it, though that would be nice, because then it *could* actually open the door to an unusually wealthy hobbyist to do such things.


Polkas? In San Francisco?

c
Click to expand...
I was joking.
 
Hadn't looked in a while...here's the six-month trend for KSFO on 810:

1.6-1.5-1.3-1.2-1.1-0.8

And it's still the highest-rated AM without an FM simulcast in the San Francisco ratings.

There is no there there.
 


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