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1150-AM in Beaumont-Port Arthur: Silent Again

D

dx7

The on-again, off-again KBPO, 1150-AM is off again. The station filed a notice with the FCC this week that it would have to go silent. Their request to the FCC states the following:

"KBPO TRANSMITTER SITE METER BASE BURNED AND THE ELECTRIC COMPANY TURN OFF THE ELECTRICITY TO THE SITE. WE ARE WORKING TO CHANGE THE METER BASE WHICH SHOULD BE DONE WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS."

KBPO has a sports format and is the latest version of the original KPNG which signed-on in Port Neches, Texas in 1959.
 
Willis1000 said:
Changing the meter base only takes minutes.
Sounds like they needed an excuse to shut down for awhile.
Click to expand...

Only one tower up (no lights, painted wrong, etc).....and the electric company (Entergy) hasnt been to the site...I checked (Its good to know the king...or those who work for him ;)
 
dx7 said:
The on-again, off-again KBPO, 1150-AM is off again. The station filed a notice with the FCC this week that it would have to go silent. Their request to the FCC states the following:

"KBPO TRANSMITTER SITE METER BASE BURNED AND THE ELECTRIC COMPANY TURN OFF THE ELECTRICITY TO THE SITE. WE ARE WORKING TO CHANGE THE METER BASE WHICH SHOULD BE DONE WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS."

KBPO has a sports format and is the latest version of the original KPNG which signed-on in Port Neches, Texas in 1959.
Click to expand...

Funny, they havent been heard in Port Neches since Rita!! (even though they may claim they were on the air a year afterwards...total BS!! they were running into wire standing 4ft off the ground...with no STA for it!!)....they havent radiated any RF into a vertical antenna in two years!
 
I think they've been silent for a long time. Can't hear them in Port Neches or Beaumont, maybe you can hear them a few feet away from their "tower".
 
KBPO-AM is getting new owners! Eagle Broadcasting (Coal Dirt Media) is purchasing the station for an undisclosed amount of money. They currently own stations in PA & NY. They have not released what they intend to do with the station as of yet.
 
Nothing's been filed with the FCC yet (as of April 14, '08).

I thought Micahel Augustus of Houston was buying it. He filed with the FCC to buy it from Vision Latina in January 2008.
 
dx7 said:
Nothing's been filed with the FCC yet (as of April 14, '08).

I thought Micahel Augustus of Houston was buying it. He filed with the FCC to buy it from Vision Latina in January 2008.
Click to expand...

Knowing Sylvestor and Augustus, they are trying to turn it around for a quick profit but you are correct, they dont own it yet and the FCC has not blessed their buying of it yet.....The license renewal is still up in the air, there was an informal objection filed with the FCC over the xfer of control and even other issues going back to the original renewal of the license before Rita!!! (no sampling loops, no lighting of the towers, no FAA registrations!!!!, possible EAS violations, etc etc)..
 
AM radio is a mess in the Golden Triangle. The only stations with stability are KLVI and KOGT, and only one covers much of the triangle. The remainder of the stations have changed ownership recently (KOLE), moved away (KRCM), are plain unlistenable (KZZB), or have such marginal audiences (KIKR, KBED, KDEI) that it makes you wonder why anyone would want to buy 1150. Or for that matter move 1300 to Lumberton to cover Beaumont. I've all but given up on AM radio anyway, with its lack of variety. Guess I'm spoiled by XM.
 
Somebody needs to do something exciting on AM.
Remember Hot Hits on 79Q?
It needs to capture the imagination.

But sadly, those with the guts have no money and those with the money have no guts.
 
KBPO was on the air over the weekend. It was running 250 watts into a single stick. It will be up and running with FCC approval by the end of July.

If anyone has any info on KBPO (Pics of the tower site, transmitter shack, ect..). Please e-mail them to me [email protected]

I am getting conflicting stories about the condition of the site & other problems.

I would really really appericate any info anyone has..

Thanks

PS current asking price for KBPO is $250,000 for the tower site no studio..
 
With all due respect, I can't imagine that a 500-watt virtual daytimer (KBPO) in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area is worth $250,000 even if all of its engineering problems are solved.

As a radio station broker once told me: some stations you don't want to own even if you can get them for free.

1150-AM has a long history of trouble and neglect, no revenue stream and no audience. If you can make it work, more power to you -- and good luck.

dx7
 
I watched KDEI's tower construction work over the past couple of days (I work across the road from them) and it appears that the work is mostly complete on the tower that they rebuilt. Don't listen to the station, so I'm not sure if its in service yet or if the coverage is any better.
 
stan said:
I watched KDEI's tower construction work over the past couple of days (I work across the road from them) and it appears that the work is mostly complete on the tower that they rebuilt. Don't listen to the station, so I'm not sure if its in service yet or if the coverage is any better.
Click to expand...

No doghouse at the base yet....and they are still on 250watts omni....no feedline to the new 500ft tower either...(they better start FLASHING the beacons at night....and I havent seen the sidelamps yet...why they didnt just strobe instead is beyond me!) I can almost see the tower from my front yard.....and see it every night as I drive home :)

I swear everytime I punch 1250 up (and its the 1st station I started at back in the 70s), I hear Hail Mary!!!.......(and I went to catholic school too!!) PLLLLLLLLLEASE!!!!!! I wish I could buy the old KPAC and return something to it like music with local programming...its the only decent station licensed to Port Arthur now (forget KOLE and the FMs are all rimshots for Houston) but its night pattern doesnt do well in Beaumont where the market is now....(actually its doing better on 250w omni than it does with 1KW directional at night!)
 
CW, I wish someone would buy the old KPAC-1250 and restore it to its former glory.

In the late 50's-early 60's it was the rock 'n roll king, became a pretty good MOR station in the late-60's when I worked there and eventually became KALO, the Soul music station...all were better local formats than what's on there now.

BTW, I don't live in the Triangle anymore -- what's happend to KOLE now that Sima Birach has bought it from Ralph McBride?


dx7
 
dx7 said:
CW, I wish someone would buy the old KPAC-1250 and restore it to its former glory.

In the late 50's-early 60's it was the rock 'n roll king, became a pretty good MOR station in the late-60's when I worked there and eventually became KALO, the Soul music station...all were better local formats than what's on there now.

BTW, I don't live in the Triangle anymore -- what's happend to KOLE now that Sima Birach has bought it from Ralph McBride?


dx7
Click to expand...
I worked at KPAC when Sam Monroe had it in its MOR stage and the studios were behind the college (now Lamar-Port Arthur campus). The studios are now the bookstore. I also worked there again when CC bought it (their first out of San Antonio buy)..it was a joke and I was stayed there for 4 months (didnt realize what I was getting into with them; they made me sign a NON compete...in BPT??? even in the 70s that was stupid....and I was in my teens at college at the time!)....

KOLE I dont think has changed much...not sure what the morning show is (after they got rid of whats his name)....but I know the rest of the day is pretty much the same...why mess with a good thing?? I am surprised...of course, 1380 is gone now...1450 is a shell of what it used to be as KAYC (now with it at 1KW at night, you cant hear it anymore in Port Arthur due to the cochannel noise..and I think Cumulus is waiting for the tower to fall....(ahh the old 5/8wave...hell it was 20yrs old when I worked at KAYC!)....its got a new xmtr but the audio is barely there (between it and 990 its hard to say who is lower in audio modulation).......and with the Mexican music programming on 1450 (simuled on 1510, the former KYKR and KCAW before that), I dont listen to it...1600 in Orange still plays its country format.....they and KLVI are the only two AMs in the area with live local programming (unless 1340 has something on its morning but again, I havent listened to it).

I would have loved to have gotten 1150 and done something with it...I worked there for a year and it would have been great to put my old high school (PNG) football on a station LICENSED to Port Neches!
Of course 30 yrs ago, when PNG was in the playoffs and kicking butt, KLVI carried it...and I engineered a couple of games after I graduated....(when I was asst CE at KLVI in the mid/late 70s)

So where's your QTH now???? Houston??
 
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