Now that Emmis has these two stations, any thoughts to what they can do to improve both signals to Terre Haute? Moving towers, power increases?? Thoughts?
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92.7 FM/1130 AM in Brazil
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Crossroads had a study done for WSDM-FM around the time they changed frequencies from 97.7 to 92.7 and at the time concluded they could seek a CP to move the tower about 8 miles closer to Terre Haute, while still keeping a Brazil city of license. A new tower would have been required for this upgrade. As the story goes, steel prices were at an all time high at the time and Crossroads decided not to proceed due to the investment that would have been required to acquire the CP and build the new facilities. Maybe this facility upgrade is still an option for WSDM.
These stations have new call letters with the new format. 1130 is WFNF, 92.7 is WFNB
dfwrunner said:
As said as this sounds, I'm not sure there is enough local business in Clay County to do that. The "BOB-FM" fills a void in the Terre Haute market for now, and buys Emmis some time to decide if they want to move the tower to better cover Terre Haute.
I would think a huge factor in moving the tower would also be if AM 1130 could be moved 8 miles closer as well. Doubt Emmis would want a tower in Seelyville and Brazil both, and I don't blame them.
Is it possible for am 1130 to boost their power at all day or night?
1130 is a fairly blank frequency to the west. There are no stations on the frequency in Illinois or Missouri.
But any increase would require a directional antenna to protect:
WISN in Milwaukee
WEDI outside Cincinnati (Daytime-only)
WOFC in Murray, KY
So, Emmis might be able to build a 4 tower directional array to send more power due west down I-70, but I think you would be very optimistic if you thought WFNF could get 5kW days and 1kW nights. Note the above does not consider any adjacent station protections, so the pattern might need to be tighter
But any increase would require a directional antenna to protect:
WISN in Milwaukee
WEDI outside Cincinnati (Daytime-only)
WOFC in Murray, KY
So, Emmis might be able to build a 4 tower directional array to send more power due west down I-70, but I think you would be very optimistic if you thought WFNF could get 5kW days and 1kW nights. Note the above does not consider any adjacent station protections, so the pattern might need to be tighter
Plus, I believe it would have to protect KWKH 1130 in Shreveport and WBBR 1130 after dark. Both are directional away from Indiana at night, but I could still see them causing problems and requiring a very expensive antenna array. There's no way such an upgrade would be worthwhile for Emmis!
Hoosierky said:
I think that the fly in the ointment might be 1120 KMOX/St Louis and 1140 WHO/Des Moines. Add the fact that KMOX runs IBOC (still), might not be practical for Emmis to upgrade.
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WHO's on 1040, and anyway it's way too far west to be a serious factor here. KMOX might be a somewhat more complicated factor, given how good the ground conductivity is across mid-Illinois. IBOC is not a consideration, at least as far as FCC paperwork; there's no additional protection provided to IBOC sidebands. I doubt there's enough KMOX IBOC energy on 1130 to be much of an obstacle in Terre Haute.
And having said all that: if I'm Emmis and I really care, for some reason, about having an AM signal in Terre Haute, my first move would be to see how much Birach wants for the 1230 CP. A fulltime non-directional kilowatt right in TH will be a lot simpler to build and operate than any sort of complex DA, and it will do much better at night. (640 would be even better, but my understanding is that Birach intends to surrender the Terre Haute 640 CP in order to upgrade its 640 in west Michigan.)
dfwrunner said:
Perhaps they should also use carts or a live orchestra.
COL is an antiquated concept.
I believe the CP for 1230 Khz. has been issued to Bott Broadcasting which specializes in religious broadcasting. Birach Broadcasting wants to move the 640 Khz. frequency to Peotone, Illininois, a village of 3,000 plus people some 36 miles from Chicago. However, Birach wants to build a four tower array and increase the power to 4,800 watts with a night-time power of 1,500 watts. Birach's station in Zeeland, Michigan will then be shut down and the license sent back to the FCC so there will be no interference. I wrote an informal objection to this along with three other people and Word Power sent a Petition to Deny to the FCC. Birach spent $52,000 in a FCC auction a couple of years ago to build in Terre Haute and now wants to cover a good portion of Chicago and northern Indiana. I think $52,000 for a Chicago station is a bargain! I hope the FCC denies the Birach plan but won't Sima Birach have to operate the station for two years in Terre Haute if the Peotone application is denied?
Rosebud3 said:
I'm sure the FCC will grant this one. I remember Kovas got 1580 WKKD Aurora, IL, & 1600 WCGO Chicago Heights approved to move to different parts of the midwest, but wasn't successful at getting 1600 WMCW Harvard, IL approved, due to that station being the only one in that community. It was meant so 1590 WONX Evanston, IL (now the current WCGO) could get a power increase. When they got it, they then cancelled the other 3 licenses & turned them back into the FCC. Kovas didn't get the actual power increase they wanted, only because the area around Carol Stream, IL (where then WONX was supposed to have their COL moved to), denied their request for a large directional antenna array (FCC approved it though).
For a different situation, I forgot what station had its license attached to a license in the X-band. The original license had the call letters WHTE Johnston City, IL on 1690, & is a license owned by Clear Channel. They the brilliant idea to move the COL to the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, IL, & diplexed off of one of the WGRB towers in Chicago's SW side, instead of putting it on the air in southern Illinois. It was real oldies, then became talk radio WVON under LMA. CC then sold off their stations in southern Illinois, & the current owners ended up being screwed by CC. Since the X-band license was attached to an AM station (I wanna say it was on 810, but not sure), if that station hasn't been forced off the air already, it will be soon. The FCC made the mistake approving the X-band license for 1690 to be moved to the Chicago market, while keeping that license attached to an AM station in southern Illinois, & causing that area to lose a station.
Birach has AM cp's that remain unbuilt. Recently he turned off a 9 tower full time 10KW AM in Pennsylvania. The 640 fequency might not be allowed to move under a recently adopted FCC policy of moving to a larger market. As for 1230, Bott is in no hurry to build it, and I doubt Bott will ever build it. Perhaps someone locally can buy the CP from Bott. As for 640 I predict it will be many many years before it hits the air anywhere, if at all. I beleive money is short at Birach and he is over 80 years old to boot. Who wants an AM in Terre Haute anyway?
busterluck said:
The CP expires after a certain date doesn't it? What happens then, does the FCC have a new auction for 640K Khz or does Birach refile for a new CP? Same with Bott. Does Bott refile for the CP or does the FCC award it to someone else? Also, doesn't the company that is awarded the CP have to operate the station for two years? If anybody knows these questions please provide an answer. I am fighting for the 640 Khz. frequency to stay in Terre Haute while Birach wants to take it to Peotone, Illinois. We will find out in November if this is granted even though there are informal objections and a Request to Deny filed against the move.
As for the AM in Terre Haute, Emmis would probably love to have either the 640 Khz. frequency or the 1230 Khz. frequency to carry their ESPN sports programming from Brazil, Indiana. (I do not speak for Emmis in any way although I used to work for them on the television side.) The physical facility is built for both CP's with towers and grounding. Probably some work needs to be done to the old Michael Rice property.
I would be curious what happens to the CP's in question on 640 and 1230 Khz. if they go unused?
Construction permits expire after three years. If, after three years, the station never files an application to cover, the CP expires and can be applied for by third parties. Also, the permittee can file for an extension on the CP, but mostly those are only granted if the permittee can show reasonable progress to getting the license on the air.
If a CP expires, it is also possible for other stations to apply for expanded facilities that preclude the existance of the expired CP.
If a CP expires, it is also possible for other stations to apply for expanded facilities that preclude the existance of the expired CP.
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