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97.7C3 Cross City, FL

T

ThatGuyOnTheRadio

CP for a C3 in Cross City at 97.7 is going to Auction with the FCC. Opening bid, $15,000.

Any guesses on who might wind up with it?

Of course, you're looking well into the 6-figure range when it's all said and done and on the air.
 
That figure sounds high for an opening bid for a site restricted C3 in Cross City although the FCC is sometimes unrealistic. The tower site is site restricted to an area North-North/West of its COL in order to protect first adjacent WXTB 97.9 C and second adjacent WSKY 97.3 C2. I. e., the new 97.7 cannot be moved anywhere, so it's sole advertising source will be Cross City which will greatly limit the income potential for any new stations, including a C3 FM. On the other hand, if the cost associated with securing the CP can be reduced to something more reasonable, it would be great if the new 97.7 can be paired with Cross City's existing WZCC-AM 1240 creating a local AM-FM radio operation.
 
Mark, do you know if the location already has a tower present or is it a true CP that needs to be built from the ground up?

If so, that is going to make it VERY expensive. Tower, TX, TX building, etc.

Oh boy....
 
ThatGuyOnTheRadio - I haven't been in the area lately to check it out, so your guess is as good as mine with regards to any existing towers. I do know the only way a C3 on 97.7 will fit is by site-restricting the tower location to an area approximately 7-miles North-Northwest of Cross City to avoid a short-spacing conflict with WXTB and WSKY. For this reason the new 97.7 will be a Cross City only station as it can't even move closer to Chiefland nor Trenton. It's locked in with the exception of possibly moving West-Northwest towards Steinhatchee, but that is an even smaller market than Cross City. Ideally is to pair it with the existing WZCC-AM and create a very local AM-FM combo operation for Cross City. You can find more exact information on the site-restricted tower location from the FCC website www.fcc.gov.
 
Is all this because WKZY is ignoring its own COL? <ducking tomatoes>

cd
 
cd637299 said:
Is all this because WKZY is ignoring its own COL? <ducking tomatoes>

cd
Click to expand...

WKZY has nothing to do with the new allocation. A Jacksonville attorney, Paul B. Christainsen, http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=5511336240 filed a Petition for Rule Making in 2004 to allot 97.7 C3 to Cross City as that community's second commercial FM service.

Normally when a new PRM is submitted to the FCC for a new FM allotment, it is for the purpose of either a) selling the CP; or, b) building the station and selling the station "turn-key" on the air and ready to go. There are exceptions where the petitioner actually wants to own and operate the new station themselves, but most of the time these new PRMs are for investment purposes, especially if the new proposed station can move into a larger nearby market, hence increasing the value of the new station or CP. Of course, now days any petitioner has to go through the auction process same as any other bidder who may have an interest in securing the new CP.

Keeping this in mind, recovering the price paid for the CP at auction in addition to recovering construction cost has to be factored in when deciding if one wants to go through the cost and time associated with identifying a vacant channel and filing the necessary paperwork with the FCC to have the new channel allotted. I went through the same process when I petitioned the FCC to allot new FMs in Cedar Key, the Florida Keys, and Hilo, Hawaii several years ago. I did all the engineering and legal work myself, so I saved a bundle in initial cost associated with the PRM.
 
ThatGuyOnTheRadio said:
How is WKZY ignoring it's COL?
Click to expand...

It's pretty much a Gainesville station, n'est-ce pas? I don't live in the area, but are there any Cross City businesses that have ads on KZY? (I figure that there are reasons for the upgrade from 106.3 to 106.9 + from 6k or so to 100k.)

[An aside.....when they do top-of-hour ID, do they *enunciate* "Cross City," or is it rushed or whispered?]

cd
 
It is very much present in their TOH.

As for Cross City businesses on. Not at the moment, but there have been in the past.

You have to remember the state of the economy and the kind of area Cross City is in.

Lots of people are out of work, Dixie county is very depressed.

A lack of Cross City businesses on KZY (what few there are) is in no way a reflection of a sales initiative. It is largely based on the fact that these business owners can't afford advertising. Period.
 
I believe that. (We have gone thru Cross City en route to Horseshoe Beach, a great daytime DX spot.)

But this only begs---why another station? Not trying to be a wise guy....I am not in the biz.

cd
 
cd637299 said:
I believe that. (We have gone thru Cross City en route to Horseshoe Beach, a great daytime DX spot.)

But this only begs---why another station?

cd
Click to expand...

It's very simple... It's an investment for the investor (Petitioner) who is most likely banking on a bigger payoff later... The FCC authorized the new allocation because to the FCC it is an additional voice in the community which is always considered to be in the public interest.
 
It has been a busy year for me, and sometimes my memory-chips get overloaded. I saw this thread about Cross City a couple of times and little bells and whistles were faintly ringing in my head, but the tune made no sense. So tonight, I read through this thread message by message. And then it all came back to me. The A.M. station was silent for some time last year. A new purchaser took over early this year and has turned the thing into an actual working, blood-and-guts radio station again.

He and I were in "Personal Message" conversations at the time he chose to acquire the station so until I can remember what he and I discussed, I am very hesitant to make many comments on the situation lest I share anything he may have told me assuming I would keep it confidential.

Tonight I did the same market study I did back in February. Cross City is a small town. Small in population. Dixie County also is a small county in terms of population. It is a market-place where average income per person or per family is... is.... I guess small is again an appropriate word.

By the way, the new owner/operator of the station is a regular on these boards and I am sure he too is reading this thread.... so be nice about what you say about the market or the station. ;D

Many of us have our own proprietary formulas we use to size up the potential radio advertising revenue that can be "squeezed" out by a good radio operator. MY OPINION: There is no way this market will support an AM station and an FM station if they are in competition with each other.

If the FCC woke up Monday morning and rational minds said: We made a mistake putting Cross City on the auction list. We should go to the people operating the AM station and simply explain to him we will grant them the FM channel for free.... if they wants it.... how would they respond?

If it were mine and the FCC made that offer I think I would counter offer: I may need the full three years to get everything together financially and get it going, and then after X number of months of getting it going and simulcasting, I want to surrender the AM license with the understanding it is forever dead.... that it will not come back to life in my back yard at some future date as a competitor. It would not be easy for me to get excited about paying the maintenance and operating expenses of TWO transmitters at two different sites for the long haul.

And what is the minimum ERP for a C3 FM? I would think long and hard and maybe ask the FCC if it would be o.k. to start out as a Class A for a few years: lower powered transmitter and shorter stick to hang the antenna on.
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy - No one is saying anything negative about Cross City nor "Nostalgia" who now owns WZCC and has done an outstanding job in bringing the AM station back to life. John (Nostalgia) and I have had numerous telephone discussions about the station, and I have confidence that John will make a real "go" of the station.

To answer your question regaridng the FM class, yes, 97.7 C3 can downgrade to a class A with relative ease. If this were done, the 97.7 antenna will fit on the AM 1240 tower, eleminating any need for a second tower site.

You had also asked about minimal power levels and antenna heights for various classes. A C3 has a maximum 25kw with a maximum 328 feet while there is no real minimum height but the minimum power is 6.1kw. A class A has a maximum power level of 6kw with a maximum 328 feet and a minimum 100 watts with no minimum antenna height. Anything under 100 watts is considered either a class D (translator) or LPFM.

I agree with you that it makes little or no business sense to construct and operate another station in Cross City that will compete against an existing station. This is why I said an AM-FM combo makes much more sense. Cross City gets a local FM while at the same time it becomes economically feasible for the owner/operator to operate the station serving the public interest of the citizens of Cross City and Dixie County
 
ThatGuyOnTheRadio said:
How high is the ZCC tower?

Would 97.7 be able to be thrown on top as a Class A?
Click to expand...

If I am not mistaken, I believe the WZCC tower is 180 feet. And, yes, provided the tower will support the weight, 97.7 will fit on the AM tower as a class A (no site restrictions) at 6kw which is all it really needs to cover Cross City and the immediate surrounding area. Originally WKZY's antenna was situated atop the current WZCC tower when WKZY was WDFL-FM operating on 106.3 as a class A.
 
I guess its time I weigh in on this. First, our tower is 193' tall and Mark is correct it did support the old 106.3 antenna of class A WDFL-FM back in the day.

People have been focusing on 97.7 being licensed to Cross City. Remember WKZY is also licensed to Cross City but there is NOTHING here, no office, no transmitter, no salesmen, no local advertisers, no "local" content, ect... Its all about Gainesville/Ocala and I am sure that is whats in the mind of whoever petitioned the FCC for this full class C3 allocation for Cross City. True, there are some restrictions that would make this a hard rimshot for G/O, but it also is way overkill for the local market.

As others have mentioned, a class A would make more sense if the goal was a really a "second" FM service for Cross City! I am sure none of us will ever hear a signal on 97.7 eminating from Cross City. I think this will go to some speculator who will ultimately horse trade it for something else somewhere else. Mark, what do you think of this scenario?? If the FCC really wants to serve the Dixie County residents make 97.7 a Class D translator and give it to me, I would have it on in a heartbeat!
 
The beat goes on....

Now 94.7 C3 has been authorized for ...........Horseshoe Beach, a city that really needs a 25,000 watt FM.... ::)

I love HB, but I like to DX there....meaning that I want radio stations as far away as possible....!

cd
 
Nostalgia said:
Mark, what do you think of this scenario?? If the FCC really wants to serve the Dixie County residents make 97.7 a Class D translator and give it to me, I would have it on in a heartbeat!
Click to expand...

There may be another way to get you a class D translator. If I am not mistaken, I believe a translator is authorized to cover on FM anything up to your 2mV/m daytime AM signal. However, as you know, newly licensed translators cannot be used to re-broadcast AM signals, so you will need to find an existing translator that was licensed before the AM/FM-D rule went into effect.

The rule restricting new class Ds use for AM re-broadcast doesn't make any sound business sense to me but we're dealing with the Federal governement via the FCC. There may be something somehwere else that can be moved to Cross City and serve your purpose. If you like I will check on it and let you know what might be available.
 
cd637299 said:
The beat goes on....

Now 94.7 C3 has been authorized for ...........Horseshoe Beach, a city that really needs a 25,000 watt FM.... ::)

I love HB, but I like to DX there....meaning that I want radio stations as far away as possible....!

cd
Click to expand...

The Horseshoe Beach 94.7 C3 was allocated 12-years ago when 95.9 A was allocated to Otter Creek and my 100.1 A was allocated to Cedar Key. It should be noted that 94.7 is reserved for Non-Commercial use and cannot be used as a commercial entity.
 
Interesting....a non com > 92! My bad on the time of the allocation....

cd
 
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