• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

A Few Houston Radio Notes

Status
Not open for further replies.
ThatVoice22 said:
28 watts for 92.5 is correct. The previous reference to 2000 watts might be about the former 97.5 on-channel KFNC-1 Booster in Baytown that was started in mid-2018 and then shut down, license returned.
Click to expand...
The 2000 watt reference is a response to another poster who was (supposedly) able to access the online control settings for K223CW, and found the power set at that high level.

It is very clear that K223CW is running far more than its authorized 28 watts, and is not using a directional antenna aiming SW. I have heard it blasting in at Baybrook Mall, some 22 miles SE of the transmitter, where it should have no signal. It also makes it far into Montgomery County.

And there is no originating station for K223CW as KFNC HD-2 does not exist, as there is no HD on the alleged 97.5 parent signal.

Shall we mention that K223CW is extending the coverage of a commercial station beyond its primary contour, which is against the rules? And is Gow Media paying for that? Also against the rules.
 
Not the only station that leaves things partially open. Check the Jack-FM 96.3 thread in the SA/Austin board.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
stan said:
Was in Houston last week at the medical center. I concur with some of the comments regarding 92.5 and its apparent signal strength.

As for 97.5, it has not been in stereo for some time and hasn’t shown up that way on my radio. I’ll have to check this morning.

AM noise floor is continuing to make many stations unlistenable. I’m curious if the College Station AM station has gone to MA3 broadcasting as discussed previously. That should address the analog noise floor problem, but the reception is limited primarily to those of us with HD radio in our cars.
Click to expand...
Purely my anecdotal opinion but for me : "AM noise floor" is likely an urban myth.

1. I almost never have an issue in the car. Occasionally there is a dirty power line but no different from the last century or so. What's new is the radiation from some 18 wheelers on the highway, but that passes quickly.

2. I'm sitting here in my dining room with a dimmer controlled overhead lamp. On some frequencies I can hear it. It does not interfere with any local AM station. If I tune to WWL New Orleans, or some other skywave station, then yes, I need to turn off the overhead light to hear them clearly. Big deal!

3. My AM radio is next to my computer. No interference of any kind detected on the AM band.

4. I can hear pulses from my phone charger on some very specific frequencies. But they are so low as not to interfere at all with any local station.

I know this is just me, again, just purely anecdotal, but The FM noise floor is disturbing. It seems to come from the cable lines and shows up between every FM station. I'm using Spectrum. Anybody else hearing this?
 
Robert Douglas said:
Purely my anecdotal opinion but for me : "AM noise floor" is likely an urban myth.
Click to expand...
You are in a very fortunate situation if you’ve not noticed it. It is a very real thing for many of us. The noise floor is considerably higher than it was 50 years ago. Especially noticeable on shortwave.

A power failure will reveal what a true lack of noise sounds like.
Robert Douglas said:
I know this is just me, again, just purely anecdotal, but The FM noise floor is disturbing. It seems to come from the cable lines and shows up between every FM station. I'm using Spectrum. Anybody else hearing this?
Click to expand...
Need a description of what you are hearing to make any judgement on that. If it is a kind of “whine” then that is associated with stations running HD sidebands, which I can hear on different radios, even away from supposed noise sources.
 
I can hear loud 60 hz style buzzing at night on AM radio, think it's the power lines causing interference. FM doesn't do this.
 
Robert Douglas said:
Purely my anecdotal opinion but for me : "AM noise floor" is likely an urban myth.
Click to expand...
And, then, why has the ITU redefined the minimum AM signal strength needed to overcome noise twice in the last roughly 15 years? First, up to 10 mV/m, and now it stands as 15 mV/m.

Example: In Los Angeles, even 50 kw KFI on 640 has man-made interference on several of the freeways in areas like Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena... noise loud enough and annoying enough to make nearly anyone change to FM.
 
MVB13 said:
Does anyone think that IHM or Audacy will buy KRBE and keep the format?
Click to expand...
Isn’t MIX 96.5 somewhat the same format as KRBE??

If IHeart would buy it they would keep the same format but possibly call it WILD 104 KRBE.
 
MVB13 said:
Does anyone think that IHM or Audacy will buy KRBE and keep the format?
Click to expand...
Neither of those companies is in a buying mood, especially Audacy as it struggles on the edge of bankruptcy.

EMF buying KRBE in order to launch K-Love here is a real possibility, if they make a lucrative enough offer to Cumulus (also I’m sure Hope Media Group would be thrilled to have 104.1 as a new home for KSBJ.)
Mrtejano said:
Isn’t MIX 96.5 somewhat the same format as KRBE??
Click to expand...
Pretty close, although that’s just my somewhat superficial assessment. Perhaps some P1s of either station could offer more insight.

If the KRBE CHR format was to disappear (EMF) I could see iHeart flipping KQBT to a similar format.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
If the KRBE CHR format was to disappear (EMF) I could see iHeart flipping KQBT to a similar format.
Click to expand...
Both bill almost identical amounts, No gain, and high start-up costs.

Not going to happen unless you think KRBE currently is underperforming for what the format might do.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Both bill almost identical amounts, No gain, and high start-up costs.

Not going to happen unless you think KRBE currently is underperforming for what the format might do.
Click to expand...
I’m just speculating. It has been said that KRBE is essentially the fifth FM in the Cumulus DFW cluster, and is pulling in a lot of revenue.

But if EMF is to launch K-Love in Houston, they’re going to have to buy……..someone…but who? And as a stand-alone, it would seem KRBE might be in play, perhaps as part of a bigger swap or sale.

I suppose EMF could buy a second eastern rimshot to go along with Air1 on KHJK, but that would make recently purchased KXXF completely redundant.

EMF might just bide it’s time to see what shakes out in the next three or four years. If SBS falls on its face in entering the market, then 92.1 might be back in play. Or Estrella Media gets out of the radio business, or dumps its Houston cluster.

So we can only wait and guess…unless EMF totally surprises us by being the new owner of KTHT.
 
NickD said:
EMF could buy K287BQ and put K-
Love on it. Synchronized with KXXF
Click to expand...
That translator already claims to be simulcasting with KTWL. I'm kind of amazed that station hasn't been sold yet.
 
What ever happened to that 92.5 translator from the southwest area? They had been simulcasting LA MEJOR from 102.5.

I don’t hear any mention of it at all, not on social media, not on air either.


Well actually on air they don’t even mention 102.5 on the announcements.

Not even a legal ID top of the hour.
 
Mrtejano said:
What ever happened to that 92.5 translator from the southwest area? They had been simulcasting LA MEJOR from 102.5.

I don’t hear any mention of it at all, not on social media, not on air either.


Well actually on air they don’t even mention 102.5 on the announcements.

Not even a legal ID top of the hour.
Click to expand...
Heard it was a mess! The ex wife quickly filed a complaint and that was the end of that.
 
DavidEduardo said:
And, then, why has the ITU redefined the minimum AM signal strength needed to overcome noise twice in the last roughly 15 years? First, up to 10 mV/m, and now it stands as 15 mV/m.

Example: In Los Angeles, even 50 kw KFI on 640 has man-made interference on several of the freeways in areas like Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena... noise loud enough and annoying enough to make nearly anyone change to FM.
Click to expand...
Is it OK if we talk about the KFI situation on the Los Angeles board? Can I copy your text here and paste it over there? Thanks!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


Back
Top Bottom