AAA 103.7 KHJK sold to EMF.

[mikerichardson]

Really? Seriously? Religious broadcaster?

I can barely even fill 6 freaking presets anymore of Houston FM and I rarely listen to half of them now as it is.

All I need now is for someone to come to my house and piss in my cheerios.

 

[willdav713]

Was there a radio station called K-Love back then here in The City of Houston? I think's there's one in L.A. called K-Love, which is unrelated to The EMF radio chain of stations but This K-Love station in L.A. and the other station formerly known as K-Love are both owned by Univision.

Yes there was, it was a Contemporary Spanish station K-Love 106.5 KOVE-FM back in 2001, KQQK moved to 107.9 and the KTXJ calls were dropped. (before the XO days) owned by Univision. K-Love 106.5 then became Amor.

 

[chicano82]

tejanoandproudwilldav713 link=topic=212883.msg1909916#msg1909916 date=1338003396]

Was there a radio station called K-Love back then here in The City of Houston? I think's there's one in L.A. called K-Love, which is unrelated to The EMF radio chain of stations but This K-Love station in L.A. and the other station formerly known as K-Love are both owned by Univision.

Yes there was, it was a Contemporary Spanish station K-Love 106.5 KOVE-FM back in 2001, KQQK moved to 107.9 and the KTXJ calls were dropped. (before the XO days) owned by Univision. K-Love 106.5 then became Amor.
[/quote]


Actually K-love became Recuerdo,


Party 104.9 Kpty became Amor, then it became Tu Música

 

[sdh483]

Yeah, more religious broadcasting because there isn't enough religious stations in Houston. Not like I enjoyed 103.7 anyways, I mean they only played stupid adult alternative that has no appeal to a 29 year old who grew up on a majority of the songs played on the station or anything. Oh yeah, let's also forget the lack of a classic hits station, and no, The Eagle doesn't count because they're actually classic rock.

Two big thumbs down.

 

[stan]

This thread is a symptom of why radio is considered a mediocre entertainment proposition for many. Say what you want, but KHJK seemed to have a more interesting playlist than someone like the Eagle or Arrow. Now that will be gone, replaced by a format that probably isn't desired by many, and taking a commercial station away. Let's see how many fundraisers EMF has to do to stay on the air.

 

[joshzz]

I have spoken to EMF representatives in the past and they stated clearly that they will not move into an area that already has a solid local Christian Station. KSBJ is about as good, local Christian Radio can be.

I find it very disturbing and being an owner of a small Christian Network think it is time that independent Christian Broadcasters get together and make a plan to thwart K-Love's empire. We're serving the local communities and they are not. It costs us a great deal more to offer good quality programming as we are local. They get a waiver and turn what was a good local station into a translator with no local presence whatsoever.

The FCC has granted studio waivers in the past for areas that are under-served. Houston is not under-served when it comes to good Christian programming and EMF (K-LOVE) should be hard pressed to have a local staff and a minimum of 12 hours of local programming per day. It's time K-Love's "FREE RIDE" is ended.

 

[bturner]

I really doubt there is any agreement between KSBJ and EMF to not compete. Likely they (EMF) determined neither KSBJ or EMF could wage a battle for listeners and both parties come out okay. While I doubt they are out to hurt each other, I think EMF saw a top US Market they could enter at a fraction of what it would have cost years ago and they saw the haping holes in the market.

 

[brian.marchand]

Josh I am positive it will be Air1 not K-Love on 103.7. EMF would not try to move in on KSBJ's adult ccm format. Houston had lacked a christian chr station. Air1 is also a lot different than NGEN and NGEN is not available on analog radio very well where 103.7 will be.

 

[davideduardo]

I find it very disturbing and being an owner of a small Christian Network think it is time that independent Christian Broadcasters get together and make a plan to thwart K-Love's empire. We're serving the local communities and they are not.

Competition is a bitch, isn't it?

If you think your local programming is better, it should stand up to "generic" programming without having to get the FCC to tilt the playing field.

Why not let the listener decide which they like better without looking for "government aid?"

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Josh I am positive it will be Air1 not K-Love on 103.7. EMF would not try to move in on KSBJ's adult ccm format. Houston had lacked a christian chr station. Air1 is also a lot different than NGEN and NGEN is not available on analog radio very well where 103.7 will be.

I am thrilled at the possibility of Air-1, it is not like NGEN will be easily received in my area of town, 103.7 will have a better signal than any of the NGEN translators. And I agree, Air-1 will not compete with KSBJ, it will give those of us not served by KSBJ a Christian station we can listen to. Until such time as KSBJ figures out a way to get NGEN into the northern half of Harris county. When they do, we will actually have a choice of two.

 

[wildthangjim]

David, I don't believe anyone said anything about government aid. Anyway, all the Christian broadcasters are tax-exempt are they not?

 

[Fieldtech1]

Competition is a bitch, isn't it?

When they dont have to play by the same rules as most broadcasters it is.

In this case KSBJ has nothing to worry about. KHJK is and will always be a marginal player at best with the signal situation. EMF will have no local outreach, other than sticking a stack of bumper stickers on the counter at the local religous bookstores. :

 

[ChuckTiller]

David, I don't believe anyone said anything about government aid. Anyway, all the Christian broadcasters are tax-exempt are they not?

No. Not all Christian broadcasters are tax exempt. Salem Communications is a commercial operation. (KKHT) It is certainly not tax exempt.

 

[davideduardo]

David, I don't believe anyone said anything about government aid. Anyway, all the Christian broadcasters are tax-exempt are they not?

If one operator, usually one whose particular pet ox is being gored, uses interpretations of the rules, unusual application of the rules or new rules to thwart competition, that is government aid.

"Aid" is not just money; increasing the gas tax aids alternative energy producers without handing them subsidies or other direct advantages.

 

[xmusicmatt]

When they dont have to play by the same rules as most broadcasters it is.

In this case KSBJ has nothing to worry about. KHJK is and will always be a marginal player at best with the signal situation. EMF will have no local outreach, other than sticking a stack of bumper stickers on the counter at the local religous bookstores. :

EMF usually has a local marketing rep that helps promote at concerts etc.. and they do from time to time fly in talent (if the show is big enough) to have a presence on hand.

What EMF is doing is no different than most of the NPR stations up the dial that all "run" All Things Considered etc... instead of local produced programming.

 

[Kent]

What EMF is doing is no different than most of the NPR stations up the dial that all "run" All Things Considered etc... instead of local produced programming.

From a programming standpoint, that may be true. However, I'm not aware of too many NPR stations that run to the FCC and plead poverty so they don't have to staff their transmitters. EMF was doing this despite getting nearly $100 million in donations/contributions 3-4 years ago!

 

[joshzz]

HI Kent,

Great point! EMF is not playing by the rules that KSBJ, WAWZ, WRBS and many other Christian Stations play by.

Though chatting on this forum won't make a difference, if enough Christian Broadcasters have had enough of the advantage that EMF has had for years, it's likely something can be done. Sadly, EMF states that they are going into under-served markets so that a main studio waiver should be granted. Houston is a big market, the station they bought is huge (over 90,000 watts) and as such EMF should be forced to make it a local station or sell to a local broadcaster.

 

[xmusicmatt]

HI Kent,

Great point! EMF is not playing by the rules that KSBJ, WAWZ, WRBS and many other Christian Stations play by.

Though chatting on this forum won't make a difference, if enough Christian Broadcasters have had enough of the advantage that EMF has had for years, it's likely something can be done. Sadly, EMF states that they are going into under-served markets so that a main studio waiver should be granted. Houston is a big market, the station they bought is huge (over 90,000 watts) and as such EMF should be forced to make it a local station or sell to a local broadcaster.

Josh, You run a network right.. Do all your non Translator stations have full local studios? If not.. then your not any different than what EMF is doing. EMF is doing nothing that any other non commercial license can't do ... I've seen slew of NPR stations with MSW's too..

You mentioned KSBJ .. Guess what? All their other FMs that re-broadcast 89.3 KSBJ all have MSWs...

Do I wish every market EMF is in has a local ran Christian station of course I do.. but sadly in today's economy that is not possible and for folks like EMF to do what they do.. They must run with MSWs.

Look at Clear Channel.. they pretty much do about the same thing .. 6 stations in a cluster.. do they have staff for each station? no.. typically one production person, one receptionist, etc. Maybe local morning shows? if your lucky... some even run programming from outside of their local area (or are voice tracked by distant talent so the local studio sits completely empty).. I am pretty sure if Commercial licenses could get MSWs.. Clear channel would do it in a heart beat in some of their smaller markets.

 

[Phil Gowen]

...EMF should be forced to make it a local station or sell to a local broadcaster.

Seriously? Who's going to do the forcing? I thought this was ... uh ... America!

 

[Kent]

I've seen slew of NPR stations with MSW's too..

Last I heard, EMF has roughly 200 stations, and only 3 studios that originate programming: Rocklin, CA, Kansas City, and Indianapolis. That's not even 2% programming origination. I'm aware of a handful of NPR stations that have an MSW, but the majority do not. The percentage of NPR stations that originate programming is closer to the reverse of EMF's model. By the way, something you may not be aware of is that NPR requires all of its affiliates to have at least 5 full-time staff members (or at least it did a few years ago). Even of those NPR affiliates that are part of a network, many of them are college stations for a multiple campus school and, thus, have at least a single employee and a main studio. Many of them also get free money to build and maintain those operations!

Look at Clear Channel.. they pretty much do about the same thing .. 6 stations in a cluster.. do they have staff for each station? no.. typically one production person, one receptionist, etc. Maybe local morning shows? if your lucky... some even run programming from outside of their local area (or are voice tracked by distant talent so the local studio sits completely empty).. I am pretty sure if Commercial licenses could get MSWs.. Clear channel would do it in a heart beat in some of their smaller markets.

It's not the same thing. Those handful of employees Clear Channel has in each cluster are a handful more than EMF has pretty much anywhere outside of Rocklin, KC and Indy. I wouldn't put it past Clear Channel to start eliminating main studios if the FCC ever changes its rules. They might not be the only ones, but they can't for now.

By the way, yes, you're right that KSBJ operates at least a handful of its relay stations on main studio waivers. In my mind, the villain isn't EMF, KSBJ or any of the other operators using MSW's. It's the FCC's process of allowing pretty much anyone who asks for one to get one. As you mention, they're just doing what they've been allowed to do. My issue is that no one really checks the veracity of their claims. I simply don't buy the notion that K-Love couldn't afford to have at least a local studio with a public file and a single management employee. Even with a main studio, programming department employees aren't required! As I mentioned previously, they had nearly $100 million incoming a few years ago. That's not poor!