The question, especially in the Bay Area, that you always have to ask yourself when making that kind of statement is: a decent signal for whom? No FM station has full-market coverage, due to the combination of terrain and Zone I-A power and height limits. In the case of 105.7, it's paired with 100.7 - 105.7 is just fine in the south Bay; 100.7 gets the central and north Bay. Yeah, if you're in Walnut Creek, you're still probably out of luck if that's the station you want to hear. But the Diablo Valley is where FM signals go to die.
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April 2024 Bay Area Radio PPM Ratings
- Thread starter HenryOchs
- Start date
I couldn't agree more!
I don't even bother listening to FM unless I'm parked in a spot where the signals are decent. Trying to listen to FM in a moving car around here is an exercise in frustration for all but the strongest signals because of all the dropouts and dead spots.
c
100.7 (KVVZ) is a very weak signal. 100.3, KBRG, is a pretty massive signal despite it's lower power.
105.7 (KVVF) reaches into the City which makes 100.7 a bit redundant. However, 105.7 struggles in the east bay which is a lot of people. It pretty much fizzles out in Oakland, where as 100.3 is still pretty clear there.
Both stations would be greatly benefitted from a repeater in the same area most SF stations get it -- but I imagine short spacing prevents that.
KBRG is on Loma Prieta south of San Jose with HAAT of 786 meters (that's 2,578 feet). It's a full class B at the very least; it may even have grandfathered power levels (I haven't done the calculation). KVVZ is a class A station at maximum power level and height for a class A (6 kw, 100m) on a hill in San Rafael. They just aren't comparable.
There are parts of Berkeley and Oakland shadowed from anything on Loma Prieta. Those neighborhoods are unlikely to have many potential KBRG listeners, though.
A reminder that there is no one good FM (or TV) transmitter site for the entire Bay Area. No matter where you go, there will always be holes in your coverage due to local terrain. Even KQED-FM has a few coverage issues (e.g. around Pleasanton).
I think you mean an on-channel booster. Boosters are only allowed to boost signal strength within an existing (theoretical) coverage area. They can't extend that coverage area. For example, KVVZ probably could have a small booster in Benicia or Martinez but not in Concord. It definitely couldn't have one on Mount Diablo.
Agree, KVVF is a much better comparison, and the main signal for "Latino Mix"
100.7 pretty much exists only for better coverage in SF and Marin.
KDFC always seems to do well in the SF ratings. Part of it may be the strong brand. KDFC was classical on 102.1 @ 33kw for decades. What's surprising now: KDFC is cobbled together over three bad signals. 89.9 is only strong in the far North Bay, 90.3 is just 1kw, and 104.9 is only a Class A that mainly covers San Jose.
Maybe they underestimated the loyalty people had to KRTY
Which is probably one reason USC kept the local brand and programming rather than just turn it into a repeater for KUSC out of Los Angeles. Another reason might be the allergy some San Franciscans have to anything associated with Los Angeles...something that's a bit unfair and probably not as strong a factor as it used to be, but which still may be present in certain quarters.
This post explained what was supposed to happen, but didn't: https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/kdfc.748024/post-6565223
A local feed store plays a radio tuned to Bay Country I think, and I've noticed that the music will cutout and get choppy fairly often (maybe it's just the store's radio?) At any rate, assuming it is the station that's having issues, I would imagine that persistent quality issues like that could drive listeners away, especislly if their content is otherwise unremarkable or uninteresting.
c
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An old Alpha engineer came here and mentioned they haven’t touched their broadcast equipment in over 20 years. It’s *extremely* poorly run.
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