Do You Listen to "Half-Channel" FM Stations in SLC?

[Gregg]

Looking at the recent ratings, I notice some "half-channel" FM stations do better than some of the standard FM stations... or at least are competitive. By "half-channel" I mean those stations licensed to communities many miles from SLC, some even in Wyoming, that have popped up over the last decade or so between the original line up of FM stations.

For instance, 101.5 KEGA, a country station licensed to Oakley, is tied in the ratings with 101.1 KBER, licensed to Ogden. Maybe on a good car radio, KEGA would come in clearly around the market. But on a clock radio or a Walkman, could you pick up 101.5 in an office building in Salt Lake City... or Provo or Ogden? How about 100.7 KYMV, a Top 40 station licensed to Woodruff? That station is wedged between 100.3 KSFI and 101.1 KBER. Or 103.1 KJQN Coalville, a Jack station between 102.7 KSL-FM and 103.5 KRSP?

In the East, such stations would not be competitive in the larger market. They'd serve their local communty, maybe their specific county, with a 3000 or 6000 watt signal from a 300 foot tower. But they'd never make the pretense that they're serving all of the NYC or Boston or Philadelphia market.

In the West, they can run with lots of power: KJQN, KZNS-FM, KDUT, KEGA, KZZQ, KUDD and KYMV run with nearly 90,000 watts on towers over 2000 feet above average terrain.

And since we're on the subject, is there a noticable difference in reception between stations licensed to SLC, Provo or Ogden? These cities are about 30-50 miles from each other. Can a fan of Alternative Rock KXRK, licensed to Provo, pick it up OK in Ogden? It is tied for #2 in the market. Or are most standard-channel stations located on a few towers around SLC, regardless of their city of license? (I assume the "half-channel" stations cannot be transmitting too close to SLC.)


Gregg
[email protected]

 

[BRNout]

Looking at the recent ratings, I notice some "half-channel" FM stations do better than some of the standard FM stations... or at least are competitive. By "half-channel" I mean those stations licensed to communities many miles from SLC, some even in Wyoming, that have popped up over the last decade or so between the original line up of FM stations.

For instance, 101.5 KEGA, a country station licensed to Oakley, is tied in the ratings with 101.1 KBER, licensed to Ogden. Maybe on a good car radio, KEGA would come in clearly around the market. But on a clock radio or a Walkman, could you pick up 101.5 in an office building in Salt Lake City... or Provo or Ogden? How about 100.7 KYMV, a Top 40 station licensed to Woodruff? That station is wedged between 100.3 KSFI and 101.1 KBER. Or 103.1 KJQN Coalville, a Jack station between 102.7 KSL-FM and 103.5 KRSP?

In the East, such stations would not be competitive in the larger market. They'd serve their local communty, maybe their specific county, with a 3000 or 6000 watt signal from a 300 foot tower. But they'd never make the pretense that they're serving all of the NYC or Boston or Philadelphia market.

In the West, they can run with lots of power: KJQN, KZNS-FM, KDUT, KEGA, KZZQ, KUDD and KYMV run with nearly 90,000 watts on towers over 2000 feet above average terrain.

And since we're on the subject, is there a noticable difference in reception between stations licensed to SLC, Provo or Ogden? These cities are about 30-50 miles from each other. Can a fan of Alternative Rock KXRK, licensed to Provo, pick it up OK in Ogden? It is tied for #2 in the market. Or are most standard-channel stations located on a few towers around SLC, regardless of their city of license? (I assume the "half-channel" stations cannot be transmitting too close to SLC.)


Gregg
[email protected]

As a former Utah resident and as someone who still visits at least annually, I can tackle some of your questions.

Pretty much all of the signals that are licensed to communities that are beyond the Wasatch Front (such as KJQN Coalville or KEGA or KYMV) transmit from the northeast edge of the Uinta Mountains. Now, left on their own, the main signals would not penetrate the metropolitan area very well because of the Wasatch Mountains. The eastern half of the metro would have their signals blocked. However, each has on-channel boosters which bring those signals right into the Ogden/Salt Lake and Provo areas. So, reception of each is just fine and there is only a little difference in signal strength between those signals and the 'locals'.

Now, as to your question about Ogden and Provo area signals, the answer is - it depends. KBZN, KBER and KENZ are licensed to Ogden. However, each has long had their transmitters on Humphrey's Peak atop the Oquirrh Mountains to the WSW of Salt Lake City. They could get away with that because it's a straight shot from there to Ogden (some 45 miles away) with a city grade signal.

Not all could do this, however, due to spacing. So, KYFO 95.5 and KUDD 107.9 have long had a hard time getting a good signal into the central and eastern two thirds of the Salt Lake Valley and into the Utah Valley (Provo/Orem) at all without translators. Each has their tx located straight west of Ogden and that causes line of sight terrain issues to the southeast. And the translators have noticeably less power than the competition. After decades of prior owners fighting this issue on the 107.9 (mainly through translators and simulcasts), Simmons Communications built on-channel boosters in Bountiful and Salt Lake City. Last I heard, they were trying to relicense to Randolph so that they could enjoy a similar arrangement to the off-Wasatch Front signals. They still have a poor signal in the Provo/Orem area on 107.9 and simulcast on KUDE 103.9 to cover the southern part of the market.

As for Provo/Orem area FM signals, on the commercial side there was - for many years - 94.9, 96.1, 106.5 and 107.5. All four transmitted from Lake Mountain west of Utah Lake. In the case of 94.9 and 96.1, they could still get out pretty well and had a very good signal in all but the easternmost parts of the Salt Lake Valley and Davis County. Back in the 1980s, 96.1 was KFMY (K-96) and had the only real CHR format in the area and did pretty well with it considering the signal they had. 94.9 was KLRZ (ColorRadio 95) for a time, then went CHR as well. 96.1 eventually flipped to alternative (long story) as KXRK. In the early 1990s, the owners of KXRK successfully petitioned the FCC for a move to 96.3 and a transmitter move to the same Oquirrh Mountaintop (Humphrey's) as the big Salt Lake signals. So, no issue there. Eventually KOSY 106.5 managed to do the same. Which leaves 94.9 with its still okay signal and 107.5 with a signal that is still strong only in Utah Valley and the south central part of the Salt Lake Valley. Basically, if you do well enough, you can afford to upgrade.....

So, the answer is that this is a market that has tons of signals and almost all come in pretty well. That's what happens when there is fairly little overlap with adjacent markets (Logan being the exception). KEGA 101.5, for instance, will come in on a clock radio just as well as KBER will in much of the area. The format is what makes people want to tune in. The move-ins are, for the most part, less established and have to fight harder often with niche formats. But, with the right programming (as KEGA and KUDD have), they can succeed.

By the way, with the Park City area's growth as a resort and high-income suburb, tons of stations now have on-channel boosters there too. At one time, there were only a few signals available via translator (or scratchy original signal) but boosters atop the mountain peaks bring in the likes of X-96, KOSY, KBZN and others on their original frequencies. The stations licensed to Coalville and Woodruff and places in Wyoming actually come in VERY well in Park City without help. Topography is everything.