FCC Auction

[gr8oldies]

I've been to Lovelady and there's not much there. The only hope is a move-in into Crockett.

 

[frankberry]

I've moved this thread to the National Radio board.

 

[bossbill]

This 101.1 for auction with Coupeville COL...could Andrew Skotdal win it, cease operation of K266CJ and make it a full power simulcast of KKXA? It would have to be very directional towards Snohomish County due to CFMI, however. I mean, I could be out there with that questioning, but who knows.
Or Bill W wins it and brings back Q Country. The KMCQ calls are no longer used on any full-power FM after 103.3 went Spanish and changed to KZNW.

Also noting a 95.1 in Trout Lake WA (north of Hood River) up for auction too...95.1 has nothing full powered pretty much anywhere in the PacNW, at least over 1000 watts. Would be a first.

I have it on good authority that Bill W is not interested.

 

[crainbebo]

Ah, understand. Too bad. All Whidbey has is the KAPS translator, a variable JR FM signal and noisy 98.9/100.7 for current country. 1520 for classic country.

 

[Tibbs4]

Same story / different market:

Why in the heck would the FCC (wait we know why...) put a new station in Fort Walton Beach, FL? The market has MORE listenable signals than NYC and LA combined. I guess one more station not making money is a moot point?

 

[TheBigA]

Why in the heck would the FCC (wait we know why...) put a new station in Fort Walton Beach, FL? The market has MORE listenable signals than NYC and LA combined. I guess one more station not making money is a moot point?

As the FCC will often tell you, if you ask: The FCC isn't in the business of assisting private companies to make money. Their primary goal is to collect license fees. So the more the merrier. More stations means more fees. The onus for making money is on the private company. That is what underlies the past 40 years of FCC regulation.

 

[KeithE4]

I'm amazed that this kind of allocation would even be made. The nearest town with any kind of businesses would be Needles, CA, which has proven itself barely able to support radio stations despite a population nearly 50 times greater than Essex.

Needles is considered part of the San Bernardino/Riverside metro. Why? I have no idea, other than being in San Bernardino County. From my experiences in Laughlin NV and Bullhead City AZ in recent years, those two cities plus the Ft. Mohave/Mohave City AZ area and Needles group themselves together as a single metro area, with a total population close to 100,000 (most of it in Arizona), even if it's unofficial. The area has 6 commercial FM, 3 noncom FM, and 3 AM stations (not including translators), plus those that might make it in there from Vegas or Kingman.

Wikipedia says, "With an estimated population of just 89 people in 2005 (down from 111 in 2000), Essex is on the verge of becoming one of many ghost towns scattered throughout the Southwestern United States displaced by the creation of Interstate 40."

Essex is about 35 miles west of Needles, and already has one licensed station, KHWY 98.9 that transmits from the middle of nowhere north of I-40, but has about a 40 mile radius, per radio-locator.com. Even with a mountain range between it and the Colorado River, it "theoretically" puts a signal into Laughlin and Bullhead City, but I've never tried to listen to it to find out.

 

[davideduardo]

Needles is considered part of the San Bernardino/Riverside metro. Why? I have no idea, other than being in San Bernardino County.

Needles is in the DMA for TV.

The closest radio metro is Victor Valley, but that does not extend to the area between Essex and Needles.

The Riverside / San Bernardino metro stops around Banning to the east, Big Bear Lake to the North and Hemet to the South, and LA County to the West, although there is a chunk of the foothills between Ontario / Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga that is not part of either LA or the IE books; it's over 1 million people right in the densest population areas that belong to neither survey area..

From my experiences in Laughlin NV and Bullhead City AZ in recent years, those two cities plus the Ft. Mohave/Mohave City AZ area and Needles group themselves together as a single metro area, with a total population close to 100,000 (most of it in Arizona), even if it's unofficial. The area has 6 commercial FM, 3 noncom FM, and 3 AM stations (not including translators), plus those that might make it in there from Vegas or Kingman.

Nearly all owned by one person.

Essex is about 35 miles west of Needles, and already has one licensed station, KHWY 98.9 that transmits from the middle of nowhere north of I-40, but has about a 40 mile radius, per radio-locator.com. Even with a mountain range between it and the Colorado River, it "theoretically" puts a signal into Laughlin and Bullhead City, but I've never tried to listen to it to find out.

KHWY does not try to cover Laughlin and Bullhead City. It's primary coverage is I-40 and is part of the old Highway network that provides radio to listeners in the remote areas between Socal and the gambling centers of NV. It's owned by Richard Heftel who was, 25 years ago, they guy who hired me at KLVE and KTNQ in LA, liberating me from slavery at Chez Liberman.