Fleeing Globe

[Bill Drake]

According to radio locator, KIKO is fleeing Globe for Apache Junction.

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/KIKO-AM

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Well that's interesting. KIKO shows the same ownership as the Big 'BSZ in A.J.
And the coordinates for the tower site CP for KIKO are the same as KBSZ's.

But can you really diplex on the Valcom antenna?

 

[Bill Drake]

I think KIKO is the last living thing to flee Globe.

Kind of short spaced to Jesus on 1360. Especially on crappy old analog radios like one that I have.

Oh silly me; I was thinking back to the days when there were actually technical standards for ray-de-Ohhhhh..

 

[DrAkbar]

Kind of short spaced to Jesus on 1360. Especially on crappy old analog radios like one that I have.

And then there's the possible interference to KJLL 13~Thirty in Tucson to consider. This same outfit was shot down about a year ago when they wanted to change the COL to Superior. Come to think of it, Apache Junction needs another Ancient Modulation station like Nurse Jeff and I need a second Gremlin

 

[Bill Drake]

Well it can always go "Radio Cucaracha" and blast the modulation up to 150%. Just what we need. No wonder radio is RIP.

 

[asugeorge1]

What's the format of KIKO-AM? Wikipedia lists it as news/sports/oldies, but that really doesn't tell us much. Could we perhaps see the return of Rock and Roll 1260 1340?

 

[DrAkbar]

Could we perhaps see the return of Rock and Roll 1260 1340?

Worked so well on 12~Sixty, why not? And maybe they can move Phil Hendrie from the 50 watt station, to the 930 watt station up the dial so he can be heard in Guadalupe at night? That pocket fisherman antenna they're using will get a real workout with all the RF being diplexed (3.5kw + 1kw D), it'll probably be as crooked as the recall race in district 18

 

[phil]

Note that KBSZ was issued a construction permit on Sept 15, 2011, from 2 pattern to 1 pattern.

 

[Bill Drake]

I want my Mr. Microphone!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71yTOUicmEY

 

[DrAkbar]

Note that KBSZ was issued a construction permit on Sept 15, 2011, from 2 pattern to 1 pattern.

They've always been non-D from AJ...that permit okayed them going from 900 watts to 3500 watts daytime. Still have to reduce to lower than Lumberyard 50 watts at local sunset. Moving KIKO 13~Forty from Globe to AJ will give them an Ancient Modulation station with 930 watts (non-D) at night - provided the FCC approves the move. Their last move in application was shot down due to interference issues.

 

[Bill Drake]

I have linked up my three lava lamps to blast out 160 watts 24 hours a day.

Interference? Who cares. No one listens to AM radio anymore anyway.....

 

[DrAkbar]

I have linked up my three lava lamps to blast out 160 watts 24 hours a day.

That's more pow-pow-power than KBSZ, KXEG and KASA at night. Combined But does your lava lamp have a timer ???

 

[Bill Drake]

I have a CLEAR CHANNEL lava lamp tri-tandem operation solar powered by an Atari 2600. ;D

 

[bnzbz]

This thread makes me very upset. I grew up in Globe and my family was very close with Willard Shoecraft, original owner of KIKO AM and FM. I can honestly say he sparked something in me that created a bright future and career for me with radio broadcasting. I remember being no more than 8-9 years old and taking a tour of the KIKO studios from Willard and the one thing that really stands out was the excitement in his voice to be giving even little ol' me me a tour. He was a man that really truly cared about radio and using it to serve his community.

I was very unhappy to hear of his passing and the subsequent liquidations of his dream, especially to someone like John Low. He and his, IMHO, sham of a company 1tv.com have proven time and time again that he doesn't care one bit about the COL of his stations, or for that matter his listeners in general. In the years since Willard's passing, both KIKO properties have dipped to lows in production quality that are unimaginable for even a high school station.

I hope, probably in vein, that this and any other attempt to move KIKO fail and force him to learn to operate a business responsibility. The FCC and broadcast licenses aren't a game of chance like the stock market or a lottery like he's using them--with the chance he could hit gold in the big market. IMHO, a station should honor the history of their frequency, as well as honor and serve their listeners. If he were a true businessman, he'd learn to meet that need and earn money while doing it. KIKO might not have been the treasure chest that stations in the Phoenix market can be, but Willard and his employees never went hungry or went without a need being met.

The thought of Globe/Miami without KIKO for no reason other than greed makes me shudder.

 

[Bill Drake]

The move by KIKO is just part and parcel of what has destroyed the broadcasting industry. No local programming. No local ownership. No live programming - Voice tracked lifeless monotone voices, over-specialized formats, twenty minutes of commercials per hour, repetitive boring playlists. Where to stop? Put a stake through its heart and call it DOA

 

[KeithE4]

I think KIKO is the last living thing to flee Globe.

Which is probably why it's moving. No more living things in Globe. ;D

Kind of short spaced to Jesus on 1360. Especially on crappy old analog radios like one that I have.

Not really. 75th Ave. & Camelback Rd. in Glendale to Tomahawk & Baseline Rds. (approx.) in AJ is close to 50 miles. I wouldn't think that'd be a problem, even with 50 kW on 1360. KIKO won't have much of a signal west of Mesa anyway.

But it looks like ASU might have to move The Blaze again.[/quote]

 

[davideduardo]

The move by KIKO is just part and parcel of what has destroyed the broadcasting industry. No local programming. No local ownership. No live programming - Voice tracked lifeless monotone voices, over-specialized formats, twenty minutes of commercials per hour, repetitive boring playlists. Where to stop? Put a stake through its heart and call it DOA

All that because a graveyard frequency AM in a town of 7,000 can't make it?

Have you ever considered the possibility that the problem with KIKO has to do with it being AM? And a really bad AM facility to boot? In a town that has a stagnant population and lower than average income levels?

I'm reminded that one of the first five or six radio stations in AZ was in Jerome. When the mines no longer were viable and the city was on the way to becoming a ghost town, the station closed, too, and returned its license to the FCC. Does that sound like Globe, but just 70 years later?

 

[radiowizard101]

The short answer is NO. KIKO AM still has decent listenership. The market is more like 40,000 people and includes the communities of San Carlos, Miami, Central Heights, Weatfields, Claypool, on out to Roosevelt, & Tonto Basin. Globe is just a segment of its coverage area. KIKO AM is still live in the morning and does the traditional small town things. However, it is a shell of what it once was. An era is slowly ending. The locals have discovered this new fangled thing called FM. Do you think that'll ever take off??

 

[Bill Drake]

I think KIKO is the last living thing to flee Globe.

Which is probably why it's moving. No more living things in Globe. ;D

Kind of short spaced to Jesus on 1360. Especially on crappy old analog radios like one that I have.

Not really. 75th Ave. & Camelback Rd. in Glendale to Tomahawk & Baseline Rds. (approx.) in AJ is close to 50 miles. I wouldn't think that'd be a problem, even with 50 kW on 1360. KIKO won't have much of a signal west of Mesa anyway.

But it looks like ASU might have to move The Blaze again.

[/quote]

With all due respect, there used to be spacing requirements for 1st, 2nd and 3rd channel assignments. Being a 1kw operation on the so-called "graveyard" frequencies means this station would easily be covered up within a few miles from the transmitter by the 1360 50kw signal. So the question is: "What is the point of moving to AJ?" To try and scratch out a .00001 share?

Have you listened to either AM or FM any more? All radio is now local radio. AM was trashed years ago when these flea powered 10, 20, 50 watt night time operations started popping up all over. Then came the wholesale destruction of regional and clear channel operations.

FM doesn't fare any better. The FCC has certainly allowed total congestion of that part of the spectrum with hordes of underpowered facilities that don't serve any purpose for the general public.

If KIKO can't make it in Globe, then perhaps it is time to go dark. Another brokered or voice-tracked POS isn't needed and serves no one.

The stake through the heart of broadcasting can be directly traced to the TeleCom Act of 1996. All we're seeing now is the lifeless body of a once vibrant industry twitching and convulsing in its death throes.

 

[davideduardo]

With all due respect, there used to be spacing requirements for 1st, 2nd and 3rd channel assignments.

On FM. FM was set up to afford standard protection based on the maximum use of the class of facility, even if the maximum facility is not employed... although there is a petition for rulemaking to base protection on the actual built facilty, not the maximum-for-class.

Otherwise, for AM the spacing is determined by factors based on power and conductivity and specific contours based on actual operation.

So the question is: "What is the point of moving to AJ?" To try and scratch out a .00001 share?

Not all stations, even in rated markets, seek share. Some just are looking for an opportunity to be economically viable, something that is perhaps impossible in Globe in 2011.

AM was trashed years ago when these flea powered 10, 20, 50 watt night time operations started popping up all over. Then came the wholesale destruction of regional and clear channel operations.

AM was "trashed" by the superior coverage and programming and sound on FM way back in the 70's. Even back then, as now, most AMs could not cover their markets day and night, while most FMs could and did.

Clear Channel stations were rendered useless by the lifting of the TV freeze about 60 years ago. Once America was populated with TV stations, radio listening at night plummeted. And with the doubling of on-air stations in just 5 years after W.W. II and then the tripling and quadrupling of the numbers in the next 15 years, there was no need to listen to out of town stations in most of America, anyway.

The stake through the heart of broadcasting can be directly traced to the TeleCom Act of 1996. All we're seeing now is the lifeless body of a once vibrant industry twitching and convulsing in its death throes.

Gee, you don't think that this is a) totally exaggerated and b) to the extent it is true, perhaps due to the economy and the profusion of new media and new entertainment options?