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Is AM 1040 KURS ever going back on the air?

S

Signal Geek

They've been silent for I believe nearly three months now.

Once stations are off the air this long, do they ever return?

This situation reminds me of AM 1500 KROQ in L.A., which stopped broadcasting I think in 1983, and never came back. Like KURS, it also had a terrible signal (one of the few AM's with an antenna on a mountaintop), and no ratings. But KURS did have a few tenths of a point in the Arbitrons back when they were running the syndicated oldies format.
 
I'm not sure if they filed to be silent with the FCC. Stations have done that before and returned with new owership
 
This is what is on file with the FCC:
BLSTA - 20121126AKU
Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA
Exhibit 1
Description: KURS REQUEST FOR SILENT STA

KURS LICENSEE HAS A CONTROVERSY WITH THE SITE LEASEHOLDER,WHICH HAVE TURNED OFF KURS EQUIPMENT.AT THIS POINT, KURS OWES 3 MONTHS OF RENT AND THE LEASE CONTRACT NEGOTIATION, ACCORDING TO THE LEASEHOLDER IS IN RISK OF NOT TO RENEW IT.KURS IS WILLING TO CATCH UP WITH THE DUE PAYMENTS BUT UNTIL JANUARY OR FEBRUARY OF 2013, PROPOSAL THAT IS BEING EVALUATED BY THE LEASEHOLDER.
ALL THIS IS THE MAIN REASON, HEREBY KURS RESPECTFULLY REQUEST A SILENT STA, MEANWHILE THE SITUATION WITH THE LEASEHOLDER IS SOLVED, AND THE STATION IS BACK ON THE AIR.
 
Why would anyone bother to put that back on the air? AM radio is an early 20th century medium, is no longer a mass communications medium and is an inefficient means of even niche marketing.
 
At one time Jaime Bonilla was trying to get 6 million for 1040. He claimed that if it went directional it could do 50kw and it would be a blow torch, but thanks to some of his own stations it would probably need 12 towers to do 50 kw and it would hvae to blast the 50kw up mission valley and nowhere else lol. He will sign it back on just for that reason to attempt to sell it.
 
Just wondering can they move 1040 to T.J. in its place for 1030 XESDD. And increase power to 50kw blow torch.
 
radio-darn said:
Why would anyone bother to put that back on the air? AM radio is an early 20th century medium, is no longer a mass communications medium and is an inefficient means of even niche marketing.
Click to expand...

Apparently KFI, WTOP, KCBS, KOA, WINS, WSB, WBZ, WWL and a bunch of the others failed to get that memo.

6 of the top 10 billing stations in the US are AMs.
 
Dnajera31 said:
Just wondering can they move 1040 to T.J. in its place for 1030 XESDD. And increase power to 50kw blow torch.
Click to expand...

I don't think I have ever heard of a channel being moved from one country to another anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. I wonder if there are any cases.

The closest I can think of is the post-NARBA concession to Mexico of 540 as a 1-A clear channel dropped in to San Luis Potosí, SLP, which required that KFMB in San Diego move from 540 to 760.

It's an interesting concept, but legally so intricate that I doubt it could happen.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Dnajera31 said:
Just wondering can they move 1040 to T.J. in its place for 1030 XESDD. And increase power to 50kw blow torch.
Click to expand...

I don't think I have ever heard of a channel being moved from one country to another anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. I wonder if there are any cases.

The closest I can think of is the post-NARBA concession to Mexico of 540 as a 1-A clear channel dropped in to San Luis Potosí, SLP, which required that KFMB in San Diego move from 540 to 760.

It's an interesting concept, but legally so intricate that I doubt it could happen.
Click to expand...

There was a TV station that crossed the border: KCND Pembina, ND became CKND Winnipeg, MB. But yes, it's rare and stars need to align to make it happen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCND-TV

It's also notable that the Pembina station that replaced it after it moved to Winnipeg doesn't show up on cable in Canada per the CTRC's wishes. If you watch Fox in Winnipeg on cable, you get the Fox affiliate from Rochester, NY, not Pembina, ND. Makes you think they don't want this to happen again...
 
johndavis said:
DavidEduardo said:
I don't think I have ever heard of a channel being moved from one country to another anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. I wonder if there are any cases.
Click to expand...

There was a TV station that crossed the border: KCND Pembina, ND became CKND Winnipeg, MB. But yes, it's rare and stars need to align to make it happen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCND-TV
Click to expand...

But even that wasn't a license jumping the border. The channel 12 allocation and the former KCND license stayed in Pembina. Izzy Asper got a new license from the CRTC for channel 9 in Winnipeg and then purchased the non-license assets (mostly the name and the programming) of KCND to move across the border to become CKND.

It's also notable that the Pembina station that replaced it after it moved to Winnipeg doesn't show up on cable in Canada per the CTRC's wishes. If you watch Fox in Winnipeg on cable, you get the Fox affiliate from Rochester, NY, not Pembina, ND. Makes you think they don't want this to happen again...
Click to expand...

Under current rules, I'm pretty sure channel 12 in Pembina could be carried on Winnipeg cable, but it's easier for Winnipeg to just pull WUHF off the satellite than to set up a microwave or off-air path from Pembina to the Winnipeg headend.
 
johndavis said:
There was a TV station that crossed the border: KCND Pembina, ND became CKND Winnipeg, MB. But yes, it's rare and stars need to align to make it happen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCND-TV
Click to expand...

Wasn't KCND Gordon McLendon's only excursion into TV?
 
1986 and 1994 were a long time ago. CKX-TV, the station that tried to block KNRR from cable, doesn't even exist anymore. The CRTC relaxed the rules to a pretty significant extent in the 2000s, giving cable companies much broader leeway to carry any of the "US 4+1" signals that best fit their needs, so long as there's no more than one set of "4+1" (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox + PBS) carried per cable system. The rationale, I think, is that with sim-sub, any local ads being sold by US broadcasters to Canadian advertisers during prime time are going to be blocked from Canadian cable/satellite anyway. (The Canadian tax laws have also changed in a way that no longer allows Canadian businesses to deduct the cost of buying ads on US-licensed stations, significantly shifting the economic model for TV border-blasters.)

The rules remain stricter (much stricter, in fact) for non-"4+1" US signals that might try to get Canadian distribution and would be less susceptible to sim-sub.
 
DavidEduardo said:
radio-darn said:
Why would anyone bother to put that back on the air? AM radio is an early 20th century medium, is no longer a mass communications medium and is an inefficient means of even niche marketing.
Click to expand...

Apparently KFI, WTOP, KCBS, KOA, WINS, WSB, WBZ, WWL and a bunch of the others failed to get that memo.

6 of the top 10 billing stations in the US are AMs.
Click to expand...

For now...and don't most of their owners still lose money overall?

How many AM's have gone dark?

How much profit can KURS realistically expect to make once it pays back rent, hires whatever staff is needed and finds a revenue generator to fill the airtime?

A few AM's hang on and do quite well, but for those on the fringe, why waste the electricity?
 
radio-darn said:
6 of the top 10 billing stations in the US are AMs.

For now...and don't most of their owners still lose money overall?
Click to expand...

No. What makes you think that those top billing stations lose money?

How many AM's have gone dark?
Click to expand...

I think the figure for last year was 9. Generally, AMs that go silent are either horrible technical facilities or they have lost their transmitter site due to lease or eminent domain issues. And occasionally one gets paid to go off the facilitate an improvement in another.

And that is 9 out of about 5,000 stations.

How much profit can KURS realistically expect to make once it pays back rent, hires whatever staff is needed and finds a revenue generator to fill the airtime?
Click to expand...

While KURS may be an exception since it has a Tijuana adjacent channel noise generator and is a miserable technical facility, most major market marginal facilities such as daytimers, highly directional stations or very low power ones have found some kind of profitable niche.

A few AM's hang on and do quite well, but for those on the fringe, why waste the electricity?
Click to expand...

Because they make money? Ask the operators like Art Liu whether they want to turn off the stations they have purchased. They don't. They make money serving, often via brokers, ethnic communities or religious groups that don't mind the coverage or schedule limitations.

Eventually, those stations will be replaced by the new media options... but for years and years they have a profitable life ahead despite zero ratings and lousy signals.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Because they make money? Ask the operators like Art Liu whether they want to turn off the stations they have purchased. They don't. They make money serving, often via brokers, ethnic communities or religious groups that don't mind the coverage or schedule limitations.
Click to expand...

Until the day comes that nobody wants to be on the radio or the land the tower is on becomes more valuable than the rest of the business, you'll find someone willing to lease out even a total dog of a signal for enough money to make it worth your while... and those who are leasing those dogs out want nothing more than to buy an AM stick of their own.

It's a lot like real estate. Sure, we'd all love to own the most prime of spots, but there's still money to be made from leasing out that crappy strip mall in Koreatown, and cash all spends the same.
 
I worked for a 1000 watt station KEST-San Francisco from 1990-1997. It had a terrible signal around the Bay Area and even worse at night. It was non-directional but all of the programming was brokered. Yes it made money, lots of it. People paid over $600 an hour just to hear themselves on the radio!
 
DavidEduardo said:
No. What makes you think that those top billing stations lose money?
Click to expand...

Okay, I didn't realize all those stations' owners are profitable (not just "KFI, WTOP, KCBS, KOA, WINS, WSB, WBZ, WWL and a bunch of the others," but the corporations which own them).
 
radio-darn said:
DavidEduardo said:
No. What makes you think that those top billing stations lose money?
Click to expand...

Okay, I didn't realize all those stations' owners are profitable (not just "KFI, WTOP, KCBS, KOA, WINS, WSB, WBZ, WWL and a bunch of the others," but the corporations which own them).
Click to expand...

My bad on including WTOP in a list of AM stations... it has been FM only for several years.

But CBS is very profitable, and so is Cox. Entercom is fine, and even Clear Channel has positive cash flow (although the debt service eats that up and spits it out).
 
With all of the tower site owners in SD hungry for business I am very shocked that Jaime hasn't approached CC to use the 1360 drop wire at KGB's site that KCBQ was on. I understand that CC is not thrilled with Jaime's business ethics, but money is money. Make him pay in advance!
 
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