Just a couple of nuances that I noticed about local area K-Love Stations

[Retro]

Starting just about a week ago, I can suddenly pick up K-Love at 105.3. Which previous posters have mentioned is a translator of 1570 WUBG Methuen.

On air, their branding announces both 105.3 and 107.3. On the translator, the COL I.D. mentions the AM station, and mentions that they can also be heard on 105.3 (but not the translator I.D.) and to add even more to this madness, they clearly I.D. 100.7 WZLX HD-3 to boot!, but not WKVB at all.

Meanwhile, the 107.3 signal is now coming in quite a bit better as well! I has just presetted both frequencies, and suddenly noticed something like a 5 second delay on 107.3.

I have not heard yet the legal I.D. WKVB yet, however 105.3 is announcing that they can be heard on both frequencies.

Just a couple of questions here, why would o/o WKVD 107.3 have a delay on it?

Since WUBG has a different owner, and its rotation of call letters and formats. How long do you think that 1570 will continue to licence its frequency to K-Love, along with the FM translator?

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Starting just about a week ago, I can suddenly pick up K-Love at 105.3. Which previous posters have mentioned is a translator of 1570 WUBG Methuen.

On air, their branding announces both 105.3 and 107.3. On the translator, the COL I.D. mentions the AM station, and mentions that they can also be heard on 105.3 (but not the translator I.D.) and to add even more to this madness, they clearly I.D. 100.7 WZLX HD-3 to boot!, but not WKVB at all.

Meanwhile, the 107.3 signal is now coming in quite a bit better as well! I has just presetted both frequencies, and suddenly noticed something like a 5 second delay on 107.3.

I have not heard yet the legal I.D. WKVB yet, however 105.3 is announcing that they can be heard on both frequencies.

Just a couple of questions here, why would o/o WKVD 107.3 have a delay on it?

Since WUBG has a different owner, and its rotation of call letters and formats. How long do you think that 1570 will continue to licence its frequency to K-Love, along with the FM translator?

Translator top-of-hour ID calls only have to be mentioned certain hours of the day, not every hour. You'd probably hear the translator calls W287CW at certain other hours (if they're in compliance).

WUBG 1570/105.3 doesn't need to mention WKVB on its ID as long as WKVB has its own top-of-hour ID, which it does. The stations may be the same network affiliates simulcasting the same programming, but WUBG and WKVB are separate affiliate stations (WUBG and its FM translator are essentially the same station, and have to simulcast the same ID). I'm sure most of their affiliate full stations (not translators or HD subchannel simulcasts) nationwide fire their own ID's.

I don't know why K-Love is also on WZLX HD3, I doubt there are enough HD radio listeners to make that very viable itself, I'm wondering if WUBG is using WZLX HD3 to relay the WUBG programming to the 105.3 translator in Medford. In that case, WUBG, its translator (certain hours), and WZLX HD3 would all have to be identified.

WKVB broadcasts in HD, which has an inherent approximately eight-second processing delay from analog. WUBG and its translator do not broadcast in HD. However, if the translator is receiving WUBG via WZLX HD3, that would have a delay. There could be variances in delays caused by other processing or connection issues.

I assume K-Love is buying or leasing time on WUBG. They don't own it, as they do WKVB. I'd assume that as long as that continues, WUBG would probably continue to air it. For K-Love, WUBG (AM) in the daytime fills in some areas well north of Boston and in southern NH that WKVB may not reach well, and the translator may come in better than WKVB for some people in the Mystic Valley just north of Boston and the lower North Shore.

 

[CTListener]

Translator top-of-hour ID calls only have to be mentioned certain hours of the day, not every hour. You'd probably hear the translator calls W287CW at certain other hours (if they're in compliance).

The translator calls don't have to be announced at all. The legal requirement can be met by using frequency shift keying (FSK) to send the call inaudibly. WMNR Monroe, CT, has programmed W220CE in the Meriden area for a couple of decades at least and never mentions the call; W220CH in Hartford also goes unacknowledged in voice mode. The hourly spoken ID includes WMNR, WGRS Guilford, and two of its half dozen or so low-powered translators, one in Shelton, one in New London.

Go up to Vermont and you'll find no translator calls mentioned, ever. Only the full-power stations make the hourly litany, which then ends with, "also on 94.3 in Brattleboro (or some other translator frequency/city) and online at vpr.org."

 

[Retro]

Translator top-of-hour ID calls only have to be mentioned certain hours of the day, not every hour. You'd probably hear the translator calls W287CW at certain other hours (if they're in compliance).

WUBG 1570/105.3 doesn't need to mention WKVB on its ID as long as WKVB has its own top-of-hour ID, which it does. The stations may be the same network affiliates simulcasting the same programming, but WUBG and WKVB are separate affiliate stations (WUBG and its FM translator are essentially the same station, and have to simulcast the same ID). I'm sure most of their affiliate full stations (not translators or HD subchannel simulcasts) nationwide fire their own ID's.

I don't know why K-Love is also on WZLX HD3, I doubt there are enough HD radio listeners to make that very viable itself, I'm wondering if WUBG is using WZLX HD3 to relay the WUBG programming to the 105.3 translator in Medford. In that case, WUBG, its translator (certain hours), and WZLX HD3 would all have to be identified.

WKVB broadcasts in HD, which has an inherent approximately eight-second processing delay from analog. WUBG and its translator do not broadcast in HD. However, if the translator is receiving WUBG via WZLX HD3, that would have a delay. There could be variances in delays caused by other processing or connection issues.

I assume K-Love is buying or leasing time on WUBG. They don't own it, as they do WKVB. I'd assume that as long as that continues, WUBG would probably continue to air it. For K-Love, WUBG (AM) in the daytime fills in some areas well north of Boston and in southern NH that WKVB may not reach well, and the translator may come in better than WKVB for some people in the Mystic Valley just north of Boston and the lower North Shore.

Thank you for answering the 8 second delay question. Also, I was not aware that translators didn't always have to be identified at all.

Also, like I said before, I have not yet had the chance to hear WKVB, Westborough legal I.D. yet either.

The one thing that is fascinating to me is that the branding K-Love Boston is being identified as being on both 105.3 and 107.3 also. However, I was wondering why both calls are not mentioned when using the legal I.D.? The answer is like you said, they are being fed from 2 different locations entirely, unlike the old WAAF/WKAF simulcast, which in essence was coming from one single feed being rebroadcasted instead.

I made the safe assumption that WKVB was running off of a different feed instead, otherwise they would've I.D.ed on 105.3 also. Like I said, I have not heard 107.3's legal I.D. yet.

 

[Retro]

BTW, after a Google search, K-Love's local website is for 105.3 literally, and not the AM station at all. No mention of 107.3 in that official logo either. I do not know if the later has an additional website for what is essentially their Worcester station instead?

 

[freqlost]

WJIB never IDs their FM translator so that makes sense it is not required.

I don't think La Mega IDs theirs either.

 

[MarcB]

I don't think La Mega IDs theirs either.

When running their own in-house programming La Mega Hartford does the legal ID for both the AM station and their translator. "WLAT New Britain-Hartford. 910 AM. (They say 910 AM in Spanish). W269DE 101.7 FM (they say 101.7 FM in Spanish twice) Hartford. (of course for W269DE that's not legal. They like WLAT is licensed to New Britain). But when WLAT is running the same programming as the other La Mega Stations they don't ID the translators.

"You're listening to La Mega New England. WAMG Dedham, WLLH Lawrence, WORC Worcester, WLAT New Britain".

 

[Eli Polonsky]

WJIB never IDs their FM translator so that makes sense it is not required.

WJIB does ID the translator, I hear it, but only certain hours per day as translator ID’s are required, not every hour. On those hours only, Bob also ID’s his translator for simulcast WJTO in Maine.

 

[johnster]

FM Translators and Boosters

General information about FM translator and FM booster stations is contained below. You can click on any of the topic headings in the Table of Contents to jump directly to a particular section or scroll through the topics that start sequentially after the Table of Contents. Contents What Is...

www.fcc.gov

Identification of translator and booster stations. The identification must occur 3 times daily: once between 7 AM and 9 AM, once between 12:55 PM and 1:05 PM, and once between 4 PM and 6 PM. Stations that do not begin operating before 9 AM must provide the identification at the beginning of the broadcast day.

 

[fybush]

FM Translators and Boosters

General information about FM translator and FM booster stations is contained below. You can click on any of the topic headings in the Table of Contents to jump directly to a particular section or scroll through the topics that start sequentially after the Table of Contents. Contents What Is...

www.fcc.gov

Identification of translator and booster stations. The identification must occur 3 times daily: once between 7 AM and 9 AM, once between 12:55 PM and 1:05 PM, and once between 4 PM and 6 PM. Stations that do not begin operating before 9 AM must provide the identification at the beginning of the broadcast day.

But only if the station chooses to use aural identification. Most modern transmitters can also do FSK Morse Code, which is also allowed under the FCC's Part 74 rules.

I always advise my clients to use FSK whenever possible. "W225QF" is meaningless wharrgarble to listeners, and why add audio clutter if you don't need to? Tell the listener something that makes sense - "WFQF Centralville, now on FM 92.9" makes much more sense.