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KCLA 1400 Pine Bluff AR: off the air, again.

R

rgseark2009

I remembered to check the AM dial again on Sunday while en route visiting family, and that KCLA 1400 which reactivated last year was once again off the air. Guess the party "renting" the transmitter forgot to pay the light bill? KCLA was running Sporting News Radio off the bird with no ID's, local ads in its last recent incarnation.

Sister station KOTN 1490 remains off the air, as does KPBQ 101.3 and KZYP 99.3. All the stations are still on paper owned by MRS Ventures (per FCC records).
 
They probably don't even know it's off. I don't think you can really hear 1400 in Helena very well. I don't remember it coming in when I lived just across the bridge a couple of miles.
 
Can anyone down that way tell me if KWAK-1240 is on the air? I'd seen a question about it in DX News a few weeks after Stuttgart's big storm in '08, then completely forgot to check when I was there for an August SHS reunion. Couple of e-questions to folks still there, unanswered. Maybe I should've put the correct answers when I let 'em copy from me on those tests half a century ago! :p
 
Scoot -- KWAK 1240 is back on the air, complete with a 250 watt FM translator at 102.7 on the dial. 50's-60's oldies format. It sounds GREAT!
 
Re: KWAK-AM

Back after their transmitter and tower were destroyed by the tornado several years ago, I attempted to contact the owners/mgmt about 1240AM only to be stonewalled by the YL secretary there. I realize that its a private business but the station's attitude (at the time) still left a bad taste in my mouth and I had wished them to be more diplomatic.

That said, I am glad to see the AM frequency back on the air. I don't understand though the need of the AM translator on 102.7 when the 105.1 FM frequency (KWAK-FM) has a similar format. KWAK-AM is weak here but audible in the car. I have DX'ed the 102.7 translator here provided there is no strong tropo toward Memphis (WEGR/Rock 103).
 
Tnx for the update. Glad to hear my first radio home is still with us, although sorry for the rude'itude. Not hip to all the translator stuff but guess it makes as much sense to those who are, as all the HD channels.
 
In many small towns it is leveling the playing field and giving new life to AM stations that were just barely hanging on.
 
AR BL-19841203AK DKCLA 33725 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LIC. TO COVER (BP-840831AB) FOR CHGS.
P 1400 KHZ PINE BLUFF, AR License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act - no letter sent
 
MS BL-19990521DC DWDSK 16554 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LIC. TO COVER
P 1410 KHZ CLEVELAND, MS
License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent
AR BLH-19841129LP DKZYP 33726 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LIC TO COV. (BPH-830520AV
P 99.3 MHZ PINE BLUFF, AR AS MOD.) FOR A NEW STATION
RC/RED: 3601 APPLE STREET,
PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS

License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent


AR BLH-19911218KC DKPBQ-FM 52619 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LICENSE TO COVER(BPH-870514MF
P 101.3 MHZ PINE BLUFF, AR AS MOD.) FOR A NEW STATION.

License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent

MS BLH-19961015KD DWDTL-FM 16557 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LICENSE TO COVER (BPH-941107IA)
P 92.9 MHZ CLEVELAND, MS FOR CHANGES

License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent

MS BLH-19961015KE DWRKG 16552 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LICENSE TO COVER (BPH-950217II)
P 95.3 MHZ DREW, MS FOR CHANGES

License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent

AR BLH-19970721KC DKZYQ 16551 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LICENSE TO COVER (BPH-960927IA)
P 103.5 MHZ LAKE VILLAGE, AR FOR CHANGES

License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent

MS BLH-19970910KG DWZYQ 43900 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. LICENSE TO COVER
P 101.9 MHZ MOUND BAYOU, MS
License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent


AR BLH-20000522AAR DKRKD 86857 M.R.S. VENTURES, INC. Lic. to cover
P 105.7 MHZ DERMOTT, AR
License Cancelled 5/2/2011
pursuant to Section 312(g)
of the Communications Act
- no letter sent
 
Thats rather sad... I wonder if anyone re-applies or if other stations will take the opportunity to upgrade facilities with these out of the picture.
 
11 cancelled licenses... wow...

Can't say I'm suprised - I know for a fact that KRKD-FM hasn't had a transmitter site at all for a couple of years. Still sad to see it happen though.

RFB
 
Michael said:
Thats rather sad... I wonder if anyone re-applies or if other stations will take the opportunity to upgrade facilities with these out of the picture.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding these deletions will not make any FM upgrades possible. The unused channels will remain on the books and must be protected from any new service that would interfere with them. Eventually, there will be a filing window opened, and the FCC will accept applications for new stations on these channels. Assuming there are multiple mutually-exclusive applications for some or all of these channels, there will be auctions. (if only one application is filed for one or more of these channels, assuming the single applicant is qualified to hold a permit, it will be granted) (I think it's nearly certain the Pine Bluff FM frequencies will see multiple mutually-exclusive applications)

It could take quite awhile for all this to happen. Just a few weeks ago, a construction permit was issued for a new AM station in Terre Haute, Indiana, using the frequency of a station whose license was revoked. Revoked in 2001. Yes, it could take ten years before permits are issued for these frequencies.

it's my understanding on AM, a filing window will also eventually happen, but it won't be necessary that the frequencies be used in their existing cities. And it will be legal for existing stations to request upgrades that were previously impossible because of the stations that are now revoked. That said, the two Pine Bluff stations were on Class C channels, with enormous numbers of stations, nearly all of which are already using the maximum permissible power for their channels. I think AM upgrades are unlikely.
 
What a sad, sad shame.
I worked for Buddy Deane at KOTN in 1972, and it was the most fun I ever had on the radio.
I believe the allocations will sit with the FCC for years, before they come up again for auction.
Apparently, nobody believes in radio in Pine Bluff. KTRN has been for sale for years. And, the price isn't bad.
I think there's money to be made, but somebody's going to have to live there and run it.
And, there's the problem. Nobody wants to live in Pine BLuff these days.
Art Morris
 
There is plenty of shame to spread with this EPIC FAIL of MRS Ventures. KOTN has been dead for years, its only been declared "legally dead" by the FCC in recent days.

  • The 1996 Telecommunications Act allowed large ownership groups to hoard licenses (I won't go into a rant about that right now).

    The FCC for years seemed only concerned with nipples and profanity instead of other broadcast standards.

    The FCC approved multiple ownership by groups that did not have a proven track record.
By the time KOTN was reduced to playing country music off the bird very distorted before its transmitter failed in 2007, no one in Pine Bluff seemed to gave a damn....period. One of the icons of Pine Bluff reduced to that fate.
Almost from the start, of MRS's ownership of Delta Radio Network (the cluster that was KOTN, KZYP, KPBQ, and KCLA) there were troubles. It seemed to be a group that got in way above their heads.

KOTN, KCLA, KZYP, and KPBQ may have not been great radio stations in the early 2000's (before the sale to MRS) but the stations served the public interest in the best way possible. I can recall one of the stations going on air during the 2000 Ice Storm relaying local information, reminiscent of the heyday of KOTN.

There is good news, perhaps when these frequencies go back on the air in Pine Bluff or surrounding communities, the FCC can hopefully better vett potential licensees and assure that four stations in a small market don't go silent and nothing is done for years as this proved to be.
 
Good discussion, but in the big picture it is sad losing great old stations like KCLA and KOTN.

You guys that know me know about his closing down KCON here in Conway a few years ago.

I wonder how many of what I would call the old time or heritage stations we have lost here in Arkansas over the last few years.
 
There have been a few of the AM's that have gone off the air, most of them survived by an FM counterpart --

One of the biggest I remember was KBIS 1010, or KLRA as we all knew it. Here is a list of some of the others...

KCON 1230 - Conway (Montrose, still a crying shame)
KVEE 1330 - Conway
KDDA 1560 - Dumas
KPBA 1270 - Pine Bluff
KYDE 1590 - Pine Bluff
KCLA 1400 - Pine Bluff
KOTN 1490 - Pine Bluff
KHAM 1000 - Horseshoe Bend
KGPQ 1110 - Dermott (Had something like a 25,000 watt signal)
KAPZ 710 - Bald Knob
KCCL 1460 - Paris
KPBI 1510 - Greenwood
KGKO 850 - Bryant
KAMD 910 - Camden
KZOT 1460 - Marianna
KXRQ 1530 - Trumann
KSRB 1570 - Hardy
KBIB 1580 - Monette
KJIW 1600 - Helena

Those are just a few I can think of that have gone away.
 
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