KFCD 990

[txchipk]

I noticed that KFCD 990 has gone to sports on the weekend this weekend and last. Before, it was just sports weekdays with religious music on weekends and weekdays starting at 6PM. At least if people do flip by during the day, they will hear the same programming. I imagine it was confusing for the casual listener to scan by and sometimes hear sports talk and other times hear religious music.

I don't know how viable they can be as the 3rd sports station and one without any sort of big-name host to generate buzz. The signal is also the weakest of the three.

On the signal, if KHVN 970 goes away, can they improve the 990 facility significantly to better cover the market? KHVN's expanded band channel, KKGM 1630, signed on in 2002. Originally, the FCC required operators to shut off one of the signals -- either the original frequency or the new x-band one -- 5 years after the x-band one came on. Generally, the original one goes. 950 Denison-Sherman went last year in favor of 1700 (now moved to Richardson). 1580 Waco also went away in favor of 1660 there. So, in theory, 970 should sign off by year-end.

 

[little1]

Agree with your comments re their signal problem. I often lose them halfway home, if I'm not losing them at 6 when they switch to religious...

But I think their biggest problem is how do you position yourself as the #3 sports station in the market? The Ticket has the big name guests, the Cowboys, AND is hands down the most entertaining sports station I've ever heard. Yeah, everybody complains when they don't do sportstalk, but at least their non-sports stuff is usually funny...

ESPN has the serious sports side covered. In fact too-serious sometimes...Especially when they'r ein network, they can get way to serious for my tastes. (And that's a reflection of preference for hearing teh fake Jerry Jones, rather than hearingthe real Dan Snyder on the network...Like I said, the Ticket's non-sports stuff is usually funny...where there's VERY little on the network that even makes me chuckle, much less laugh...)

So if you're 990, how do you position yourself? They can't really "out-serious" ESPN, and I'm not sure that the talent they have can out-entertain the Ticket guys.

 

[little1]

And can you really position a station with the truth:

"Your station for hosts that couldn't make it at the other sports stations in town, Sportsfan 990".

I literally laughed out loud when I read the Observer article. It said Tom Bailey was the sports editor at KNON. And it said that KNON having a sports editor was akin to the Observer having a crotcheting editor, and you can probably hear as much sports on KNON as you can find crotcheting coverage in the Observer...

 

[dantheman]

Hello all,
Why are they doing a sports format with that signal??? I like to see management go to a local format for Collin/Hunt/Fannin County McKinney/Greenville/Bonham, TX. 990AM signal in great in Collin/Hunt/Fannin County day and night. I like to see local news, sports, and music. They could do both counties schools sports and activities. I want to see local programming with that low power signal....and transmitter near Farmersville, TX (US 380 near Hunt/Collin County line) They need to stop trying to do Dallas stuff. (Dallas Martket)

Dan-the-Man!!
The North Texas Radio Man!!! :

 

[PyThomasTX]

KFCD... Move that "K" two places to the right, add a couple vowels, and that's what that station is at the moment.

 

[salemjedi54]

I noticed that KFCD 990 has gone to sports on the weekend this weekend and last. Before, it was just sports weekdays with religious music on weekends and weekdays starting at 6PM. At least if people do flip by during the day, they will hear the same programming. I imagine it was confusing for the casual listener to scan by and sometimes hear sports talk and other times hear religious music.

I don't know how viable they can be as the 3rd sports station and one without any sort of big-name host to generate buzz. The signal is also the weakest of the three.

On the signal, if KHVN 970 goes away, can they improve the 990 facility significantly to better cover the market? KHVN's expanded band channel, KKGM 1630, signed on in 2002. Originally, the FCC required operators to shut off one of the signals -- either the original frequency or the new x-band one -- 5 years after the x-band one came on. Generally, the original one goes. 950 Denison-Sherman went last year in favor of 1700 (now moved to Richardson). 1580 Waco also went away in favor of 1660 there. So, in theory, 970 should sign off by year-end.

I hope that the 970 facility does not go away. That is only station in town where you can get 24 hour gospel music. Plus if KKGM goes away I would not have an outlet for my Sooners Football fix.

 

[Kent]

Keep in mind that the FCC is considering allowing both stations to continue to operate so long as one is sold to a minority or small business operator. While many operators have already turned one permit or another in (as Chip mentioned, usually the expanded band stays, though I can think of one example of the expanded band signal being surrendered), there are a few that went dark only to resurface before surrendering the license.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

KHVN AND KKGM will stay where they are. KHVN has a very loyal black gospel audience, plus KKGM has a very loyal Southern Gospel audience. KKGM just hired a new GM and a new salesperson plus its adding a second salesperson. Mortensen will not change either one of these stations.

 

[txchipk]

KHVN AND KKGM will stay where they are. KHVN has a very loyal black gospel audience, plus KKGM has a very loyal Southern Gospel audience. KKGM just hired a new GM and a new salesperson plus its adding a second salesperson. Mortensen will not change either one of these stations.

Again, unless the rules change, they don't have a choice. Much like the analog-to-digital TV migration where the FCC temporarily gave stations a second channel and one of the two channels has to be surrendered at the end of the migration, the same is true for these AM stations. In this case, the FCC gave them 5 years. The 1610-1700 channels were granted to move to try to de-clutter the existing band some. Other than an AM in the Northeast and one in NE TX, all the AMs turned in the original station and moved to the x-band one.

As the 5 year clock has expired, stations have had to surrender one. In Texas, 1580 Waco was turned in in favor of 1660 after the 5 year window; 1600 Brownsville was turned in and its 1700 counterpart was kept; same here...950 turned in and 1700 kept. However, outside Texarkana, 1610 was turned in and the original 900 Atlanta TX facility kept. The 5 year window is closing in on 970/1630 here, 1150/1620 College Station, and a couple others in the region.

Note the FCC considers them one station...i.e. they cannot be sold apart (if you KHVN 970 was sold, 1630 must transfer to the same new owner) and they don't count extra in the cap (i.e. when Infinity had KHVN, the 1630 facility didn't count against their local ownership cap)...since this is viewed as a temporary situation. It's the same that applies to digital TV (WFAA cannot seperately spin off WFAA-DT; they are considered one station for ownership purposes).

So, unless the FCC changes the rules, either 970 or 1630 will go. Certainly the intellectual property can be kept and moved to another signal Mortenson owns (KGGR 1040, KTNO 1440, KRVA 1600).

 

[jd]

So, unless the FCC changes the rules, either 970 or 1630 will go. Certainly the intellectual property can be kept and moved to another signal Mortenson owns (KGGR 1040, KTNO 1440, KRVA 1600).

Chip, you explained it well, of course. But how do you account for the somewhat recent upgrade of KHVN (relocation of the tower, along with relicensing to Bedford)? Even if it could be assumed the 1630 frequency is slightly superior, 970 has its long heritage working for it. Was it worth the expense of putting 1630 on the air if they'd be forced to surrender the license, or conversely if "Heaven 97" is going away why would they spend the money for a temporary fix?

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

"CHP" made some good points,but the basic line is ,we are dealing with even weakened FCC since that rule was imposed and I doubt it would be enforced. I am sure Mortensen lawyers are up to date on topics like this,and from what I am seeing no movement towards elimination,relocation of either station is goin.g to happen.

 

[txchipk]

So, unless the FCC changes the rules, either 970 or 1630 will go. Certainly the intellectual property can be kept and moved to another signal Mortenson owns (KGGR 1040, KTNO 1440, KRVA 1600).

Chip, you explained it well, of course. But how do you account for the somewhat recent upgrade of KHVN (relocation of the tower, along with relicensing to Bedford)? Even if it could be assumed the 1630 frequency is slightly superior, 970 has its long heritage working for it. Was it worth the expense of putting 1630 on the air if they'd be forced to surrender the license, or conversely if "Heaven 97" is going away why would they spend the money for a temporary fix?

The FCC hasn't granted the application...the current application is to move to 1630's towers. It will have to drop power to 500 watts for the move according to its last filing. The new coverage will be less...I don't think it fully covers Fort Worth with a city grade signal (thus, probably the reason for the change of city of license to Bedford). Even though the move is to the east, the reduced power means the signal doesn't get any stronger towards Dallas. It looks like KFCD and KIMP 960 Mt Pleasant are the primary reason the power has to be reduced to move east.

I don't know what's behind the move...some AM stations around the country have lost their leases on land, etc. or through consolidation have sought to co-locate where possible with a co-owned AM in the cluster prompting moves. The original application to move to Bedford was filed several years ago...so it's not a new filing.

I don't know what will happen here, I was mainly just throwing out the hypothesis that if 970 is ultimately surrendered and goes off late summer (it looks like KKGM's license to cover was 8/2002), would the 990 facility be able to be made a more viable operation?

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Your information is well informed and thought out. I checked with someone else and he concurs with what you had to say and confiremd the rule. So I wonder if the Vietnamese format goes bye bye already on 1600 or 1440 becomes the home of either KHVN or KKGM. We shall see won't we?

 

[salemjedi54]

Your information is well informed and thought out. I checked with someone else and he concurs with what you had to say and confiremd the rule. So I wonder if the Vietnamese format goes bye bye already on 1600 or 1440 becomes the home of either KHVN or KKGM. We shall see won't we?

Even though we know 970 is bad in some parts of the metroplex, its a heritage facility. How compariable is 1440 and 1600 frequencies to 970 or 1630.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

1630 has a better range. I Imagine Mortensen would move KHVN to 1630, and KKGM to 1600. 1600 would have the next best range compared to 1630. 1440 is abysmal, and 1050 is a daytimer and KKGM carries a lot of sports.

 

[VERITAS DE VOCE]

All right, all right... most people don't ask, but then again, why should you when us bloggers are so apt to play a game of inside baseball?

Morty may move the beloved frequency, but Satan himself will get an ice cold glass of water before Heaven 97 gets axed. Much of this will be repeated, but it bears it...

1. This is the buckle of the Bible belt, and definitely the most colorful of all the buckles
2. Arguably 75% of the churches in this town have congregates or yes, even parishioners, that have listened to the dulcet tones of Joe Bagby, Robert Ashley, and back in the day, Warren Brooks and Cedric Bailey
3. Arguably 100% of this city's black adult community have done the aforementioned
4. This is indeed a heritage station, and as where Urban AC has fallen fate to blow-hard hip hop (shout out to Buc, Salem, Sno ;D), too many influential people will raise a stink if this station goes away. Format and commercials keep them where they are at... and that is actually something Dallas needs, and won't get on a one-hour show on KNON.
5. Full Disclosure? More than 15 years ago, my first job working overnights on the board...

I have said my peace.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

I agree. KHVN, should move to 1630. KKGM due to better coverage, and KKGM to 1600 bumping off the Vietnamese format. Movement to 1440 or 1050 is shear suicide for either station.

 

[salemjedi54]

I agree. KHVN, should move to 1630. KKGM due to better coverage, and KKGM to 1600 bumping off the Vietnamese format. Movement to 1440 or 1050 is shear suicide for either station.

KGGR IS ON 1040...

BUT IF SOMETHING HAS TO GO AWAY I WOULD LIKE TO SEE KHVN MOVE TO THE 1630 FACILITY AND KKGM GOES TO 1600.

WOULD BE HARD TO SEE THE OLD KNOK/KHVN 970 FREQUENCY TO GO AWAY...

 

[doubly danger]

990 has bigger problems than the signal. I listened to "The Mix" yesterday and it was not very good. It sounds like they are just throwing random people on the air to read sports stories. If they don't get some better air talent this station will sink quick. Any other opinions on the overall sound of 990 The Fan?

 

[jd]

990 has bigger problems than the signal. I listened to "The Mix" yesterday and it was not very good. It sounds like they are just throwing random people on the air to read sports stories. If they don't get some better air talent this station will sink quick. Any other opinions on the overall sound of 990 The Fan?

Kevin Mc was the one remaining glimmer of hope on 990, but that seems like such a long time ago. Since then, it's been a pitiful, painful listening experience.