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KFMB AM & FM sell for a shockingly low price!!!

I think you have to own something, before you can change it. Otherwise, I could change it!

Semoochie: My question to John, which I could have phrased better, but he still seemed to get, was --- can you, with an application pending, apply for the call letter change contingent on approval. Given the speed with which transfers can happen, the rush TEGNA seems to be in to be rid of KFMB AM and FM and the contractual requirement that Local Media San Diego not use the calls or anything similar, I wondered if it were possible to put in for calls that would be simultaneously approved with the transfer.
 
Looking back at various sales of stations (assignment of license) it looks to be on average about 90 days for the FCC to approve the sale. The applications were filed on 12/30/2019.
 
Semoochie: My question to John, which I could have phrased better, but he still seemed to get, was --- can you, with an application pending, apply for the call letter change contingent on approval. Given the speed with which transfers can happen, the rush TEGNA seems to be in to be rid of KFMB AM and FM and the contractual requirement that Local Media San Diego not use the calls or anything similar, I wondered if it were possible to put in for calls that would be simultaneously approved with the transfer.
Thank you Michael, that clarifies it.
 
The FCC issues a monthly report that shows what call signs are reserved for pending transactions (and ones that happened that month in general) that looks like this:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-362398A1.pdf

Nothing has been filed for KFMB in December or January. We won't see February's report for awhile.

Even if they didn't file in advance, call sign changes can happen fast. Plus the agreement gives them 30 days to transition post-closing if I remember what I read.
 
The FCC issues a monthly report that shows what call signs are reserved for pending transactions (and ones that happened that month in general) that looks like this:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-362398A1.pdf

Nothing has been filed for KFMB in December or January. We won't see February's report for awhile.

Even if they didn't file in advance, call sign changes can happen fast. Plus the agreement gives them 30 days to transition post-closing if I remember what I read.

Today Friday March 12, 2020 the FCC approved the sale of KFMB-AM/FM.
 
It's going to be interesting. Typically when iHeart has two AM stations in a market, one goes all local talk and the other goes all syndicated. KOGO is the stronger station, so I'd expect they'll move Rush & Sean to KFMB, and beef up the local talk on KOGO. That's what they did in LA with KFI and KEIB.
 
It's going to be interesting. Typically when iHeart has two AM stations in a market, one goes all local talk and the other goes all syndicated. KOGO is the stronger station, so I'd expect they'll move Rush & Sean to KFMB, and beef up the local talk on KOGO. That's what they did in LA with KFI and KEIB.

BigA: This actually gives iHeart a third AM in San Diego. In addition to KOGO and now 760, they own 1360, KLSD (XTRA Sports San Diego). When this all began, there was some speculation that 760 could take the sports format and the syndicated talk could go to 1360. I guess we find out on Thursday.
 
BigA: This actually gives iHeart a third AM in San Diego. In addition to KOGO and now 760, they own 1360, KLSD (XTRA Sports San Diego)
Actually, I believe it gives iHeart FOUR AM's with strong signals in San Diego. I'm pretty sure the FCC counts iheart's KFI/Los Angeles towards the San Diego cap, since KFI has such good coverage over much of this market. That's why iheart has long been limited to seven signals originating from San Diego (5 FM's & 2 AM's), because the FCC counts KFI as the 8th. Of course iheart once had three more Tijuana signals as well, but that's another thread.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the purchase of 760 puts iheart over the cap, wouldn't selling off the weakest signal (1360 KLSD) and moving its sports programming to 760 be a no-brainer?
 
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Actually, I believe it gives iHeart FOUR AM's with strong signals in San Diego. I'm pretty sure the FCC counts iheart's KFI/Los Angeles towards the San Diego cap, since KFI has such good coverage over much of this market. That's why iheart has long been limited to seven signals originating from San Diego (5 FM's & 2 AM's), because the FCC counts KFI as the 8th. Of course iheart once had three more Tijuana signals as well, but that's another thread.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the purchase of 760 puts iheart over the cap, wouldn't selling off the weakest signal (1360 KLSD) and moving its sports programming to 760 be a no-brainer?

iHeart won't go over the cap. Current caps in Nielsen Audio-rated markets are based entirely on stations that are "home" to those markets. KFI is home to Los Angeles and not to San Diego, and so it doesn't count against San Diego. (The same applies to San Bernardino or any of the other rated markets KFI covers.)

The only reason contour overlap from out of market can affect radio ownership caps is radio-TV cross-ownership. CBS had to divest the former KFRC 610 in San Francisco because it wanted to acquire KOVR channel 13 in Stockton. 610's 2 mV contour covered the Stockton city limits, and that, added to the radio stations and KMAX-TV that CBS already owned in Sacramento, would have put CBS over the combined radio-TV ownership cap for Stockton if it hadn't quickly divested 610.

Conversely, CBS was able to acquire WLNY 55 in the New York City TV market because most of its New York radio signals didn't put city-grade signals over WLNY's city of license, Riverhead, way out on eastern Long Island. The "market" created by radio-TV overlap there was made up of WLNY, WCBS(AM), WFAN(AM) and... I think that was all, actually.

The rules for these overlap situations are complex and sometimes contradictory.
 
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/...kfmb-am-fm-purchase-sells-760-to-iheartmedia/

Update

Local Media San Diego has filed its sale of Talk 760 KFMB San Diego to iHeartMedia with the FCC.

iHeart will pay $1.2 million for KFMB, as LMSD recoups some of its original $5 million purchase price for the AM and Variety Hits “100.7 San Diego” KFMB-FM San Diego.

After the two days of simulcasting News/Talk 600 KOGO last week, KFMB relaunched its previous Talk lineup featuring the syndicated Armstrong & Getty in mornings, local hosts Mark Larson from 9am-12pm and Mike Slater 12-3pm, and Mark Levin and Red Eye Radio in evenings. Premiere Networks’ Buck Sexton has been added for afternoons to replace Brett Winterble, who recently moved to Entercom’s 1110 WBT Charlotte NC.
 
I'm guessing that the FCC's call letters department folks are "non-essential", so the KFMB calls might not change as quickly as originally thought, for the AM or the FM.

The whole thing is mostly automated. No change requests have been submitted yet for either station.
 
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