KGGI 99.1 a slow death?

[Mediafrog+]

find accurate information in Broadcasting's tracking of FCC actions over the years.(snip)
I can prove it was in place by 1961, because that was the power listed in that year's Broadcasting Yearbook.

Just a word of caution here: While Broadcasting magazine and Broadcasting Yearbook are excellent sources of information, there have been numerous times over the decades when I've seen them with rather mangled technical details for various stations. That doesn't detract from or disprove what is being discussed in this thread, but a reminder that while a solid source, Broadcasting is not perfect.

 

[K.M. Richards]

That is certainly true, which is why I research by cross-reference. Applications listed in "For The Record" need to have corresponding grants listed later. Things like the KUTE power increase needed to also be reflected in future years' Yearbooks to prove that the CP was prosecuted.

When I was researching the UHF History site, I literally needed an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything ... and that had to include ownership changes, news items on stations, call letter changes, etc. Add to that notes from newspaper articles and multiply the whole thing by over 1100 UHF stations that had (at a minimum) an issued CP between 1952 and 1982 and you can well imagine how big that file is. Yeah, I kept a copy of it in my archives ...

 

[TomásEstefan]

This mangled and inaccurate timeline bothered me so much that I requested reactivation of my account with Frank and David in order to post a correction to this and other such posts where the poster appears to have relied on their memory, rather than (as I do) using the resources of David's excellent World Radio History website to find accurate information in Broadcasting's tracking of FCC actions over the years.

Here is the actual history of 101.9, from its beginning to the point where Autry sold it:

March 22, 1952 (this appears to be the most accurate date, although there were other mentions of "1951" without a specific date): Signed on with 11.6kw from Flint Peak. Upgrade to 82kw, without transmitter site change, approved six years later and while I cannot find a specific date of that being implemented, I can prove it was in place by 1961, because that was the power listed in that year's Broadcasting Yearbook.

The original licensee, Robert P. Adams, moved KUTE to Mt. Wilson with 640w in 1969 ... long before Autry came into the picture. Adams sold to Tracy Broadcasting in 1972. Tracy sold it (along with KGFJ/1230, which had the KKTT calls at the time, briefly) in 1979 ... not to Autry, but to Inner City Broadcasting. Tracy had filed for an increase to 10kw, remaining on Wilson, which was still pending when Inner City took ownership; in 1985, the FCC finally rejected that application and Inner City filed for 2.36kw and that was rejected within a few months.

Autry bought KUTE in 1987 (long after "the 70s" claimed above) from Inner City and filed to move to the Verdugo Hills with 4.4kw, but then superceded that application with one to stay at Wilson with 2.36kw. That was approved in 1989 (by which time the calls had changed to KMPC-FM, then KEDG, and KLIT), and Autry only got that by somehow proving the increase was necessary to improve coverage over the Glendale city of license.

So Autry (a) did not buy the station when the OP "remembers" he did; (b) was not responsible for it moving to Wilson, so that was not a factor in his decision to buy it; and (c) any "horrible" signal compared to the original had been in place for almost 20 years before Autry.

It took two further attempts before he got 4.8kw at Wilson ... in 1996, before he sold out the following year.

Tomás, I would strongly suggest that you undertake a little research effort before trying to reconstruct a timeline from memory.

I stand corrected...

 

[semoochie]

Unfortunately, inaccurate information easily converts into "urban legend" and then "fact".

One of the reasons I started www.worldradiohistory.com was to make available data that is accurate as there is so much erroneous material wandering around the Internet.

By my estimate, 75% of radio station history Wikipedia listings have at least one significant errror.

I was once perusing Wikipedia and saw a misquote of myself! I couldn't believe it, sort of a Mark Twain moment.

 

[Signal Geek]

It's problem is signal. While it does cover 90% of the market with a 60 dbu, it's 65 dbu and 70 dbu signals are much more limited and miss much of the market.

Why did KGGI move off Box Springs Mountain decades ago, and up to Heaps Peak? They may have gained elevation, but sacrificed a ton of power. And as David has stated many times, that simply puts a weak signal over a wider area.. KOLA remains on Box Springs, and maintained high ratings. Was KGGI trying to gain listeners in Apple Valley/Adelanto/Hesperia?

 

[K.M. Richards]

Why did KGGI move off Box Springs Mountain decades ago, and up to Heaps Peak? They may have gained elevation, but sacrificed a ton of power. And as David has stated many times, that simply puts a weak signal over a wider area.. KOLA remains on Box Springs, and maintained high ratings. Was KGGI trying to gain listeners in Apple Valley/Adelanto/Hesperia?

You're asking about something that happened back in 1982, and the then-owner Lincoln Dellar isn't alive for us to ask him.

I notice that a year later KGGI filed for an increase in ERP at the new location, which was denied, but a subsequent application for a slight increase was granted near the end of that year, so perhaps Dellar and Co. realized their mistake and couldn't do much about it. I believe that, like KOLA, they were grandfathered with higher power before the move; either they got bad advice from a consulting engineer or they somehow thought the tradeoff was worth it.