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KICY NOME CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF BROADCASTING
- Thread starter sloux
- Start date
I got this article from DXLD forum on Yahoo. The main article about KICY was from NRB Journal The comments after the article are from a Russian DXer who's name is sergei_dx on DXLD forum om Yahoo.
<quote>
There's my commentary after the article.
http://nrb.org/mediacenter/publications/nrb-today/
KICY Celebrates Milestone
Last weekend, KICY (Nome, AK) held a celebration to mark an important milestone: the 50th Anniversary of their station. Owned by the Arctic Broadcasting Association and run primarily by full-time and part-time volunteers, this station has a unique footprint throughout Western Alaska and Russia's Far East.
[EDIT]
This sentence is incorrect: "While KICY has broadcast into Russia since 1960, it wasn't until the late 1980's that the station management discovered that they were broadcasting into Russia at 5,000 watts."
Actually, from the very beginning KICY was well-aware of its coverage of then highly militarized Soviet Chukotka. Moreover, the station had to compete for its local Eskimo audience with a well-funded and highly professional Yupik service from the Soviet city of Anadyr.
KICY launched its Russian service in 1970. But the first written responses came in the late 1980s. (I guess that's what NRB Today is referring to when it talks about the management's "discovery.") In 1994 KICY had direct contacts with Yupik service in Anadyr. There were discussions of some joint projects. But from what I know nothing came out of that.
Sergei
</quote>
[EDIT-post truncated as excerpt exceeds amount permitted under Fair Use. Link added by Radio-Info as a courtesy]
<quote>
There's my commentary after the article.
http://nrb.org/mediacenter/publications/nrb-today/
KICY Celebrates Milestone
Last weekend, KICY (Nome, AK) held a celebration to mark an important milestone: the 50th Anniversary of their station. Owned by the Arctic Broadcasting Association and run primarily by full-time and part-time volunteers, this station has a unique footprint throughout Western Alaska and Russia's Far East.
[EDIT]
This sentence is incorrect: "While KICY has broadcast into Russia since 1960, it wasn't until the late 1980's that the station management discovered that they were broadcasting into Russia at 5,000 watts."
Actually, from the very beginning KICY was well-aware of its coverage of then highly militarized Soviet Chukotka. Moreover, the station had to compete for its local Eskimo audience with a well-funded and highly professional Yupik service from the Soviet city of Anadyr.
KICY launched its Russian service in 1970. But the first written responses came in the late 1980s. (I guess that's what NRB Today is referring to when it talks about the management's "discovery.") In 1994 KICY had direct contacts with Yupik service in Anadyr. There were discussions of some joint projects. But from what I know nothing came out of that.
Sergei
</quote>
[EDIT-post truncated as excerpt exceeds amount permitted under Fair Use. Link added by Radio-Info as a courtesy]
Even at the original 10 kW, KICY got into Russia very well.
After the 50 kW upgrade was approved, the three tower array built, a curious former engineer worked some numbers and found there could have been even better coverage into Russia with a 5 kW ND were it located on St. Lawrence Island. Understandable why that was not a viable choice - there are two tiny villages on the Island (Savoonga and Gambell), neither of which have reliable electrical power (huge cost per kWh, too); housing is difficult and transportation costs dwarf those of getting to stuff to Nome which is horrific enough!
The new facilities, built after a fire destroyed the original 50 kW building, are of quality seldom seen anywhere in this century. Wisely, the transmitter and phasing equipment are in buildings well separated for protection against any future disaster. At the time of the fire, the transmitter had just been removed to a separate buildng from the phasing and so escaped damage.
After the 50 kW upgrade was approved, the three tower array built, a curious former engineer worked some numbers and found there could have been even better coverage into Russia with a 5 kW ND were it located on St. Lawrence Island. Understandable why that was not a viable choice - there are two tiny villages on the Island (Savoonga and Gambell), neither of which have reliable electrical power (huge cost per kWh, too); housing is difficult and transportation costs dwarf those of getting to stuff to Nome which is horrific enough!
The new facilities, built after a fire destroyed the original 50 kW building, are of quality seldom seen anywhere in this century. Wisely, the transmitter and phasing equipment are in buildings well separated for protection against any future disaster. At the time of the fire, the transmitter had just been removed to a separate buildng from the phasing and so escaped damage.
The politics of the "Iron Curtain" in the early 1980s meant you had to fly all the way around the world thru Europe to travel, with permission, from Nome to the Russian Far East. But besides the occasional university cultural exchange, in the winter of 1982-83, KICY's GM Ralph Fondell was invited, with a delegation of other Alaskans, aboard a Russian research vessel in the Bering Sea for a sort of cultural exchange of friendship. He came back to Nome with some Russian chocolates that were given to him, and a story of at least one seafarer recognizing him as being from KICY, "that station that runs the show about alcoholics at night." The rough translation, according to Fondell, was actually something like, "that stations for the alcoholics." The Russian man was referring to one of the 15-minute religious shows in the nightly one-hour Russian language block, which I believe was programmed by a missionary religious group of Russian-Americans, based in Chicago, aimed at evangelizing in the Russian language. I think they also ran their programming on KJNP from near Fairbanks (hoping for nighttime skip into Russian), and a handful of shortwave services aimed at Russia from elsewhere. The AM used to sign off at midnight, except in the summer when it would simulcast the 'easy listening' automated music format of KICY-FM, for the benefit of people who were up all night under the "midnight sun" at fish camps.
When I was there in 1982-83, the only Russian radio we could reliably receive, day or night, in Western Alaska was on shortwave. KICY-AM had a five second station ID in Russian that we would sometimes play outside the 11pm block, just for fun, when we played an occasional Russian folk tune on the air during other English-language programming. It was a fun station for awhile when it was a mix of pop and country music with personalities, "Gert's Corner," and Beth Summers reading stories, regional news, etc in English and in three Eskimo dialects. By comparison, the "all gospel" format today is rather stale and less welcoming to all listeners, in my opinion.
When I was there in 1982-83, the only Russian radio we could reliably receive, day or night, in Western Alaska was on shortwave. KICY-AM had a five second station ID in Russian that we would sometimes play outside the 11pm block, just for fun, when we played an occasional Russian folk tune on the air during other English-language programming. It was a fun station for awhile when it was a mix of pop and country music with personalities, "Gert's Corner," and Beth Summers reading stories, regional news, etc in English and in three Eskimo dialects. By comparison, the "all gospel" format today is rather stale and less welcoming to all listeners, in my opinion.
fortmill said:
I would say both are full-service radio stations with Christian ownership. KICY/KICY-FM are owned by the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska and KNOM/KNOM-FM are owned by The Catholic Bishops of Northern Alaska. I don't believe any other outlet reliably serves this area of the Seward Peninsula.
Considering you know nothing of their programming, it would appear your "downer" remark is primarily intended as a provocative comment and perhaps a reflection of your own spiritual journey. Frankly I think most Western Alaskans look to the two stations to meet a variety of needs, including news, sports coverage, spiritual encouragement, and a friendly voice in a sometimes isolating sub-arctic region. One popular feature is the high school basketball games carried on KICY which allow those in outlying villages to follow the home team as it travels. I haven't been there in 20 years, but at the time I lived there, KNOM also played a significant amount of secular music from a variety of genres. KICY used to have a country format, which included secular songs as well as Southern Gospel. KICY's playlist has undergone a couple of format changes, from Country to AC/CHR/Contemporary Christian and for the last decade, all-Christian Southern Gospel.
sloux said:
Only 20 years ago? Shucks, that's regarded as just having been "outside for a little bit"!
Most recently KICY was running contemporary Christian on the AM with a lot of religious "discussion" programming. The FM was separately programmed, considerably more secular.
KNOM's music is almost entirely secular and of whatever is the current popular genre. Yes, lyrics are checked carefully to be sure they are in no way negative - negativity leads to suicide and there's far too much of that in the bush. There is an odd blend on Sunday mornings with several hours of classical music (sounds lousy on the AM which is intentionally sharply bandwidth limited for distance) but really good on the FM with a new Nautel transmitter and Aphex processing. There are also several religious segments Sunday mornings, only one hour of which is Catholic. Public affairs is heavy on both AM and FM, though the signals are split for several hours one night a week for live broadcast of Nome City Council meetings on the FM which covers pretty little outside the city limits. The AM continues with regular programming, including some pretty unique "rock parties" with local volunteer hosts. Days are heavy on news but are non-commercial except for some NPR type "underwriting" of newscasts. The bush audience could care less about Nome city business so they're not subjected to it.
Last I was there (last September), KICY was running 25 kW ND with the exception of 50 kW directional toward Russia for paid programming late at night. Note that KICY is commercially licensed on both AM and FM. KNOM has a commercial AM license (there were no educational AM licenses available when it was established) but it's run non-commercial and is committed to that through tax laws and land use agreements. The FM is educational, 1 kW with antenna at about 90-feet on a self-supporting tower in "downtown" Nome. The AM runs 25 kW days/14 kW nights using a 230-foot folded unipole antenna which pretty well precludes skywave though there are frequent reports of reception over the pole and from Russia but almost nowhere else. The ownership of KNOM is in flux, it shortly will be transferred to a non-profit organization separate from The Catholic Diocese of Northern Alaska though with the same staff. Programming likely will not change at all.
KICY does tend strongly to coverage of local sports; KNOM does more with sled dog and snowmachine (snowmobile) racing.KNOM does a once-weekly talk show which tends toward politics and local issues; almost never religion. It gets hot enough, at times, that it was after but a couple of weeks that solid-state delay had to be rushed into place!
In the immediate area it pretty much is KICY/KNOM (the once-upon-a-time AFRN outlet is long gone). However, get away from the odd "dead spot" (magnetic deposits?) within the ring of hills North and East of Nome, and there's also reception of stations from Kotzebue, Unalakleet and (occasionally) Bethel. Remember, add-on antennas are common in the bush country so what most folks think of as "DX" is pretty ordinary.
I haven't been back to Nome for a long time, but I believe there is also at least one more FM station - a translator of NPR-affiliate KUAC Fairbanks. Put up by people in Nome who wanted at least one radio station that wasn't a direct part of a church group, and to provide access to some of the national programming that weren't getting. Otherwise, Nome would be one of the only communities in Alaska to not receive the standard fare of public radio programming, such as the NPR news magazines and other Alaska-produced programming. I heard KNOM had dropped its affiliation with the Alaska Public Radio Network (for daily state news, etc.) a few years ago, when the KUAC translator came on the air. Is that still the case? Do they still cooperate with APRN on coverage of the Iditarod finish line?
Goldilocks94941 said:
Yes, there IS a KUAC translator with about 250W ERP (it may be more or less these days), located at the rec center. No local origination; antenna less than 50-feet above ground.
I had forgotten about that entirely! The circumstance was sort of reverse of what you describe. KNOM was a long-time affiliate (though not a member) of APRN but then the state network priced itself out of reach so was dropped entirely. For some time there was no interaction, the feeling being that very little programming was actually used - never NPR programming at all - and the news/public affairs contributions should have justified a lower price tag. KNOM never did solicit listener donations so the way was clear for a local group to get the translator moving after KNOM dropped all APRN services.
Even then, APRN would send a reporter for Iditarod and that person was allowed use of some office space but handled their own audio.
What might happen this year is an entirely different matter. The station is in an ownership transition and funds are very limited. There is some possibility that there will be no "on the trail" reporter much of the time. Then there's the complication caused by the sudden (natural) death, in November, of Tom Busch who, in recent years, covered the starts both ceremonial and actual (he had moved to Anchorage). Tom also did much of the engineering with occasional visits as did one other former C.E. who is fast aging and not able to get there often or do much while there. Cell phones have helped out but can't do the whole job so the coming Iditarod coverage this year might be much simplified.
fortmill said:
As earlier noted, KNOM's long-time general manager who left town a few years ago but returned to deal with engineering, died suddenly a couple of months ago. I'm headed there next week to finish up the annual transmitter maintenance he had about 2/3rds. done. They should be looking for an engineer with additional skills in computers (NexGen automation but all the rest mostly iMac).
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