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Kocp fm 104.7

Driving the 405 near LAX and around West LA and Santa Monica this weekend I stumbled across KOCP 104.7 playing old school. Earlier media reports referenced the 104.7 and 95.9 swap moving rhythmic CHP to 95.9 and rhythmic oldies to the stronger 104.7 which has a fringe signal reach into the San Fernando Valley. This was done to capture some of the gypsy audience abandoned when KHHT flipped from its popular Hot 92.3 format.

However, I had not expected 104.7 to have a gangbuster signal on the Westside. Why is that station so powerful in that part of town? I understand KOCP has a CP (construction permit) to build a translator on 98.3 in Culver City, but that is not yet on the air, and regardless, would not impact reception for 104.7. So what engineering is making 104.7's signal so listenable on the Westside, and if the signal is that strong, why have I not yet seen KOCP show up in the monthly 6+ ratings?
 
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Driving the 405 near LAX and around West LA and Santa Monica this weekend I stumbled across KOCP 104.7 playing old school. Earlier media reports referenced the 104.7 and 95.9 swap moving rhythmic CHP to 95.9 and rhythmic oldies to the stronger 104.7 which has a fringe signal reach into the San Fernando Valley. This was done to capture some of the gypsy audience abandoned when KHHT flipped from its popular Hot 92.3 format.

However, I had not expected 104.7 to have a gangbuster signal on the Westside. Why is that station so powerful in that part of town? I understand KOCP has a CP (construction permit) to build a translator on 98.3 in Culver City, but that is not yet on the air, and regardless, would not impact reception for 104.7. So what engineering is making 104.7's signal so listenable on the Westside, and if the signal is that strong, why have I not yet seen KOCP show up in the monthly 6+ ratings?

KOCP has a CP to move its site, with less coverage towards Santa Barbara and better coverage of the southern part of Ventura County, particularly Oxnard, Camarillo and Port Hueneme.

They may have already moved, which would explain the signal where you heard it.

The 60 dbu actually hits the Agoura / Calabasas area of NW LA County, but goes no farther. But in-car listening along the coast in the area you describe should be reasonably good. But that is not enough of the LA market for the station to show up in the ratings; I looked in the full report and it does not meet the MRS for showing in the LA book.
 
I listen to this station all the time. More so since 94.7 seems to have changed their playlist. I can get it coming south all the way to the 5 and the 110 in the evenings. In the mornings I can pick it up starting at about the 101 and rampart
 
How does the wattage of a radio station compare to the wattage of...say...a light bulb? I have a three-way light bulb that's 50/100/150 watts. Obviously, I am not an engineer, just curious.

Simply stated, FM coverage is based on the combination of power and antenna height.

FM signals travel like light beams: line of sight. So the higher the antenna the greater the coverage, watt to watt. Power increases coverage, but it takes 4 times the power to double the coverage.

The FCC has a chart showing the distance for same-signal-strength coverage for the different classes (categories) of FM stations. It is at

https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/fm-station-classes

You can see how stations of different base power and height have specific coverage (without considering terrain) and so a station that has a higher than standard height has to reduce power (but can't increase if they are lower).

Hope this helps!
 
Further research finds this IS an LA based signal - https://fccdata.org/?facid=178198
KOCP-FM5 in LAS FLORES CANYON - with 2.3 KW providing 60 dBU coverage from Hawthorne in the South to Bel Air in the North. A solid signal covering LAX, the entire Westside, and well into mid-city - basically from DTLA across the entire basin to well into the Pacific. 70 dBu coverage from Beverly Hills to Marina Del Rey.

With this solid coverage in the heart of the city and a desired format of old-school R&B, how is it that KOCP is not even showing up in the basement of the LA Metro's 6+ book? It covers more than enough of the DMA to at least warrant some numbers. If KSUR can do it on the AM, how is it that KOCP-FM5 at 104.7 on the FM is all but invisible?
 
Further research finds this IS an LA based signal - https://fccdata.org/?facid=178198
KOCP-FM5 in LAS FLORES CANYON - with 2.3 KW providing 60 dBU coverage from Hawthorne in the South to Bel Air in the North. A solid signal covering LAX, the entire Westside, and well into mid-city - basically from DTLA across the entire basin to well into the Pacific. 70 dBu coverage from Beverly Hills to Marina Del Rey.

With this solid coverage in the heart of the city and a desired format of old-school R&B, how is it that KOCP is not even showing up in the basement of the LA Metro's 6+ book? It covers more than enough of the DMA to at least warrant some numbers. If KSUR can do it on the AM, how is it that KOCP-FM5 at 104.7 on the FM is all but invisible?

Take a look at the FCC's 60 dbu plotted coverage. Much less than the FCCdata showing.

https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/map...CANYON&state=CA&fileno=BLFTB-20150626AAB&.map

This is just a slice of the area in the shadow of the mountains that separate the San Fernando Valley and the LA Basin.

For in-home and at-work listening, reduce it to the 65 dbu contour, and what you have is a bit of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Pacific Pallisades, etc.

Radio does not have DMAs. It has an MSA, which is all of LA and all of Orange counties. The coverage of the KOCP boosters is insignificant compared to the total market geography. And it's an Oxnard / Ventura station, with mostly ads from local businesses out in Ventura County.

KGGI and KOLA from the IE have much larger pieces of LA and Orange counties and barely get into the LA book with around a 0.2 share 12+.

A major problem for translators is that users in cars drive out of the coverage area very quickly, or, in the case of this station with 5 of 'em, they hit the overlap zone which is not made for fun listening.
 


Most of the LA area translators are well under 250 watts... some in are around 20 watts.

Follow up... those co-channel facilities are boosters, not translators.
 
KSUR must have better marketing. :)

KSUR has much greater coverage... 6 million people in the 5 mV/m contour... and a format that is really unduplicated in the market.

The KOCP format has significant overlap with other stations in the market, and is limited to putting translators and boosters only to fill in shadowed or weak areas of the theoretical 60 dbu contour. In a market as mobile as LA, you can't piece together a bunch of weak signals and expect people in their cars to put up with overlap zones and fringe areas when they have so many alternatives.
 
With this solid coverage in the heart of the city and a desired format of old-school R&B, how is it that KOCP is not even showing up in the basement of the LA Metro's 6+ book? It covers more than enough of the DMA to at least warrant some numbers. If KSUR can do it on the AM, how is it that KOCP-FM5 at 104.7 on the FM is all but invisible?

Perhaps KOCP does not subscribe to the Los Angeles/Orange County market for Nielsen Audio.
Although, as you mentioned, they are seemingly making the effort to at least "trickle" in to L.A. with the added boosters.
And as David mentioned, they are indeed a Oxnard-Ventura focused station ad-wise.
 
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