Has anyone heard a peep from the infamous Jerry Russell?? Was KOFY able to regain its license?? and did he finally start putting programming on America's highest powered AM pirate station?? And does anyone know why he still has a licenese for 690 KZEY, when it hasn't been on the air for 4 years now (when the sheriff took the transmitter site for back taxes)? The legal limit for dead stations is 1 year!! Ive heard that the FCC knows about KZEY and KOFY and does nothing?? How is this possible??
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KOFY 1060/KZEY 690
- Thread starter 600kogo
- Start date
I'm still surprised that 1060 is still on the air after over a year of (pirate?) broadcasting. I've searched too and found nothing of a license. Henry and Gabriella are very lucky that the FCC still hasn't shut them down. It just shows how much the FCC cares about East Texas radio.
DKOFY's audio used to sound good, but about 2-3 months ago it sounds like they switched to a tinny sounding phoneline. Anyone have any more info or know where their studios are? Any news on KZEY?
DKOFY's audio used to sound good, but about 2-3 months ago it sounds like they switched to a tinny sounding phoneline. Anyone have any more info or know where their studios are? Any news on KZEY?
Greg Branch said:1060 is still on the air, and FCC website is still showing DKOFY in CDBS. So, unless there has been an error updating the FCC website, the station is still illegal.
KZEY is still licensed, and has been off the air for how many years now.
I don't know the details about 1060. But it's not unheardof for the FCC to issue Special Temporary Authority for supposedly-deleted stations to remain in operation pending appeals.
A lot of stations have been deleted recently for failing to renew properly -- reading the notices, it seems most of them *tried* to renew but messed up the formalities somehow. Most of these get STAs and, in time, lose the "D" prefix & end up normally licensed again.
As for KZEY... they're supposed to tell the FCC they've suspended operations... if the FCC doesn't know they've been off the air for 4 years, they can't cancel the license...
Those are good points but according to everything I've seen and heard, it's not what happened in this case. The last activity on KOFY was an STA that was filed in June of 2009. It was accepted for filing but apparently wasn't granted, and so far as can be determined there is no outstanding appeal for them to retain a license for the deleted station. From all appearances 1060 really is being operated as a pirate station, which is a federal crime.
It takes a lot of digging to find any info whatsoever on "DKOFY" but ownership was last listed as Jerry Russell D/B/A The Russell Company. That's the same company name for KWRD Henderson, which brings up an entirely different issue. The application to transfer KWRD from Russell to Jerry Hanszen was accepted by the FCC in June 2008 but there's no record of it being approved. An intriguing statement from Russell appeared in that application, to wit: "Assignor believes it is the licensee of KOFY-AM." I don't know about you but I've never seen such a declaration on any other application.
According to what I've read here there may be only one station owned by Russell's M.R.S. Ventures in Arkansas or Mississippi that's actually on the air. Offhand I'm not inclined to search for all the pertinent information on the entire group but I can tell you that none of them appear on the FCC's "Silent Station" lists.
As for the last statement about KZEY I completely understand. After all, it's the government we're talking about here, and the license (issued to Community Broadcast Group, Inc.) isn't due to expire until 2013. With the KZEY transmitter site gone there is obviously no way they could easily get the thing back on the air, but there's a smoking gun which could come into play. That's the public file, if only we still had a proactive FCC. If that were the case enough damning evidence could be gathered to force Russell to do something with all of his stations, either by selling them (at auction, if needed) to get enough cash to pay what would be hefty fines.
It may take years but it appears there will be more, if not all, of Russell's stations that will be completely deleted by the FCC and that's a shame. But consider this: if Russell were to suddenly become more forthcoming with the FCC there might be a chance that KOFY could officially get re-licensed.
It takes a lot of digging to find any info whatsoever on "DKOFY" but ownership was last listed as Jerry Russell D/B/A The Russell Company. That's the same company name for KWRD Henderson, which brings up an entirely different issue. The application to transfer KWRD from Russell to Jerry Hanszen was accepted by the FCC in June 2008 but there's no record of it being approved. An intriguing statement from Russell appeared in that application, to wit: "Assignor believes it is the licensee of KOFY-AM." I don't know about you but I've never seen such a declaration on any other application.
According to what I've read here there may be only one station owned by Russell's M.R.S. Ventures in Arkansas or Mississippi that's actually on the air. Offhand I'm not inclined to search for all the pertinent information on the entire group but I can tell you that none of them appear on the FCC's "Silent Station" lists.
As for the last statement about KZEY I completely understand. After all, it's the government we're talking about here, and the license (issued to Community Broadcast Group, Inc.) isn't due to expire until 2013. With the KZEY transmitter site gone there is obviously no way they could easily get the thing back on the air, but there's a smoking gun which could come into play. That's the public file, if only we still had a proactive FCC. If that were the case enough damning evidence could be gathered to force Russell to do something with all of his stations, either by selling them (at auction, if needed) to get enough cash to pay what would be hefty fines.
It may take years but it appears there will be more, if not all, of Russell's stations that will be completely deleted by the FCC and that's a shame. But consider this: if Russell were to suddenly become more forthcoming with the FCC there might be a chance that KOFY could officially get re-licensed.
There must have been an appeal made, since KOFY is serving a minority audience they could have convinced the FCC to give them authorization to stay on the air. Otherwise the FCC could have easily raided the tower site and taken the equipment.
It still seems like a very clandestine operation, all of KOFY's correspondence is done via a P.O. box, and there's no mention of a studio address.
It still seems like a very clandestine operation, all of KOFY's correspondence is done via a P.O. box, and there's no mention of a studio address.
billyg said:There must have been an appeal made, since KOFY is serving a minority audience they could have convinced the FCC to give them authorization to stay on the air. Otherwise the FCC could have easily raided the tower site and taken the equipment.
It still seems like a very clandestine operation, all of KOFY's correspondence is done via a P.O. box, and there's no mention of a studio address.
Apparently, I looked up the physical location of the station. It IS located in the North Tyler vacinity--try 3963 N Northeast Loop 323 under Better Days Group (just don't tell the people that I tip them off) courtesy of the Merchant Circle website (www.merchantcircle.com).
There are several sides to a set of call letters. KOFY can have FM, TV, DT, LP, LPTV, LPDT, and the original AM is only KOFY. The TV station got those calls when they were deleted by the FCC for 1060. But if I were running a urban oldies station like Russell is I would bring back the KZEY calls and put them on 1060.
600kogo said:There are several sides to a set of call letters. KOFY can have FM, TV, DT, LP, LPTV, LPDT, and the original AM is only KOFY. The TV station got those calls when they were deleted by the FCC for 1060. But if I were running a urban oldies station like Russell is I would bring back the KZEY calls and put them on 1060.
Exactly my point. I mean we already have urban and urban AC. But an urban oldies station would be a big plus for the 35+ demos. Since Russell has been holding out longer on the license of KZEY (and has been off the air since 2006 or 2007), he needed to really surrender it, quit being greedy over the price of KOFY being half a million dollars (in reality the cost would be anywhere between 40,000 and 80,000 now) and just let a smart broadcaster like you and me run it the right way. He has already torn up 10 stations in which are now deemed unlistenable. Just think, if one of the stations Russell has tried to run to the ground and is currently on life support is KOFY. 600kogo, you are very much right as to what KOFY would become if the KZEY call letters were in there. With the right people, the right presentation and a right amount of listeners, the new KZEY on 1060 would be an old school force that could rival KISX to a certain extent. To be honest, I always wanted to program an urban oldies station in East Texas if only station owners who would have a brain would recommend someone like me for the job and I will do it in a heartbeat. I have all the music, the planning and the execution to put it into play.
If 690 has not been shut down, the location should not have been gutted out. It could use a lot of improvements in sound, the towers would have stayed put to improve coverage allowed by the FCC and of course, the crackpots Russell hired should have been replaced....including Russell himself. The ladies that worked with him for so long can run the station better than he can. But I digress.
I just hope someone can get the station from Russell and call me to program the station. Only hope for me is that someone with a head for radio can restore the lost glory KZEY had lost over the last 18 years.
Unfortunately 690 was so boxed in that it could not power up, move or even sneeze twice. It was a class D station that once that license went away it was gone. The minimum power for a class D to be acquired with is 250 watts which would take 4-6 towers. The 690 in Louisiana was waiting for this to happen and they have a CP to power up now that KZEY is gone. I would love to have 1060 myself but the problem is that even if Russell sold it for one dollar there would be many many people fighting the license change just like with KWRD. Unless Russell himself took himself off the board and put someone like Gwen in his place everyone will protest the change. It would be easier to fix 1410 KCUL in Marshall than to fix 1060.
Here are some questions about KOFY, the first being being how long have they been off the air, and secondly, does anyone really expect them to come back?
Now what about the KOFY license? It was reported here that some confusion arose about the supposed failure to include the required fee with license renewal and Jerry Russell was able to make amends. Actually, that should read that the FCC allowed him to pay the amount due along with late fees and the call letters were reinstated. A search of the database shows that the renewal application was accepted for filing, but there's no record of it ever being approved. That means, at least on paper, that until recently KOFY was on the air illegally. That's right, despite all the talk and the letters that were exchanged since the license came up for renewal, it expired as a matter on record on August 1, 2005 and was not reinstated or renewed. That notwithstanding, KOFY is listed in FCC records as "licensed."
Now what about the KOFY license? It was reported here that some confusion arose about the supposed failure to include the required fee with license renewal and Jerry Russell was able to make amends. Actually, that should read that the FCC allowed him to pay the amount due along with late fees and the call letters were reinstated. A search of the database shows that the renewal application was accepted for filing, but there's no record of it ever being approved. That means, at least on paper, that until recently KOFY was on the air illegally. That's right, despite all the talk and the letters that were exchanged since the license came up for renewal, it expired as a matter on record on August 1, 2005 and was not reinstated or renewed. That notwithstanding, KOFY is listed in FCC records as "licensed."
Part of the problem may be that Russell cant get anyone to get him back on the air. He owes every engineer in ETex ALOT of money. I believe that he owes Broadcast Works! many thousands of dollars. I only know of one engineer that he actually paid and that was because he ran to the bank and cashed the check before they could cancel it!
1060 will be another casualty of Russell, and not very surprising. R.I.P. 1060 KOFY.
Hopefully Mr. Hanzsen will hurry up and get KWRD changed over.
1060 will be another casualty of Russell, and not very surprising. R.I.P. 1060 KOFY.
Hopefully Mr. Hanzsen will hurry up and get KWRD changed over.
600kogo said:Part of the problem may be that Russell cant get anyone to get him back on the air. He owes every engineer in ETex ALOT of money. I believe that he owes Broadcast Works! many thousands of dollars. I only know of one engineer that he actually paid and that was because he ran to the bank and cashed the check before they could cancel it!
1060 will be another casualty of Russell, and not very surprising. R.I.P. 1060 KOFY.
Hopefully Mr. Hanzsen will hurry up and get KWRD changed over.
I worked for a station in Claremore OK back in the eighties that was barely making money. I was smart enough to cash every check I got from them for fear of it bouncing.
That's probably what's happen. The last time KOFY was on the air back in October the audio quality had deteriorated to the point that there was a loud rumble through the audio that made the station un-listenable. That's really sad because it sounded really good and loud when 1060 came back on in September 2009.
Russell needs to sell off everything he has for what he can get for it.. soon it will be nothing.
600kogo said:Ill open the bidding Ill give 50.00 for the transmitter, another 50.00 for the tower, 10.00 for the ATU, and another 10.00 for the rest of the gear....I may be over bidding?? and 50.00 for the piece of paper called the license
No, I think it's worth between $1500 and $2000. Give me a call tomorow.
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