KPXI 100.7 Tyler Sold

[fredcantu]

I got into radio in the early 70s and spent many hours perusing broadcasting yearbooks and other lists. I recall KIMP and KPXI in Mt Pleasant and KXIT in Dalhart even though I grew up in far south Texas. And when channel 42 here in Austin picked up the KEYE call letters I was the only one who knew they belonged to KEYE-AM/FM in Perryton. The stuff that gets stuck in your brain.

 

[billyg]

I had jury duty last week in Henderson, and noted that KPXI came in fine on my car radio. I think the transmitter is in Overton, which isn't very far away. My bet is it will become the sister station of KWRD-AM. I guess the answers to these and all our other questions will be revealed next week.

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KPXI&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

It's will be fine for Henderson. I wish they could have placed the tower a little further north. It's hard to tell how good 100.7's signal will be in Longview when they broadcasting in stereo. Inspiration has been broadcasting in mono to get the most coverage out of it.

 

[Chuck]

It's will be fine for Henderson. I wish they could have placed the tower a little further north. It's hard to tell how good 100.7's signal will be in Longview when they broadcasting in stereo. Inspiration has been broadcasting in mono to get the most coverage out of it.

It should be OK in Longview on a car radio. Of course most of those blend to mono when the signal strength gets low. It probably won't be as wonderful on a $10 clock radio from the drug store, but what is? I've experimented with the stereo or mono question with our LPFM. You'd think that stereo would be a handicap, but it doesn't really seem to make much difference. It generally sounds better in stereo, and those who hear it that way sometimes comment on the separation. People like it.

When running mono, I did get several calls from people who'd discovered the station, and said "But you must not have much power because you don't even light the light on my car radio." It turned out they meant the stereo indicator which they all though it was a tuning indicator. Go figure.

Actually, we run stereo because you need the 19 kHz stereo pilot to run RDS.

 

[billyg]

When running mono, I did get several calls from people who'd discovered the station, and said "But you must not have much power because you don't even light the light on my car radio." It turned out they meant the stereo indicator which they all though it was a tuning indicator. Go figure.

Listeners always think that signal is "locked in" when the stereo light is on. My university's station in the 80's (KCSC-FM Edmond) used to shut off the stereo generator for talk shows, but they had so many questions and complaints they finally left it on. I wonder how far your 105.3 translator in Kilgore would go just broadcasting in mono.

 

[gbranch]

KPXI's signal is hit and miss in Longview - comparable to 100.3, better than 92.1. Of course the farther north you go the worse the signal becomes.

The problem with their signal is that during tropo season, mornings often yield a mash of competing stations on 100.7 in north Longview.

 

[Chuck]

When running mono, I did get several calls from people who'd discovered the station, and said "But you must not have much power because you don't even light the light on my car radio." It turned out they meant the stereo indicator which they all though it was a tuning indicator. Go figure.

Listeners always think that signal is "locked in" when the stereo light is on. My university's station in the 80's (KCSC-FM Edmond) used to shut off the stereo generator for talk shows, but they had so many questions and complaints they finally left it on. I wonder how far your 105.3 translator in Kilgore would go just broadcasting in mono.

The signal would "go" just as far in mono as it currently does with the stereo pilot turned on. The RF power would be exactly the same.

The difference is running stereo includes about a 10 db penalty in signal to noise ratio. In other words, a stereo signal gets noisy faster than a mono signal, so you will tune out quicker than if the signal were mono.

On radios that are "locked" in stereo, that is a very significant difference in listenability when you start getting into fringe areas. Most car radios built in the last 15-20 years automatically blend to mono when the signal gets below a city grade threshold. They do this gradually, so it usually isn't very noticeable to the casual listener. A lot of people in East Texas are listening to mono a great deal of the time; no matter what signal they choose. DX'ing isn't a hobby around here, it is just the way things are. Usually they don't know if it is mono, but they do notice when the stereo light isn't lit.

If you had a component stereo in your home in a fringe location, you would undoubtedly gain something by switching it to mono, rather than FM. Most home stereos have that feature, as do a lot of portable boom-boxes. I don't know if people can figure that out though....

 

[C414B]

I wondered if Hanszen might not make it more of a "hometown radio" feel for Henderson...maybe even AM1470's FM counterpart.

I will bet that KWRD and the new station will become one in the same. (I have been wrong before).

Chuck, it looks like you and I win the speculation game here.

kwrdonline.com is heralding "a new FM station for Rusk County" coming March 9th.



Now...

Will Hanszen change the COL from Overton to Henderson once he takes ownership of it or will it ID as "KPXI-Overton/Henderson"?

Also, will KWRD simulcast the country format on KPXI or will they have stand-alone formats?

And finally, do I see a move from 1101 Kilgore Drive or will there possibly be an expansion of the building to house KPXI?

 

[C414B]

I wondered if Hanszen might not make it more of a "hometown radio" feel for Henderson...maybe even AM1470's FM counterpart.

I will bet that KWRD and the new station will become one in the same. (I have been wrong before).

Chuck, it looks like you and I win the speculation game here.

kwrdonline.com is heralding "a new FM station for Rusk County" coming March 9th.



Now...

Will Hanszen change the COL from Overton to Henderson once he takes ownership of it or will it ID as "KPXI-Overton/Henderson"?

Also, will KWRD simulcast the country format on KPXI or will they have stand-alone formats?

And finally, do I see a move from 1101 Kilgore Drive or will there possibly be an expansion of the building to house KPXI?

I don't know if I have ever answered myself on here, but here goes...

According to a "Road Show" stream on the website this morning, KWRD will flip to ESPN Sports while KPXI will assume the local programming currently heard on KWRD. Also, they're talking about improving their nighttime signal on the AM through "moving a booster". Could this be an FM translator or a smaller AM XMTR for nighttime authorization?

They're also remodeling the Kilgore Drive building to house both stations.

 

[gbranch]

Personally I think he should target Henderson and Kilgore. Kilgore does not have a hometown station, there is much in common between the towns, and Kilgore is booming these days. KPXI Overton-Henderson-Kilgore.

ESPN sports on 1470 would be nice for Longview as they have a much better signal than either 1450 Marshal or 1490 Tyler. 1470 is almost a local in Longview, unfortunately no nightime coverage.

I need to revise my signal report for 100.7 in Longview. It is worse that I thought. Driving through town on Spur 63 on Tuesday, the signal had major dropouts from Hwy. 80 to the loop and was similar, if not a little worse, than 92.1. 100.3 has a much better signal.

 

[billyg]

Just heard a promo on KWRD-AM saying "Real Country for Henderson" starting March 9.

I remember in the late 90's KWRD-KGRI put in a small studio-office here in Kilgore (almost right across the street from the old KOCA-KKTX studios) for about a year, but I guess they couldnt get any sales here. Had they gotten the rights for Kilgore Bulldog sports from 1240 they might have pulled it off.

Still, it would be great if Hanzen could buy KBGE 1240 from Gap.

 

[billyg]

Also, they're talking about improving their nighttime signal on the AM through "moving a booster". Could this be an FM translator or a smaller AM XMTR for nighttime authorization?

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/info?call=K283BK&service=FX

There's a CP to move the translator into Henderson, change frequency to 103.9 with 99 watts. Funny, the tower site is the one the old KGRI-FM used!

 

[C414B]

Also, they're talking about improving their nighttime signal on the AM through "moving a booster". Could this be an FM translator or a smaller AM XMTR for nighttime authorization?

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/info?call=K283BK&service=FX

There's a CP to move the translator into Henderson, change frequency to 103.9 with 99 watts. Funny, the tower site is the one the old KGRI-FM used!

Hmmm...interesting. Has anyone filed an STA to rebroadcast AM1470 on the FM translator? I'm not seeing anything in the database regarding that.

 

[musicsweep]

And finally, do I see a move from 1101 Kilgore Drive or will there possibly be an expansion of the building to house KPXI?

I wouldn't expect to see a relocation, for a couple of reasons. (1) The current studio location also houses the transmitter for KWRD-AM. Relocation means purchasing an STL and licensing it, which is not all that cheap. Either that, or there'd have to be a dedicated phone line, which doesn't require as much upfront investment, but definitely has drawbacks. (2) The Kilgore Drive location has enough room to house an FM studio. Sure, a sales office would have to be sacrificed, but how many sales people does Jerry need in Henderson? Trust me, a selling GM and an additional AE will get the job done.

My advice, keep the AM studio where it is, put the FM in the current production room (or the production room as it was in 2001), allow the on-air studios to double as production rooms (as is done in Marshall at KMHT), or, if you absolutely need a stand-alone production room, set a new one up in the front office next to the reception area, or in the closet in the back corner of the building. Use the back area as a general sales office/work area, and let the GM keep his diggs.

 

[billyg]

My advice, keep the AM studio where it is, put the FM in the current production room (or the production room as it was in 2001), allow the on-air studios to double as production rooms (as is done in Marshall at KMHT), or, if you absolutely need a stand-alone production room, set a new one up in the front office next to the reception area, or in the closet in the back corner of the building. Use the back area as a general sales office/work area, and let the GM keep his diggs.

I remember visiting the KWRD studios back when Patrick was running it last year, and it looked like there was unused storage space in the back of the building that could be renovated as offices or studios.

(BTW can anyone tell me the reason for KMHT-FM's low audio? It almost sounds like they're running with no compression)

 

[gbranch]

Still, it would be great if Hanzen could buy KBGE 1240 from Gap.

1240 is a waste. I don't understand why CC and now Gap has held onto it. Must be a tax write off. How many years has it be simulcasting 96X? 10? 15?

 

[billyg]

Still, it would be great if Hanzen could buy KBGE 1240 from Gap.

1240 is a waste. I don't understand why CC and now Gap has held onto it. Must be a tax write off. How many years has it be simulcasting 96X? 10? 15?

For at least 20 years. When I moved to Kilgore in the fall of 88 it was simulcasting 96-X. Before that it had been running a automated country format. The only time 1240 breaks away from the FM is for Kilgore HS football on friday nights. I heard CC was going to put a sports or business talk format on it but that was scrapped.

Nobody's put any money into it or attempted to move the tower closer to Longview for better night coverage (the old KLUE tower could have been a good choice).

 

[fredcantu]

My advice, keep the AM studio where it is, put the FM in the current production room (or the production room as it was in 2001), allow the on-air studios to double as production rooms (as is done in Marshall at KMHT)

I recall visiting the Majic 95 (KKMJ-FM) studios in Austin a few years ago and there was what looked like a two drawer file cabinet under the on-air console. The jock explained that it was their sister station K-Juice (KJCE-AM.)

 

[billyg]

I recall visiting the Majic 95 (KKMJ-FM) studios in Austin a few years ago and there was what looked like a two drawer file cabinet under the on-air console. The jock explained that it was their sister station K-Juice (KJCE-AM.)

That reminds me of in the mid 90's when I vised the Eagle 97-Mix 102.9 Studios in DFW and discovered that KFXR 1190 (the old KLIF) was broadcasting the Fox Sports network in what used to be a storage closet.

I bet most of KWRD-AM's local news programming and things like the swap shop will be moved over to KPXI-FM to make room for ESPN. Sounds to me it will be run exactly like KHMT.

 

[C414B]

I bet most of KWRD-AM's local news programming and things like the swap shop will be moved over to KPXI-FM to make room for ESPN. Sounds to me it will be run exactly like KHMT.

Bet the farm, Billy, because you'd win. The "Road Show" that I streamed from their website described that very thing.

 

[billyg]

Bet the farm, Billy, because you'd win. The "Road Show" that I streamed from their website described that very thing.

It's a smart move, the "Real Country" format is a smart choice for small town station. Now that he can broadcast Henderson Lions sports on FM, Hanzen could be making a nice profit from it. It's good to see this station rise from the dead.