KQES-LP- more like New Duck Dynasty instead of New Tang Dynasty

[valvashon]

Heard this afternoon- pretty sure it was KQES-LP given the signal strength, although there was no RDBS info, generic as it is.

S-bang! S-bang! S-bang!

Plus I still think it's running too much power. I can clearly hear it along Admiral Way SW in West Seattle, up to the viewpoint and on to California Ave SW.

 

[Kelly A]

Cool! Yet another example of a 'well run' LPFM. What a joke.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Going to their website, kqes.net, I see a toll free number listed, 888-368-4898.. and some googling seems to suggest that number also does. or used to belong to a seattle office for The Epoch times, which is a newspaper owned by the Falun Gong.

The Falun Gong also owned the China based Sound Of Hope Network which has allegedly low powered Shortwave transmitters in China.. because of course, China jams it. KQES allegedly runs a US version of that SOH Network.

Checking the FCC CDBS database, the email address listed for the president of NTD Public TV Seattle is (KQES's licensee): [email protected]

Several hits show NTD has been a tax exempt organization since 2007.. but KQES has only been around since 2017 after the CP Was filed for in 2013.

 

[Sammi Brie]

Two related California stations, KQSG-LP and KQEV, had an informal objection filed against them very recently by Nora Hamamciyan:

It is important to note that KQSG-LP is one of
several LPFM stations that are operated by Chinese advocacy organizations where broadcast operations appear to be shadow controlled by the New Tang Dynasty Television Network
(NTD).

KQSG get it is programing from on the air KQEV-LP(CHINESE SOUND OF ORIENTAL AND WEST HERITAGE) it broadcast 100% what is being broadcasted on KQEV-LP. When KQEV-LP is transmitting dead air KQSG-LP is rebroadcasting the same and when KQEV-LP is broadcasting commercials KQSG-LP is also broadcasting the same commercials overthe air. I have recorded from over the air a segments of KQSG-LP broadcast where multiple commercials where broadcasted. This station is broadcasting over the air commercials that are being broadcasted on KQEV-LP and they are being rebroadcasted on KQSG-LP.

KQSG-LP is being used a standalone translator that is rebroadcasting KQEV-LP100% of its shared time. Since it is first day on the air KQSG has never broadcasted a single local program.
In addition to broadcasting full commercial in violation of the FCC rules governing LPFM stations, KQSG-LP does not serve the local community that it is licensed to serve.

 

[Rusty Muck]

So a bunch of LPFMs are run by a group that peddles the blatant misinformation site The Epoch Times and aren’t even following the most basic technical requirements to operate the stations in the first place.

Yep, totally legit operation.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Two related California stations, KQSG-LP and KQEV, had an informal objection filed against them very recently by Nora Hamamciyan:

KQSG's licensee is "the emperors circle of shen yun". Whats that?

Shen Yun - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Their address comes back to some kind of office complex.
Guess what also has a hit at that address? Epoch times

The address for KQEV comes back to an apartment and the person listed as a contact for the licensee has some kind of contribution registered at the Fed. elections commission website

 

[bobdavcav]

Is this the same station that got hacked and was playing the F Donald Trump song for like three weeks a number of years ago?

 

[crainbebo]

Yes, it is. The "F Trump" song also aired on KLSY for (I think) several hours before they could override it.

KQES-LP is a waste of a station. The City of Bellevue could use it as an LPFM for volunteers to operate on a shift system. Do they even get any listenership by the high Asian population in Bellevue, Medina, and Clyde Hill? 100 to 250 at most?

Otherwise, shut off this waste of an LPFM that has absolutely NO local content. KVSH-LP does it right. Not this one.

Epoch Times - Falun Gong? I thought Epoch was a conservative-leaning newspaper?

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Epoch Times - Falun Gong? I thought Epoch was a conservative-leaning newspaper?

Yup.. falun gong owns it.

 

[notalent]

Last time I heard Falun Gong was considered subversive by the Chinese (Communist) government and an enemy of the state. They do have followers world wide and are I assume against the regime in power in mainland China. And yes Epoch is a conservative leaning website but I had no idea the two were connected. Very interesting.

 

[fordranger797]

Another LPFM that should undoubtedly shut down for good. The textbook definition of a waste of bandwidth.

 

[Sammi Brie]

I don't want to make this too political a conversation, but since there are a lot of people who aren't familiar, I did want to point to reporting that has been done by outlets such as Vice News on disinformation, social media manipulation, and the conservative lean of Falun Gong and the Epoch Times:

Inside the Falun Gong Disinformation Machine

VICE News Reports dives into the cultish movement that’s increasingly weaving its anti-China, pro-Trump propaganda into American politics.

www.vice.com

A list of stations with similar KQxx-LP and WQxx-LP call letters and owned by Chinese-related groups follows.

96.9 KQEA-LP San Francisco (Sunset District), CA — CHINESE CULTURE AND ART HERITAGE FOUNDATION*
96.9 KQEB-LP San Francisco, CA — SOUND OF HOPE RADIO NETWORK, INC.*
101.9 KQES-LP Bellevue, WA — NTD Public TV Seattle
101.7 KQEU-LP Houston, TX — NTD Public Media
104.7 KQEV-LP Walnut, CA — CHINESE SOUND OF ORIENTAL AND WEST HERITAGE
98.1 KQHU-LP Honolulu, HI — New Dynasty Culture Center
101.5 KQPV-LP West Covina, CA — Oriental Culture Center*
101.5 KQSG-LP El Monte, CA — The Emperor's Circle of Shen Yun*
97.7 KQWA-LP Walnut Creek, CA — East Bay Oriental Radio, Inc.
99.9 WQEB-LP Winchester, MA — Winchester School of Chinese Culture
98.3 WQEG-LP Chicago, IL — Sound of Hope Radio NFP
105.5 WQEQ-LP Flushing, NY — Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party*
96.7 WQER-LP Rockville, MD — Chinese-American Community Connection
107.9 WQET-LP Middletown, NY — EASTERN US TAIWAN CULTURE PROMOTION ASSOCIATION, INC.
98.5 WQEW-LP Philadelphia, PA — Greater Philadelphia Asian Culture Center, Inc.

* Time share between two stations. The 96.9s effectively form a full-time station and Sound of Hope also airs on KVTO 1400+96.1 in San Francisco. In the case of 101.5 SoCal, there are also others.

Three further stations have been deleted:

92.9 KQEK-LP Cupertino, CA — Foundation for a Better Life, not built at licensed site
103.1 KQLS-LP Las Vegas, NV — Chinese Voice of Golden City, not built at licensed site
97.9 KQEP-LP St. Paul, MN — New Culture Center in the Midwest, failure to renew (this has led to another legal battle by unrelated parties)

Even the Middletown station — which very much does not fit the "metropolitan" footprint of the remainder of the system — has a connection. Its president is Kaishin Yen, described as a Falun Gong member in a 2000 New York Post article. Sound of Hope Digital Media's "NY branch" lists a Middletown office.

 

[crainbebo]

I don't care if it's a conservative-leaning station owned by a Chinese conglomerate, or if they play all-Polka...if it's NOT local, shut it down! The City of Bellevue can use some of the pandemic funding they received to open up a volunteer station somewhere in town. There's 140,000 people in Bellevue and it's growing. A station similar to KASB (but for adult volunteers) would be awesome in promoting radio in the city, something 'new' to do in Bellevue for all ages. In fact, a Bellevue-owned LP could also join forces with BSD405 and allow KASB DJs to volunteer at that LPFM.

Am I dreaming too hard?

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

I don't want to make this too political a conversation, but since there are a lot of people who aren't familiar, I did want to point to reporting that has been done by outlets such as Vice News on disinformation, social media manipulation, and the conservative lean of Falun Gong and the Epoch Times:

Inside the Falun Gong Disinformation Machine

VICE News Reports dives into the cultish movement that’s increasingly weaving its anti-China, pro-Trump propaganda into American politics.

www.vice.com

A list of stations with similar KQxx-LP and WQxx-LP call letters and owned by Chinese-related groups follows.

96.9 KQEA-LP San Francisco (Sunset District), CA — CHINESE CULTURE AND ART HERITAGE FOUNDATION*
96.9 KQEB-LP San Francisco, CA — SOUND OF HOPE RADIO NETWORK, INC.*
101.9 KQES-LP Bellevue, WA — NTD Public TV Seattle
101.7 KQEU-LP Houston, TX — NTD Public Media
104.7 KQEV-LP Walnut, CA — CHINESE SOUND OF ORIENTAL AND WEST HERITAGE
98.1 KQHU-LP Honolulu, HI — New Dynasty Culture Center
101.5 KQPV-LP West Covina, CA — Oriental Culture Center*
101.5 KQSG-LP El Monte, CA — The Emperor's Circle of Shen Yun*
97.7 KQWA-LP Walnut Creek, CA — East Bay Oriental Radio, Inc.
99.9 WQEB-LP Winchester, MA — Winchester School of Chinese Culture
98.3 WQEG-LP Chicago, IL — Sound of Hope Radio NFP
105.5 WQEQ-LP Flushing, NY — The Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party*
96.7 WQER-LP Rockville, MD — Chinese-American Community Connection
107.9 WQET-LP Middletown, NY — EASTERN US TAIWAN CULTURE PROMOTION ASSOCIATION, INC.
98.5 WQEW-LP Philadelphia, PA — Greater Philadelphia Asian Culture Center, Inc.

* Time share between two stations. In the case of 101.5 SoCal, there are also others.

Even the Middletown station — which very much does not fit the "metropolitan" footprint of the remainder of the system — has a connection. Its president is Kaishin Yen, described as a Falun Gong member in a 2000 New York Post article.

History of Asians in the San Gabriel Valley – IMDiversity

imdiversity.com

The Rise of the Majority-Asian Suburb


If one is wondering why there are three stations all located in the San Gabriel Valley area of the LA area and not LA city itself KQPV, KQSG and KQEV. San Gabriel Valley in the Los Angeles area has the highest concentration of Asian Americans in Los Angeles County according to these links.

 

[Sammi Brie]

History of Asians in the San Gabriel Valley – IMDiversity

imdiversity.com

The Rise of the Majority-Asian Suburb


If one is wondering why there are three stations all located in the San Gabriel Valley area of the LA area and not LA city itself KQPV, KQSG and KQEV. San Gabriel Valley in the Los Angeles area has the highest concentration of Asian Americans in Los Angeles County according to these links.

Some of the network transmitters are very suburban, like Houston and Chicago.

 

[fordranger797]

After listening to it a second time, it almost sounds like club music you might expect to hear in Sweden or Brussels!

 

[Rusty Muck]

I don't care if it's a conservative-leaning station owned by a Chinese conglomerate, or if they play all-Polka...if it's NOT local, shut it down! The City of Bellevue can use some of the pandemic funding they received to open up a volunteer station somewhere in town. There's 140,000 people in Bellevue and it's growing. A station similar to KASB (but for adult volunteers) would be awesome in promoting radio in the city, something 'new' to do in Bellevue for all ages. In fact, a Bellevue-owned LP could also join forces with BSD405 and allow KASB DJs to volunteer at that LPFM.

Am I dreaming too hard?

There definitely needs to be an inquiry into how the FCC granted licenses to these outfits over community groups; I find it hard to believe that there was no local civic organization or group in Bellevue applying for that specific LPFM.

 

[b-turner]

I disagree that any format has preference over another. As one poster opined "if it's not local, shut it down". There is no requirement that programming be local from the FCC or otherwise. In fact, I encourage you to get your non-profit formed now and start working on the upcoming LPFM filing window. This way you can get your adult volunteer station. If you are typical, you'll criticize my remarks but if you're serious, your opportunity is coming up. I can even point you to so good people that can help.

You would be amazed how many LPFM stations are awarded without an opposing application. If such an entity gets a frequency, it's usually because there s no opposition or at the very least, that group has their ducks in a row. In other words, if you have a complaint, why didn't you form a group and file? Put that energy into making things happen the way you feel it should. You either just complain or you cause change to happen.

 

[Kelly A]

There's 140,000 people in Bellevue and it's growing. A station similar to KASB (but for adult volunteers) would be awesome in promoting radio in the city, something 'new' to do in Bellevue for all ages. In fact, a Bellevue-owned LP could also join forces with BSD405 and allow KASB DJs to volunteer at that LPFM.

There are several C0 full power FM stations right up the hill in Bellevue at a place called Cougar Mt. Right behind Cougar to the East are several additional stations located on W. Tiger Mt. For those living in the Bellevue (Seattle/Tacoma) Metro who still listen to radio, primarily during their commute, why in God's green earth would someone go out of their way to listen to some flea power FM who's signal would be listenable for a few city blocks? Answer: They wouldn't. Certainly not enough of them to support even a sandbox station for very long.

Am I dreaming too hard?

Yes. You're a radio nerd. The vast majority of the population doesn't value radio, let alone make it their exclusive way for audio entertainment, the way you do.

 

[crainbebo]

So tell me, if you believe the only stations that people listen to are the big 50-100KW sticks, how do stations like Voice of Vashon 101.9, KVSH, survive being on the air 6 years + a pandemic? I mean, Vashon Island has several C0 full-power FMs 20 miles away on Cougar and another 6 to 8 on Tiger, completely listenable. And they have AM sticks ON the island. Do you really believe volunteers are broadcasting to three or four ears if that, somewhere on the island? Because if they were, I don't think KVSH would exist.
Yes, we know my generation is mostly listening to Spotify and TikTok and whatever garbage artists come out as YouTube 'viral sensations.' But DavidEduardo has said 90% of Americans still listen to the radio. So let me ask...how would you change KQES-LP for the better? Leave it as is, with probably 100 listeners at peak hours? Or try and give it new life?