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KQMG wants to move into CR market

N

ngriffin

KM Communications has applied to move KQMG-FM 95.3 in Independence to Solon and change frequency to 95.1. The new transmitter site would be near Ely, about halfway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. If approved, KMAQ in Maquoketa would move to 95.3, the vacant Asbury (Dubuque area) allotment moves from 95.5 to 98.7, Mineral Point, WI (south of Dodgeville) gets a new allotment at 95.5, and KGGO 94.9 Des Moines gets downgraded to class C0 (no change in facilities, but less interference protection).

The FCC has streamlined the process of changing communities of license, so expect a lot more of these.
 
there is a low powered christian repeater station in CR at 95.1 I'm sure there's going to be some consideration for them, so 95.1 may not be the given frequency
 
Will KGGO allow their facilities to be crippled like this? (As KIOA did when 93.3/Bennington, NE (near Omaha) upgraded from Class A to Class C3.) Or will they figure out a way to get up over 1,500 feet and thus preserve their full Class C?

Didn't all the big Des Moines FMs used to be on the TV towers near Ankeny? (93.3, 94.9, 100.3, 102.5) I'm guessing they were kicked off due to DTV and had to build shorter replacement structures (?)

Looks like 100.3 is the only one still above 1,500 feet and thus not subject to forced C0 downgrade.
 
there is a low powered christian repeater station in CR at 95.1 I'm sure there's going to be some consideration for them, so 95.1 may not be the given frequency
Click to expand...

AFAIK, there is no consideration for a translator. If the app clears approval, 95.1 K236AA/Cedar Rapids will be gone.

Any upgrades or changes to licenses to the north and west if this is approved?... I would think there are some consequences in that direction as well if 95.3 is gone around Independence. KIFG-FM/Iowa Falls or KCZE/New Hampton perhaps?
 
I don't think KGGO has much recourse, as they do not meet the new class C srtandards (100 kw at >450m). They might be able to file a CP for a taller tower to stall things. Really, the only area it would cause much trouble for KGGO would be around Williamsburg and the Amanas.

To my knowledge, KGGO has never been on the Alleman tower. I think 90.1 and 100.3 were the only ones that went there. Those two made the move with their co-owned TV stations (Channel 8 and 102.5 had already been split up by that time). I doubt the fringe coverage offered by Alleman would have been worth enough for the others to stop using sites they owned and pay an expensive lease. Not too many advertisers in Atlantic, Ft. Dodge, or Ottumwa can afford (or need) these stations.

It will be interesting to see if Iowa Falls or New Hampton file for any changes. Waterloo would be the obvious target, but I think there would need to be more shuffling for that to work out. With the cost of paying off a station or two to change frequencies and 103.9 Dunkerton coming online in the future, I wonder if such a move would even be profitable.
 
A turd in Independence is still a turd in Cedar Rapids.

Independence is a town large enough to support a good, local station. They should not be allowed to make this move.
 
The problem with these upgrades is that the contours on paper don't always match the actual world conditions. In a place like Iowa (flat land and wide-open spaces), the actual signal often travels further than the projected contours suggest.

With regard to KIOA and KHUS/Bennington, NE: When KHUS proposed to upgrade to C3 and move closer to Omaha (and therefore Des Moines), the contours showed there would be no signal overlap with co-channel KIOA. So, the Saga folks signed off on the deal. But as anyone who has ever traveled I-80 between Des Moines and Omaha knows, there is a large area where the two signals fight and wipe each other out. This did not exist previous to the KHUS upgrade.

KGGO might want to look at the KIOA example before deciding to keep current facilities and allow the downgrade to C0. Granted, this is a first-adjacent situation (vs co-channel for KIOA), but the potential for interference still exists.
 
IIRC, KIOA first agreed to a downgrade to C1 before the rules changed to accomodate the C0 class, which allowed KIOA to go back to the original 100 kW. KIOA was something like 83 kW at a little over 1000' back in '99,so it would fit the max. C1 standard. At that time, the KIOA signal couldn't hold the stereo signal on cheap Walkmans as well as KGGO in an office bldg. some 15 miles out. Then as now, they're diplexed from the same antenna. So, I'd say the KIO-atm got replenished. The far fringe audience wasn't going to make much ad revenue, so collecting the cash might have seemed the right thing to do. But it didn't make sense to me to take any power drop that could hamper the city grade signal.

KGGO on the other hand would keep exactly the same power level by dropping to C0. They may suffer interference a few miles sooner than now heading towards CR, but remember that they start fighting with the co-channel B from Galesburg IL in eastern IA.
 
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