KRCX Off The Air?

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

We do not use an OTA feed for the KRCX (or any) stream. In fact, the stream is a completely separate audio path that Ys off before the EAS unit. The stream has its own PPM encoder, processing, and everything. The person reporting static on the stream was not listening to our official stream. Our official stream was perfect the whole time regardless of what was going on with our RF.

One thing worth mentioning is that Entravision does care about their listeners and advertisers very much. They spared no expense and other than the middle manager's poor decision causing a delay, the high-ups gave me whatever I needed to restore the on air signal, no questions asked. I was praised, not reprimanded for spending whatever it took to get the new antenna and cable and the tower crew for installing. The delay was not caused by the company, only the time it took to build the antenna (extra expense for rush job) and shipping. The company took the situation very seriously and gave me free reign to do whatever it took to restore the signal to full power. Literally, anything it took. The FCC filing for the STA to operate with parameters at variance was to keep everything legal. Even though we did not expect the repair to take a long time, I am very particular about following FCC rules, so decided to file the STA just to be 100% above board. I'm a stickler for adhering to the rules in my markets.

It's also worth noting that TOR Broadcasting, our landlord at Sutter Buttes, let us do whatever was needed and coordinated with the TV station on the same tower as KRCX to shut down and keep the tower climbers safe from high RF exposure. TOR was absolutely outstanding to work with on this emergency. Jacob Kley is professional perfection as a site manager.

My hiccup with the middle manager was mostly because he is new at being a manager and perhaps felt the need to inject himself. More info than necessary- I was a couple days away from having a surgical procedure that ultimately saved my life (cancer removal). The delay he caused almost caused a conflict with my scheduled procedure. He told me (and the tower guys heard him say it), that I need to "delay the surgery until KRCX is fixed". That is when I told him what I did that nearly got me fired. I found out that he does not speak for Entravision. The company did not cause the delay, he did. The company was 100% behind me in whatever I decided needed to be done. Entravision gets an A+.

This is my second round with Entravision. I spent 13 years with them the first time. I plan to stay at Entravision until I retire, probably 20 years from now. None of the other companies I have worked for have been nearly as supportive or dedicated as Entravision.

Not arguing on an official stream. But If you listen on the iHeart app under Sacramento, you’ll notice a scratchy signal now. Before it’s was pure static.

La Tricolor 99.9 (Sacramento) | iHeart

Trancazos del regional mexicano y banda

www.iheart.com

It seems to the same stream from

El Botón

Toda la música latina y los mejores podcasts en español.

elboton.com

 

[Paul]

Not arguing on an official stream. But If you listen on the iHeart app under Sacramento, you’ll notice a scratchy signal now. Before it’s was pure static.

La Tricolor 99.9 (Sacramento) | iHeart

Trancazos del regional mexicano y banda

www.iheart.com

It seems to the same stream from

El Botón

Toda la música latina y los mejores podcasts en español.

elboton.com

No clue where that stream comes from, but it doesn't come from my facility. The KRCX stream coming from my studios is clear, and fed directly from the Wheatstone blade.

 

[Paul]

I've always had a great deal of respect for Jeff Liberman, the head of the broadcast division. And usually a good company has a good leader.

I have met Jeff in person many times, and he comes from a family of broadcasters. Jeff "gets it". He has zero patience for people with negative attitudes, but will move oceans when needed for people with positive attitudes.

 

[Paul]

Not arguing on an official stream. But If you listen on the iHeart app under Sacramento, you’ll notice a scratchy signal now. Before it’s was pure static.

La Tricolor 99.9 (Sacramento) | iHeart

Trancazos del regional mexicano y banda

www.iheart.com

It seems to the same stream from

El Botón

Toda la música latina y los mejores podcasts en español.

elboton.com

Thank you for the report.

I just listened to the stream via the link you shared. After the propaganda ad telling me how much PG&E cares about keeping the power on, the KRCX stream came on and sounded crystal clear. During the transmitter site emergency, I monitored the stream many times and it always sounded clear on my devices.

 

[Big D]

Paul, thanks for sharing. Is the new antenna also ERI? How many bays does KRCX use?

 

[Paul]

Paul, thanks for sharing. Is the new antenna also ERI? How many bays does KRCX use?

We replaced the old antenna with the exact same thing, except no holes melted in it. 2 bays.