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KSTB-Crystal Beach

P

purpledevil

Guest
Noticed that KSTB's license for renewal is due August 1st, but couldn't find anything showing that Cumulus filed for renewal. It has been off of the air since Hurricane Ike, only lighting up once in a blue moon to keep the license active. Is Cumulus throwing in the towel on KSTB? What about the Galveston Community Radio folks. I'd think they've got a finger on the pulse of 101.5's status as well. Didn't they ask Cumulus to LMA the station, or sell it to them awhile back?


I'd hate to see this one get lost, even though its now on a sand dune and basically served Crystal Beach, Gilchrist and the seagulls when it was on the air. I'd sure like to contact the right person at G.C.R. to see if they were aware of the upcoming renewal for KSTB. I'd certainly file a P.T.D. with the F.C.C. considering that after 5 years now, Cumulus should have already restored the station back to the air regardless of what damage occurred from Ike.
 
I doubt if Cumulus will ever put it back on the air or renew the license. KTSB is the end result of rimshots being bought and moved around by buying out and downgrading other facilities, in order to get them moved into, or closer to, larger markets. Like you said, if this station were to ever come back on the air, it would only serve a very small area and would never garner enough advertising revenue to even pay the power bill.
 
KSTB should cover Galveston. When it was on years ago, I picked it up several times in Beaumont.
 
Even if you can hear it in Galveston and Beaumont, there is barely enough advertising revenue to keep even one station viable in that town. Sad to say, but a hard reality. And the idea of a listener-supported radio staion under a community radio group would have to stand the same test, which is garnering enough revenue to keep the lights on. It might be a good acquisition for the preacher in Pasadena, though. He seems to like buying up translators and marginal signals like this one. Guess if he buys enough of them, he'll have 100% coverage of the ADI eventually.
 
stan said:
KSTB should cover Galveston. When it was on years ago, I picked it up several times in Beaumont.
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It used to, stan. Can't remember its original COL...seems like it was League City. Before they moved it to the sand dune on the Peninsula it had a pretty good signal on the island itself. Kemah, Seabrook, Clear Lake City, etc. were all served well by "The Star of the Bay". However, once it moved down to Crystal Beach, all of that went away. KSTB, when on, gives only a servicable signal to the east end of the island and covers only the Bolivar Peninsula reliably.
 
mrbeasley said:
Even if you can hear it in Galveston and Beaumont, there is barely enough advertising revenue to keep even one station viable in that town. Sad to say, but a hard reality. And the idea of a listener-supported radio staion under a community radio group would have to stand the same test, which is garnering enough revenue to keep the lights on. It might be a good acquisition for the preacher in Pasadena, though. He seems to like buying up translators and marginal signals like this one. Guess if he buys enough of them, he'll have 100% coverage of the ADI eventually.
Click to expand...

...and that, mr. beasley, is what I expect will happen to KSTB if it indeed survives.
 
purpledevil said:
Can't remember its original COL...seems like it was League City.
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You might be thinking about the studio location, which was close to there, on Bay Area Boulevard in Webster. But Crystal Beach has always been the COL.
 
Cumulus deserves to lose the KSTB license, as it has made no effort whatsoever to get the station back on the air. I can see being off for a few months after a catastrophe, but FIVE YEARS???

KSTB had a decent signal in the SE part of the market before the signal was downgraded. Too bad they were never able to do a big upgrade like the similar original 92.1 signal.

The current signal will only be viable as an outlet for an EMF style satellite fed programming model.
 
jd said:
purpledevil said:
Can't remember its original COL...seems like it was League City.
Click to expand...

You might be thinking about the studio location, which was close to there, on Bay Area Boulevard in Webster. But Crystal Beach has always been the COL.
Click to expand...

I honestly thought it had physically moved and reduced power, jd. The antenna wasn't always out there next to the Gulf was it? I could've sworn the station's transmitting tower was further inland prior to its move. Of course, that has been several years ago now, and Univision adjusted signals and moved 104.9 Galveston to 105.3, and 104.9 Rosenberg to Mo. City around that time, IIRC. You almost needed a scorecard to keep track. Do you recall what the prior power was for KSTB? I thought it was quite a bit higher than the 6kW it's licensed for now.
 
For a while back in the 90's KSTB was a Class C3, running 25kW from an antenna 100 meters high. They also were licensed at one time with 14kW, but they downgraded and have been a Class A (max 6kW) for over 10 years. As for location, KSTB has always been prevented from moving much further down the peninsula from High Island (like 3 or 4 miles) due to spacing requirements to both KLOL and KMJQ.

Cumulus really did file an application for renewal for KSTB: https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...xt=25&appn=101541533&formid=303&fac_num=18187

An impasse with the property owner, frequent hurricanes, bad site, another and another, a comment on the economy back in 2008...and talk of a possible sale(?). It's not your ordinary, boring renewal application!
 
That is the most interesting license renewal app I have read. I did notice that each temporary site was just a few days and appeared to coincide with requirements for broadcasting between each STA to remain silent. The sites became unsuitable after meeting the broadcast requirements.
 
BarryATL said:
I assume with the downgrade of KSTB there was some $$$$ changing hands.
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It came with a station changing hands. Cumulus wanted to buy 92.5 to replace KAYD on 97.5 when it was moved into Houston. Clear Channel got wind of it and bought it out from under them at the 11th hour. So, Cumulus bought KLOI and moved KAYD there as a contingency plan. Signal of 101.7 being what it was, Cumulus had to upgrade it. Not sure if Cumulus already had KSTB or bought it exclusively to upgrade the new KAYD, but Cumulus ultimately had to neuter KSTB in order to get even a modest upgrade for KAYD.
 
Kent said:
Not sure if Cumulus already had KSTB or bought it exclusively to upgrade the new KAYD, but Cumulus ultimately had to neuter KSTB in order to get even a modest upgrade for KAYD.
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Basically KSTB was a pawn in a bigger upgrade scenario. Pretty sure Cumulus never had any actual interest in the viability of KSTB itself.

Interesting item in the FCC application:

"AT THIS TIME, THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO PENDING OFFERS TO PURCHASE THE STATION IN A PRELIMINARY PHASE THAT CUMULUS IS WILLING TO CONSIDER. SHOULD THESE OFFERS RESULT IN A PURCHASE AGREEMENT, THIS APPLICATION WILL BE AMENDED."

I suspect both potential buyers are religious broadcasters seeking to expand a centrally fed network. I doubt either is Galveston Community Radio which wanted the station donated. I suppose that will be a last resort for Cumulus.

Too bad the KSTB signal is "treed in" by adjacent channel issues. Another good argument for expanding the FM band down to 76 MHz to facilitate viable upgrades.
 
I don't think I'd read too much into that statement. But assuming the talk about potential buyers was really true, remember that the application was filed in April and things could have changed. Frankly I don't see why anyone---religious broadcaster or whomever---would want to buy this turkey.
 
Here's an interesting (though not totally unexpected) development, appearing on the FCC website:

BRH-20130401AMK KSTB CUMULUS LICENSING Renewal of License 101.5 MHZ CRYSTAL BEACH, TX

Informal Objection Filed
07/01/2013 by Jerry J. Stern,
Chairman, Galveston Community Radio
 
jd, I went to the FCC website to see the letter from Mr. Stern myself, and found their website down for some odd reason. I'd love to see what his viewpoint of the KSTB saga is.
 
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