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RIP KBAI-930 Bellingham (1958-2024)

C

crainbebo

Saga surrenders the license; the classic hits move to KISM-HD3 and remains on 98.9 as well. Was notably a country station for 30 years, as KBFW.

radioinsight.com

Saga Surrenders Bellingham AM - RadioInsight

Saga Communications has requested the cancellation of the license of 930 KBAI Bellingham WA. The station’s Classic Hits “98.9 K-BAY” format will continue on 98.9 K255DC and 92.9 KISM-HD3 Bellingham. The station had flipped from Liberal Talk to Classic Hits in August 2017. KBAI operated with 1kW...
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
 
Invisible move for the listenership, and makes a lot of sense for Saga. Development has overtaken that part of Bellingham; the land is definitely more valuable than what they could have gotten from a religious broadcaster or an ethnic language operator it would seem.

End of the line for a minor AM signal. Not the first, and for sure will not be the last. I heard Edmonton for the first time last night- at least I assume it was as I heard hockey PBP. LOL
 
That's too bad, but it doesn't surprise me at all. 930 really didn't have much any greater reach than what they have on 98.9. For that reason alone, it isn't that big of a deal. Their core listeners all live in Whatcom county and are probably listening on 98.9 anyway. If there are listeners elsewhere, they have the option of KISM HD3, which is a blowtorch all around the region. They have a pretty decent classic hits format, and the good news is the format will continue to be heard.
 
Memory lane: IIRC, this went on the air around 1958 as a 500 watt station. It was one of two West Coast 500 watters on 930 I heard in Cleveland, OH, on equipment tests... the other one was in Paradise, CA.
 
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The New Chico said:
I will have to venture into town this weekend to take pictures of the towers before they go. I am betting they will be gone in a few weeks!
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I may do the same. I was under the impression that KBAI’s tower site was somewhere near Barkley Village, but it appears I was mistaken. It looks like the tower site was located on the north side of town.
 
Hadn't heard them in a while.... 930 here where I'm at in SKC is usually a fairly strong CJCA, along with KAGI's JPR. KBAI would be in the back somewhere. I used to get KYAK Yakima a lot... not so much anymore. And KTKN was a frequent visitor to my Superadio in the 2010's, but haven't heard a peep from them since the previous Solar Cycle died.

Weren't KBAI Progressive talk for a while? My old AM listing (that I update when I remember to) has them as prog talk in 2012.

And am I getting this right? The translator stays on? What was it fed by, the HD-2?
 
boombox4 said:
Hadn't heard them in a while.... 930 here where I'm at in SKC is usually a fairly strong CJCA, along with KAGI's JPR.

And am I getting this right? The translator stays on? What was it fed by, the HD-2?
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OK, I give up. What's SKC? And what's JPR? SKC is a place where you live and JPR has something to do with KAGI's signal?

The translator is being fed by 92.9 KISM-HD3. And yes, according to Wikipedia, the station was progressive talk from around 2010 to 2017, when it got its FM translator and flipped to Oldies-Classic Hits.
 
Gregg. said:
OK, I give up. What's SKC? And what's JPR? SKC is a place where you live and JPR has something to do with KAGI's signal?

The translator is being fed by 92.9 KISM-HD3. And yes, according to Wikipedia, the station was progressive talk from around 2010 to 2017, when it got its FM translator and flipped to Oldies-Classic Hits.
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I think he’s referring to south king county. You’re comedy about the progressive talk format. That format had some appeal in bellingham proper (with it being a college town), but I’m not sure about the rest of Whatcom county.
 
These 1KW stations have all outlived their usefulness. We'll be seeing them go one-by-one. Years from now, we'll see the same thing happen to hundreds of LPFMs. The idea of a low power broadcast station in a time of the internet is completely outdated. This is something better accomplished in a chat room or social media group. That way you have actual interaction.
 
JPR = Jefferson Public Radio, KAGI Grants Pass. One of a few AMs that the NPR network has in southern OR and northern CA.
Normally, CJCA dominated at night when I lived there; but here we have our local KYAK (10KW days, 127 W night).
 
TheBigA said:
These 1KW stations have all outlived their usefulness. We'll be seeing them go one-by-one. Years from now, we'll see the same thing happen to hundreds of LPFMs. The idea of a low power broadcast station in a time of the internet is completely outdated. This is something better accomplished in a chat room or social media group. That way you have actual interaction.
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It seems to me that the best use for LPFM is in areas where a full signal is unfeasible due to the size of the town. Even so, it's harder to justify much of anything in a world of smartphones.
 
TheBigA said:
These 1KW stations have all outlived their usefulness. We'll be seeing them go one-by-one. Years from now, we'll see the same thing happen to hundreds of LPFMs. The idea of a low power broadcast station in a time of the internet is completely outdated.
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If you have 1 kw on a very low frequency on AM, it can cover very very well in small and medium markets.

Again, 1 kw on 550 covers about the same as 50 kw on 1600, all other things being equal (wavelength of tower, size of ground system, conductivity at site location).
 
DavidEduardo said:
If you have 1 kw on a very low frequency on AM, it can cover very very well in small and medium markets.

Again, 1 kw on 550 covers about the same as 50 kw on 1600, all other things being equal (wavelength of tower, size of ground system, conductivity at site location).
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KVI 570 sounds great around the Seattle area. It's on par with KIRO, KNWN, KJR, or any of the other major AMs that still get listeners. I live about 20-30 miles northwest of the KBAI transmitter site, and despite making an effort to listen, I had a hard time ever hearing it. Their AM signal was no better than the translator, so they may as well just keep the translator and generate some revenue from the property.

As for AM in Bellingham, KGMI and KPUG are still around, and they both have a larger reach. KBAI was the weakest Bellingham AM, and it probably wasn't doing Saga any favors. There probably are listeners in the San Juan Islands who look for local news and talk on 790. Not so much the case for classic hits on a weak AM.
 
Gregg. said:
OK, I give up. What's SKC? And what's JPR? SKC is a place where you live and JPR has something to do with KAGI's signal?

The translator is being fed by 92.9 KISM-HD3. And yes, according to Wikipedia, the station was progressive talk from around 2010 to 2017, when it got its FM translator and flipped to Oldies-Classic Hits.
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Sorry, man. SKC is South King County. I guess I took it for granted that on a Seattle forum people would know. In the future I'll spell it out more, being that a lot of RD'ers obviously aren't from here.

I think KAGI is JPR. Unless they've changed lately.

RE: JPR: In Oregon there's Oregon Public Radio, and Jefferson Public Radio, mostly in Southern Oregon (as well as Northern Cal). "Jefferson" was a proposed state that would consist of parts of Northern Cal and Southern OR, effectively making a fourth West Coast state. Both OPR and JPR have some of the same programs, but they also have their own differing programs, too. I think JPR's headquarters are in Ashland?
 
I remember when 930 kHz was KBFW, which was located on the 2nd floor of a drive in theater. I can't remember the name of the drive-in, so I called it The KBFW Drive-In.

I think there were a couple other stations built into drive-in theaters, weren't there? I think I heard of at least another.
 
The Puget Sound area is losing AM outlets. The KBRO upgrade to 5kw will take out two other signals. I am sure other stations <= 1kw will go silent at some point

A few decades ago Port Angeles lost its second AM signal. Any guesses what could be next? (There is only so much "tower consolidation" possible.)
 
RF101 said:
The Puget Sound area is losing AM outlets. The KBRO upgrade to 5kw will take out two other signals. I am sure other stations <= 1kw will go silent at some point

A few decades ago Port Angeles lost its second AM signal. Any guesses what could be next? (There is only so much "tower consolidation" possible.)
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I wouldn’t really call the current KBAI situation a loss, since the AM wasn’t really powerful enough to do anything special. Their FM translator was more useful, and more effective for what they needed to accomplish. If their goal was covering most of Whatcom county with a listenable FM, they accomplished it.

As for the KBRO situation, KNTB wasn’t going to win any awards either. The consolidation may actually give an otherwise useless AM a little more life (with a better signal and a clear frequency). If these small steps make the AM band more usable, it is probably for the best.
 
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