U of H looking to purchase radio station to supplement KUHF

[MorningTFXdude]

On tomorrow's board of regents' meeting agenda.

"Approval is requested to delegate authority to the Chancellor to negotiate and execute an asset purchase agreement and a management agreement, up to $10 million, related to the purchase of a radio station for use by KUHF – University of Houston."

PDF document, signed by U of H Pres, Renu Khator here: http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/regents/board_meetings/documents/081710Board/FA%208.pdf

It says, if they buy said station, KUHF would go all news/NPR 24/7, and this new station, to be dubbed with calls KUHC, would have a classical/fine arts format.

Houston Press blog says it's Rice U's KTRU that is being considered.

No comment from either university.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I hope this happens, as it would be a good thing on two fronts: Actually having a fulltime news/information/talk public radio station, and a fulltime fine arts station--common in other big cities, but not here.

This approval seems to be a functional formality, as it appears all the dealmaking has already happened--just gotta get the money approved. I don't think this would have come this far without a good certainty of the proposal going through.

 

[radiopropd]

The story is already out there - the Chronicle has it online - here's the link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7156105.html

 

[sdh483]

Sweet. I always thought it was weird that Houston did not have a separate NPR & Classical formats. It's too bad Rice's station is getting axed and now we are left with no indie/alternative in Houston. Well, I'm sure U of H could program a nightly alternative program on KUHF and maybe some weekend jazz.

 

[KTN Corp]

I was hoping that KTSU was the one being bought, but that would require TSU to be in the dumps again and the Texas Legislature to euthanize the persistent nagging problem and merge it into UH (main campus). KTRU is the third most powerful non-comm in the "educational" band (after future sister KUHF and KPFT). 50 kW is sufficient enough, but hopefully it will be at full power like KPFT (and to a lesser extent KUHF) and maybe co-located at Missouri City after technical issues are ironed out.

I'm just glad that the news-talk format will be on the Class C signal instead of relegated to their new C2 purchase.

 

[stan]

This is done at many other schools elsewhere, with public radio building news staff while traditional News radio cuts theirs. This may drive the final nail in newsradio 740's coffin.

 

[TexasTuner]

Wow...it's about time they finally figured out that's what they need to do. I've always been struck by how little UH wanted to expand. Other cities (Austin and San Antonio, for example) have had this arrangement for a long time. Dallas has city owned WRR-FM for classical, and KERA does NPR. I believe they also bought a second frequency for AAA music (not sure, someone correct me on this). The key will be convincing Rice that KTRU's basically a waste of spectrum (and I know I'll get flamed for this, but it's my opinon and how many times does KTRU show up on this board anyway?). In these days and times, is Rice so well off it could turn down a bunch of cash and relieve itself of a liability? Plus, Rice has no radio-tv department (that I know of). Buying KTRU makes the most amount of sense in this case. I've also seen other pubcasters buy up out of town signals, starting their own regional network. "Red River Radio" out of Louisiana does this, as does Cameron University up in Lawton, Oklahoma (my old stomping grounds). They figure the more listeners, the more potential support. I wish UH all the luck.

 

[ChuckTiller]

This is great news. KUHF-2 could go all jazz if the classical is moved to another frequency. The local commitment to news on KUHF would be increased making it Houston's all news station.

 

[TexasTuner]

And I wonder...since other markets either have, or will have news/talk FMs, can Houston be far behind? This from Inside Radio...

Look for more talk FM sign-ons.
FM talk stations signed on in Denver, Fresno, San Antonio, Louisville and Mobile last year. And the trend continued in 2010 with Raleigh, Greensboro, Dallas, Chico, Austin and Syracuse. Las Vegas is now home to two competing FM talk outlets and Atlanta got its first yesterday.

A KTRH AM-FM simulcast comes to mind, similar to what WSB just did yesterday. Granted, both AMs have killer signals, but the reason given by WSB is the fact that so many people go to FM rather than AM, it made sense to move the WSB brand onto the FM band as well. One thing I will never say about the higher ups at CC is that they're stupid-I imagine they're following this trend like the rest of us. If CC Houston has a poorly performing FM, this might make sense.

 

[Mediafrog+]

KTRU is the third most powerful non-comm in the "educational" band (after future sister KUHF and KPFT). 50 kW is sufficient enough, but hopefully it will be at full power like KPFT (and to a lesser extent KUHF) and maybe co-located at Missouri City after technical issues are ironed out.

Not going to happen because of second adjacent KROI, unless channel separation rules are relaxed. Wonder if the sale includes the 91.5 on campus translator for KTRU?

Dallas has city owned WRR-FM for classical, and KERA does NPR. I believe they also bought a second frequency for AAA music (not sure, someone correct me on this).

You are thinking of KKXT, which airs an alternative/eclectic music format.

The key will be convincing Rice that KTRU's basically a waste of spectrum

I think they are already convinced, as it appears the deal has already been hashed out. UH just needs to get the money approved. KTRU probably has been little more than an annoyance and money pit for the Rice administration. And you needed an electron microscope to come up with any ratings for the station.

And I wonder...since other markets either have, or will have news/talk FMs, can Houston be far behind? This from Inside Radio...
A KTRH AM-FM simulcast comes to mind, similar to what WSB just did yesterday.(snip) If CC Houston has a poorly performing FM, this might make sense.

CC only has three FM's to work with, and two of them are already doing extremely well (Sunny, Buzz.) KKRW would be the likely candidate if they decide the Arrow's battle with Cox's Eagle is no longer worth it.

 

[johndavis]

Never mind, MediaFrog answered the short-spacing question above.

 

[HoustonListener]

What about 91.5 translator?

YEs, KROI and KTRU are short spaced. KTRU used to "boast" that it had less wattage than a microwave, back when it was running under 500 watts (not sure what the wattage was) but then the owners of 92.1 wanted to up their power and some deal was brokered where the 92.1 folks basically paid for the KTRU upgrade to 50,000 watts and the move of the KTRU transmitter to a site in or near Humble. As a Rice alum, I am saddened by the loss of KTRU but Rice University never deliberately set out to operate a 50,000 watt radio station.

What about the 91.5 translator operated by Rice? Is there any way they could keep that open, or can that not be used for independent programming? What about getting a low power FM just for the campus?

 

[KTN Corp]

Not going to happen because of second adjacent KROI, unless channel separation rules are relaxed. Wonder if the sale includes the 91.5 on campus translator for KTRU?

I wondered about the translator myself.

I already knew about the channel separation but the technical issue ironed out included moving frequencies. (Wouldn't wish that though because KPVU was washed out in the MFAH parking lot by the translator station) Is it possible either to move one channel down to 91.5, move the transmitter to a more central location, and/or increase the power to at least 75 kW (or more)?

For the Jazz enthusiasts there are 2 Jazz stations in the market--both run by the only two "historically black" public universities in the state. Signal issues are a problem though; immediate Houston can hear KTSU clearly while the western and northwestern suburbs can hear KPVU clearly. (Personally I prefer hearing "Tell Me More" on KPVU because of the presentation; it carries NPR hourly news seamlessly into the program unlike KTSU's bumbling of AP news and then the show and KPVU is more consistent on carrying the show.)

 

[johndavis]

Re: What about 91.5 translator?

What about the 91.5 translator operated by Rice? Is there any way they could keep that open, or can that not be used for independent programming?

A translator cannot originate programming. Translators can insert thirty seconds of underwriting to defray its operating costs per hour, but otherwise, it can only relay another broadcast station.

 

[w9wi]

Re: What about 91.5 translator?

A translator cannot originate programming. Translators can insert thirty seconds of underwriting to defray its operating costs per hour, but otherwise, it can only relay another broadcast station.

Translators can't originate programming but they can relay HD2 subchannels.

So it would be possible... for KTRU to go HD, add a HD2 subchannel, move the current student programming to that subchannel, and relay it on the translator.

 

[purpledevil]

If I were Univ. of Houston, I'd want the 91.5 translator to be part of the package. After all, the reason for the translator existing is for the area around Rice where 91.7's signal is not very good.

For those of you interested in trying to save KTRU, they are having a rally tonight at 7pm on the campus. Also a website has been set up at www.savektru.org to blog about the possible sale.

 

[salemjedi54]

I was hoping that KTSU was the one being bought, but that would require TSU to be in the dumps again and the Texas Legislature to euthanize the persistent nagging problem and merge it into UH (main campus). KTRU is the third most powerful non-comm in the "educational" band (after future sister KUHF and KPFT). 50 kW is sufficient enough, but hopefully it will be at full power like KPFT (and to a lesser extent KUHF) and maybe co-located at Missouri City after technical issues are ironed out.

I'm just glad that the news-talk format will be on the Class C signal instead of relegated to their new C2 purchase.

Whats wrong with TSU? It has the state's second or third best law school.

 

[aaronread]

Wonder if the sale includes the 91.5 on campus translator for KTRU?

Probably. If not, it creates an odd situation that works for no-one.

The rules for translators say that translators in the reserved band (87.9 - 91.9 FM) can make use of alternative signal delivery (i.e. something other than over-the-air reception) if the primary is owned by the same entity that owns the translator.

If separate entities own the primary and the translator, the rules in the CFR are not clear. Perhaps there's an R&O on the subject, but if not I would have to assume that were Rice to retain ownership of the translator, then it would have to be fed over-the-air.

That would be difficult even if KTRU stays analog-only; the translator is on the first-adjacent channel and AFAIK, KTRU's signal is not terribly strong in the vicinity of the translator in the first place. And if KTRU adds an HD2 to replicate the "old" KTRU for purposes of feeding the translator, that gets doubly difficult from the inherent first-adjacent interference problems to/from HD Radio. I've done a lot of fiddling with translators and HD Radio and it's a lot harder to filter your way around marginal situations when HD is involved.

Of course, this doesn't mean that KUHF couldn't take ownership of the translator, buy an HD transmitter for KTRU, "give" the KTRU-HD2 to Rice for the student station, and feed the translator the HD2 audio via some other means; probably using the same STL that's in place right now. That could be done.

 

[stan]

The radio station(s) at my alma mater ( http://www.kwgs.org) are doing a similar thing and have hired news personnel away from the local news / talk station since it was minimizing the 'news' portion of its schedule. Does UH or Rice use HD broadcasting at this time for their existing stations? I was just wondering, since I know of other college stations who are utilizing the HD technology.

 

[KTN Corp]

If I were Univ. of Houston, I'd want the 91.5 translator to be part of the package. After all, the reason for the translator existing is for the area around Rice where 91.7's signal is not very good.

Why would you need it if the audience served is antipathetic to your new purchase?  This translator serves not your university, but the other university across town.

I noticed that KTRU's audio is too low.  What are they doing to the audio processing?  Hopefully it will be fixed when UH takes ownership because classical music demands fidelity.

The radio station(s) at my alma mater ( http://www.kwgs.org) are doing a similar thing and have hired news personnel away from the local news / talk station since it was minimizing the 'news' portion of its schedule.  Does UH or Rice use HD broadcasting at this time for their existing stations?  I was just wondering, since I know of other college stations who are utilizing the HD technology.

KUHF has hired many of the jettisoned personalities from KTRH.  Laurie Johnson was a reporter for that station and commented on the previous fund drive that she didn't know much about the station before she was hired and also mentioned her adaptation to the change in style from commercial to NPR long-form.  Rod Rice is the one I most remember on KTRH; hearing him on clear FM after all those years on AM was a startling discovery!  I believe both were in a conversation talking about their experiences in commercial news radio (KTRH) and their adaptations to the new format during that fund drive.

KUHF and KPFT are the only public stations in Houston to use HD. KUHF has tried to promote HD and their alternating format schedule for a few years now.