Airwaves: October 14, 2016
Budget
cuts are a fact of life in these days of corporate radio. But in a case
of being penny-wise and pound-foolish, the entire metro area of
Albuquerque, New Mexico almost lost every television and FM radio
station because transmitter sites are no longer manned unless work is
being done. And it could happen elsewhere.
KOB
Television Channel 4 reported last week that two television engineers
just happened to be in the area -- they normally are not -- and noticed
an open door at one transmitter building with flickering light inside.
They then witnessed an unknown man and, according to KOB, “practically
interrupted the male suspect as he lit the first (of a stash) of Molotov
cocktails.”
The
suspect remains on the loose; his stolen getaway vehicle was later
found on fire. But investigators say that there was enough fuel brought
to the mountain location to “literally blow every broadcaster off the
mountain,” according to KOB’s Kasia Gregorczyk. More Molotov cocktails
were found just steps away from dozens of transmitters that also
featured backup generators with propane tanks. Officials are considering
it an act of domestic terrorism.
As one comment to the story reprinted at AllAccess.Com
stated, “not so long ago, the F.C.C. required that all TV transmitter
sites be manned whenever the station was on-the-air. This manned
presence also helped provide some security. Perhaps station owners need
to rethink the unmanned transmitter site paradigm.”
Reviving AM
I
received quite a few emails regarding my plan to bring AM radio back to
life by playing music, the idea being that if you play what people want
to hear they may actually consider the band an entertainment choice
rather than something to ignore.
I
know that it probably won’t happen. At least not overnight. But I once
again send this message to owners: what have you got yo lose? No one is
listening now anyway. Realistically, though, it will probably take the
bankruptcy of the large ownership monopolies before this really happens.
Once the stations are under local control again.
Regardless, the emails were mostly in agreement, some offering more suggestions. Such as:
“Nice
article on AM stations being dead in LA, with your advice that AM
stations should go back to older music formats. However, you left out a
format that I and many others care greatly about: Classic Country. For
many of us, older country music (i.e., prior to about 1990) is far
superior to the newer stuff; I have talked with many older country music
fans over the years that lament the fact that Classic Country music
cannot be found on either AM or FM stations. Fortunately, SiriusXM does
carry a station called Willie’s Roadhouse that plays Classic Country
music. But, SiriusXM costs me over $200 per year. I only subscribe to it
so I can listen to Classic Country, and I would much prefer an AM or FM
station with the same format.” -- Ron Viereck, Long Beach
A
few writers mentioned KBOQ (1260 AM, 105.1 HD3) as the one music format
that IS on local AM. That was not an oversight as I wanted to
specifically mention formats missing from the dial ... I am always happy
to mention the station. But of all the letters received, not one person
thought it a bad idea.
Short Takes
Shotgun Tom Kelly appeared on Tonight in San Diego recently. Check out the appearance at http://tinyurl.com/ShotgunTomSDT ... Don Barrett of LARadio.Com
reports that Jim Meeker, veteran of KEZY, KWIZ and the original KRLA
died of prostate cancer last weekend at the age of 78. Meeker’s favorite
on-air contest: giving away a real love horse on his afternoon KEZY
show during the height of popularity for America’s “Horse With No Name.”
This horse was given a name: Amerage ...
KFWB
(980 AM) has been sold again, just six months since it was originally
bought from CBS for $8 million. Price paid this time by Lotus
Communications? $11.2 million ... What does it mean when a company
pushes it’s own station to a lower-fidelity HD stream? I’d say it either
doesn’t give a darn about the station or it is so desperate for cash it
shouldn’t be in the broadcast business. Such is the case with Cumulus’
KABC (790 AM), which pushed its HD simulcast on 95.5 FM to KLOS’s HD3
stream. It had been HD2 with a nice sound. now it just sounds bad. Make
of that what you want.
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