Rumor: July 25th

[Timmy]

Yadda yadda, new (read: additional) country FM in SLC launching July 25th. Yadda yadda.

CC did this a few years ago with MyCountry 105.7, while an original take with the auto-backsell that was all the rage then, but ultimately edged out by the other 3 FMs.

I can't see anywhere this new country would go. Not many operators have money it takes to flip even their semi-performing facilities.

Anything from this ringing true to any of you?

[CAwasinNJ]

Trying to copy the success of My 99.5 with a country station probably seemed like a good idea on the surface. Problem is that an automated jukebox AC works well as background music for an office or a store, but country really doesn't. Actually I could see a "My"ish classic hits jukebox doing reasonably well especially given that you don't have to pay talent. That's a different topic though.

There are two country stations doing pretty well, K-Bull and KSOP. They've been around since about the time songs were being released on wax cylinders so it's going to get people to move. Eagle is doing ok for a Humpy rimshot. Adding a fourth current country seems crazy to me, but I said the same thing when Eagle launched. (I thought it was ironically appropriate that the first song was "What Was I Thinkin?" by Dierks Bentley...) That proved to be wrong though probably helped by CItadel buying the old KKAT and shutting it down.

If there is country coming it would make a bit more sense that it would be classic country. Country Legends was doing well, but that got shed due to Citadel being forced to sell. Classic Country 99.1 is doing relatively well with its hampered signal (being only a translator). The other part of the 99.1 story is that KUDE is going to move there at some point when they get around to it. That boots the translator and 103.9 will become a rimshot if I remember correctly. If either a rimshot or a full market station went classic country again it has good potential IMO.

In the meantime 99.1 is running a dead carrier.

Now here's an interesting alternative. VFX has been a non issue along the Wasatch Front for years. The current simulcast between 107.9 and 103.9 (moving to 99.1) is going to be unnecessary when 107.9 moves to Humpy and becomes a rimshot. Could Sun Valley Radio buy KUDE since it's up for sale and combine that with 94.5/98.3 and create a superstation that reaches from southeast Idaho to central Utah and put classic country on it as a companion to KKEX? They could even lease the current 99.1 translator until KUDE is ready for the move. There some separate news about VFX that I'll post in another thread that might be related assuming that this is a possibility.

[Timmy]

Why would 1079 want to downgrade their signal to a rimshot? Isn't their current signal full-market as it is?

[CAwasinNJ]

Not really Timmy. They're broadcasting from Promontory Peak near Ogden. It's a similar problem to what 94.9 and 107.5 have broadcasting from Lake Mountain only even worse since the height is considerably lower at Promontory. Even theoretically 107.9 doesn't put a city grade signal past Sandy and with all the terrain issues it makes things worse in actual practice. Another problem is that they can't move further south because that would short space them to 107.5 (and vice versa). As part of the big docket 05-243 mess that moves around a couple of dozen stations, 107.5 is moving to Farnsworth Peak and thus 107.9 has to get out of the way. To be honest, that's probably an improvement for both on the whole. 107.9 has a horrible history of multipath problems because of the wacky layout of boosters that they need to try to get decent coverage. This simplifies things and increases the populous coverage area to boot.

[uplateinlayton]

Anybody know where Johnson and Johnson went? Seems to me a no brainer to do a country station with them in Utah. they would be just what a new country station would need.

[michaeljwyo]

I was under the impression that while 107.9's main IS indeed on Promontory Peak, it's only on once in a blue moon just to satisfy FCC regs otherwise the signal you are usually hearing is from their "auxillary facilities" on Ensign Peak plus a few boosters. I worked for the original KRPN (WKRP) back in 1990 and at the time we had the 92.1 translator on Ensign because the promontory signal doesn't reach SLC very well because Antelope Island is in the way. At THAT time, same exact situation for Brent Larson's 106.9 KSOS.....that transmitter was up there too. Brent also had a translator in SLC (96.7 I think?). Someone can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think that's how 107.9's been operating for many years. I heard they (Chris Devine--Marathon) actually had the original original idea for burying a transmitter in the mountains and putting boosters along the Wasatch front and tried something with 107.9 that involved putting the transmitter somewhere in the mountains between Morgan and Huntsville. End result was too much signal from the main leaking over the mountains and major problems with multi-pathing and delay and so forth......so they came up with something else. Leave the main on promontory and put an "auxillary" transmitter on Ensign. Then put fill-in boosters in other spots along the way (Ogden, Provo, etc). Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.

Michael n Wyo

[Timmy]

I heard that J&J are heading to 106.5. I also understand they're not hugely big fans of Country Music, personally. I just hear these things.

[CAwasinNJ]

[107.9] The only licensed auxes I can find are pretty much the same as the Ensign boosters (there are multiple licenses, it's a real mess.) There's no aux I can find that would cover anything in the Ogden area. What they might be able to legally do would be to run the main an minimum power and then they could leave the boosters on full. I'm not a legal expert by any means, so I'm not sure how the FCC might do that if it was done intentionally. Special circumstances such as what you posted about the Humpy stations would probably be ok for being "in the public interest" but I'm not nearly so sure about this.

[106.9] I don't know about 20 some years ago, but in the late 90's 106.9 was translated on Ensign's 103.1. That made for some interesting dial surfing when KOSY was still on Lake Mountain and was playing around with simulcasts on the north end of the valley. They started by simulcasting on 107.9, then they transitioned to 106.9 which also still had the 103.1 translator. The transition took some time so for a while you could hear the exact same programming in a significant part of the area on 103.1, 106.5, 106.9 AND 107.9 all at the same time. At the time they were running a pretty lite AC and some people really hate it. Must have driven them batty. 103.1 went on to translate VFX I believe up until the new KJQ on 100.7 signed on. 107.9 went silent, then Christmas until late January or something, then Fever 107.9 IIRC.

[Timmy]

I just saw on 104.3's RDS

"The Z Is Coming August 1st..."

Interesting...

[CAwasinNJ]

Does KSOP-FM do IBUZ? I wonder if they might actually start doing something useful with K244DH the 96.7 translator. "The Z" would be a bad choice for a name though, wouldn't it? We already have Z-Rock and ZHT. Could be a new personality though.

[Timmy]

No, as far as I know there's no hd radio at KSOP am or fm. That could have changed, but I doubt it.

[Terry]

I notice that 96.7 is now fully modulated after many months of being extremely low modulation, assumedly to block reception of 96.7 signals from north and south of SLC. So, I'm wondering, would FCC rules allow KSOP to translate their AM station's country oldies onto 96.7?

[CAwasinNJ]

96.7 Salt Lake I'm convinced is there to prevent anyone else from having it. It's owned by Zeta which also owns KQMB 96.7 Levan. I heard some time back from someone who lives right up against the mountains who says that the translator comes in better than KSOP-FM itself even though they broadcast from practically the same location. I think they're intentionally aiming the antenna so it doesn't shoot as much power (at least southward) at the areas that listen to the co-channel stations and it shoots down instead. Having low modulation (which they've done off and on for years) is another part of that, though maybe they got yelled at by the FCC. I know there are specific max modulation rules, but I'm not sure about minimum.

Since the SL 96.7 was authorized some time ago, I don't think it's a problem for it to translate an AM. Anything authorized after sometime in 2009 can't right now, I think. Before that isn't a problem. Another thought I just had was it could make 1230AM KJQS a lot more useful.

[dspete]

Today is July 25-2011

So I guess I'll take this as....A rumor!

[CAwasinNJ]

Maybe the rumor was off by a week based on the RDS that Timmy reported. KSOP-FM is still going by The Cowboy. They're even claiming to be Utah's #1 country station. No idea what measurement they're using. It's definitely not the 12+ ratings.

A quick scan of the dial doesn't show anything obvious changed. Guess we'll meet back here in a week.