New 103.9 translator for "Freeport" approved to move

[CAwasinNJ]

You may recall this guy K280GX. It's a translator for KUTR 820 and it was originally approved for about halfway between SR-193 and I-84 in the Layton area where it would have blanketed Harrisville/Ogden to Farmington. Now it's approved for no man's land right near the shore of the Great Salt Lake west of Ogden. Are they really going to put it there or is there another hop involved?

The thing that really bothers me about this station though is that they specify a community of license of Freeport, which as far as I can tell doesn't exist. There IS what's described as a "warehousing and distribution center" in Clearfield with that name which is not coincidentally near the original transmitter site. I think that communities of license for translators are even more meaningless than for full service stations. At least full service stations have specific requirements for covering the COL. I don't think translators and boosters do. Cases in point: K260DC (99.9 for KSVN) is still licensed to North Salt Lake even though it doesn't reach anywhere near there anymore. Also, way back when there was at least a construction permit for a booster for 107.9 out near the Salt Lake Airport and it was licensed to Provo. Amazing. It's not hard to find a community that doesn't have any radio stations licensed to it. With a translator or booster you don't even have to say it on the air!

[David]

I guess I can kiss my reception of KGNT "KOOL 103.9" goodbye (maybe) once the translator for KUTR is operational. I don't know why they chose to put it near the Ogden area, because 820 has good coverage in Weber County both day and night. Thank goodness KGNT streams their audio online.

[CAwasinNJ]

Whether 820 has good coverage in Ogden is irrelevant. 820 is AM, 103.9 is FM. It's that simple. Whether the station needs FM or not is also irrelevant. FM is what station owners want.

[fmdj1]

I didn't realize Cache Valley Media had a KOOL on 103.9. That could very well be why Broadway pulled Kool off 103.9. If the Frandsens sent them a C&D for that name on that frequency for Utah, which they would probably be in their rights to do, that would explain the sudden and unexpected flip.

[David]

Is the "KOOL" branding trademarked, or does it need to be licensed for use on air? If not, then I think it's possible Broadway Media flipped 103.9 to a simulcast of The Mix to have better coverage in Utah County. Other than KXRK, KUDD does better in the ratings than any of the other Broadway stations, so I'm thinking they may have decided to put the more highly rated station on 103.9 for that reason alone. I don't see how anyone could confuse KOOL 103.9 in Smithfield with the former KOOL 103.9 in Utah County, because their formats aren't really similar to each other. KGNT has a classic hits format with 80's and 90's music in addition to the 70's tunes, whereas KOOL 105.5 is mostly oldies from the 1960's and 1970's, with a handful of early 1980's tunes mixed in.

[CAwasinNJ]

I'm not seeing it Frank. The only legal action I can think of that CVMG could take is owning a trademark like David suggested. Using Kool as an oldies station branding is very common and has been going on for ages. I personally know of a station that was using it a decade before KGNT was. So trademark is out. The only other action I can think of would be filing a complaint with the ratings companies and complaints like that have happened over the years, but that had to do with getting proper attribution in diaries. Salt Lake is a PPM market and does any rating company measure Logan at all? So, I think that's out too.

Even forgetting all of the above, there's a bigger reason that doesn't make sense. If there was really a problem with the name wouldn't Broadway just have changed the name of the station rather than give up a format they wanted to have on that translator?

Am I wrong? Is there anything I haven't thought of?

[drpepper]

Don't think you missed a scenario CA.
While it doesn't seem to me that K280GJ was supplying much of the ratings for Kool, it does seem odd to flip it back to Mix. I've heard from a handful of people that they would listen to the Eagle if it had better reception in Utah County, if I were going to simulcast a station in the cluster, it would either be that one or KALL, though with KALL, that would kind of step on KOVO and their Translator on 94.5.
wonder what the ratings for the Eagle were when they were simulcast on KAUU, prior to it's move to Farnsworth.

[fmdj1]

I agree with all of you. The KOOL name has been synonymous with Oldies around the country. I was musing on whether "KOOL 103.9" specifically was something CVMG could have made a case for owning in Utah. If that were the case, then I guess it would be a decision for Broadway about whether rebranding was really worth it. Either way, I agree that Mix is the more valuable property for Broadway. I had suspected when they initially made the flip back that they had done it because they had lost monitors in Utah County after flipping 103.9 to Kool and it was more valuable to try and get those monitors back. As CA has accurately pointed out before, Oldies is a much harder sell than a youth-leaning format like CHR, so it makes more sense to preserve the ratings for the CHR. It was just when David brought up that there was another "KOOL 103.9" in the same area that it got me to wondering if there was any other motivation for the change. Look at me starting radio rumors...

[David]

Speaking of KOOL, I just heard Tom Robin mention on KOOL 105.5 that the station will be doing an all Beatles weekend for the upcoming Labor Day holiday. Might be worth tuning in if you're a fan of the Fab Four.

[fmdj1]

That's good to know. Thanks David. I'd love to do something like that but you have to shut down your stream to do it, which is a tough trade-off. The streaming artist separation rules really have ruined the specialty shows focused on artists, in my opinion. I used to love hearing stations do these long blocks focused on the catalog of a band over their career and you just can't do that anymore if you stream.

[CAwasinNJ]

Sept 1, 2021 12:51:24 GMT -6 fmdj1 said:

I'd love to do something like that but you have to shut down your stream to do it, which is a tough trade-off.

See my new topic on this:

talkingutahradio.proboards.com/thread/2146/restrictions-on-streaming-stations