bidding for 101.1 on Whidbey Island

Just saw today that the FCC has announced an auction date for this July for lots of new FM freqs, including a few with some actual population around them. Nearest to Seattle is a class A allocation for 101.1 in Coupeville WA.

Any speculation on who will apply? Seems like a long overdue oversight to have something more than a low power FM in the Island and Skagit county area, and an regional FM intended to reach all of the San Juan Islands. It would be nice to hear something like what Anacortes had until recently on AM 1340, serving a general audience and being a local station for the islands. Not a time brokered, religious, or totally automated station that could be from Anytown USA.

But, once again, they're placing this new assignment on 101.1 on top of a full power (class C equivalent) signal from Vancouver. CFMI "Rock 101" is, what, 65 miles away from Coupeville to their mountaintop transmitter site, over salt water? It might be one thing to cover up a fringe high power signal for ten miles with the low power FMs that are scattered across the islands. But a class A co-channel that close really is going to be a mess! I'm pretty sure CFMI already has a fair number of listeners on Whidbey and nearby, since their signal is one of the strongest and steadiest in the area.

I thought it was the FCC's job to manage spectrum integrity better than they've been doing in our borderlands.

Sure, they can do what KPLU did to a similarly close and powerful signal on 88.9. But just how stable will those signals be, when atmospheric conditions play with reception? Or when you turn a corner and get a solid signal of something else picket fencing what you're listening to? It's not just bad for the actual stations, but for the integrity of the FM dial.

You might as well put the new Whidbey station on top of one of the full power Seattle signals, since they've all gotta be at least 60 miles away to their transmitter sites on the East side. And I don't recommend selecting one of the high power frequencies of stations located around Tacoma, Olympia, or even Centralia, since those signals also blast up the Puget Sound. Distance alone isn't an adequate formula for finding a truly workable frequency that doesn't require wrestling with an existing strong signal in a region with lots of hills, mountains and water.

Perhaps 102.1 makes more sense for a new allocation with class A power in the islands. FCC, why not require KBRE's lower powered translator on 102.1 to move to 101.1? Then we can have a regional service on 102.1, and the lower powered repeater of AM 660 can do what it's supposed to do for a limited area at 101.1 instead, or perhaps elsewhere on the dial.

Do only "market forces" have to make these things happen, when the FCC allocates a poor assignment, on the assumption that there is nothing happening on the dial over the Canadian border? To me, it seems like a lot of wasted energy, and spectrum, to just clutter up the dial even further, and reduce the coverage of even more already-existing stations. And handicap the new station with a signal that's about as smart as pissing into the wind.

I agree. The FCC seems to think that the only people who tune into any given radio station reside within the city grade listening area.

The FCC doesn't care. As long as the Canadians don't have an interference problem on their turf (and trust me, at 500 watts or whatever measly power/HAAT they give this new assignment, they won't.), all the Canadian frequencies are fair game.

I think it's ridiculous too. But it is what it is....

The FM dial is a mess north of Seattle. Period. From Nanaimo/Courteney all the way to Everett and Edmonds...and beyond. 101.1 is going to be killed within 5 miles of Coupeville by Vancouver. It's as if you can pick any channel with a Canadian station on it, and broadcast! Geeze! And I thought 4 new translators was bad in Yakima...
88.9 was unneeded. 91.1 from Mt. Vernon served that whole county, and I could hear them on Bothell/North Creek hills. CBUX-FM1 has no coverage now in Skagit County, and that's sad. There's some great jazz, classical and other genres on Espace Musique, even if it's all in French.

-crainbebo

It's a similar situation in the south sound. The Portland stations were pretty easy to pick up in the fringe coverage area and had the capability to sound like locals on a good day. I think you are out of luck north of Lewis County.

Oh well, you are going to listen to the programming available in your local area, and you are going to LIKE IT!
(Or listen online, which I much prefer)

Yep, I do have online "presets." Rated from most often to less often.
#1 103.7 the Oasis, Albuquerque NM (best smooth jazz station I've heard in a long time)
#2 KSRW Sierra Wave 92.5 Bishop CA (great adult contemporary station with a great playlist of singer-songwriter artists, some rare 70s/80s/90s soft rock hits, LOTS of album cuts, smooth jazz cuts, etc etc.)
#3 KKRB 106.9 Sunny 107 Klamath Falls OR (great adult contemporary station with way too many rare songs 1970s-today)
#4 KLAN 93.5 Glasgow MT (a Hot AC with lots of lesser-known artists, plus tons of 70s-90s songs)
#5 WIMI 99.7 Ironwood MI The Storm (Adult Hits station with a gigantic mix of songs 1970s-today, including country, rock, pop, R&B, urban AC, etc. I've even heard some rare non-single album cuts from The Eagles on this station.)
#6 Always a mix, depending on what and when. Sometimes KCBS-FM Los Angeles (Jack), KJAQ Seattle (Jack), K295AV Walla Walla (Bob FM), KDXN Dickinson, ND (Hot AC), WSBZ Fort Walton Beach, FL (Smooth Jazz...), sometimes even KTFW Glen Rose, TX (Hank FM, huge country variety from 70s-today with lots of rare singles and 80s songs I've never heard before)

Obviously no "New Country", classic hits or classic rock in the mix, because they are all short playlists. No thanks. I don't need to hear "Listen to the Music" for the 1700th time on some large-market oldies station, or Florida Georgia Line on a station called "Froggy," "Wolf," "Nash," or "Cat".

P.S. OK, back to the topic of some Whidbey Island FM...

-crainbebo

crainbebo said:

Yep, I do have online "presets." Rated from most often to less often.
#1 103.7 the Oasis, Albuquerque NM (best smooth jazz station I've heard in a long time)
#2 KSRW Sierra Wave 92.5 Bishop CA (great adult contemporary station with a great playlist of singer-songwriter artists, some rare 70s/80s/90s soft rock hits, LOTS of album cuts, smooth jazz cuts, etc etc.)
#3 KKRB 106.9 Sunny 107 Klamath Falls OR (great adult contemporary station with way too many rare songs 1970s-today)
#4 KLAN 93.5 Glasgow MT (a Hot AC with lots of lesser-known artists, plus tons of 70s-90s songs)
#5 WIMI 99.7 Ironwood MI The Storm (Adult Hits station with a gigantic mix of songs 1970s-today, including country, rock, pop, R&B, urban AC, etc. I've even heard some rare non-single album cuts from The Eagles on this station.)
#6 Always a mix, depending on what and when. Sometimes KCBS-FM Los Angeles (Jack), KJAQ Seattle (Jack), K295AV Walla Walla (Bob FM), KDXN Dickinson, ND (Hot AC), WSBZ Fort Walton Beach, FL (Smooth Jazz...), sometimes even KTFW Glen Rose, TX (Hank FM, huge country variety from 70s-today with lots of rare singles and 80s songs I've never heard before)

Obviously no "New Country", classic hits or classic rock in the mix, because they are all short playlists. No thanks. I don't need to hear "Listen to the Music" for the 1700th time on some large-market oldies station, or Florida Georgia Line on a station called "Froggy," "Wolf," "Nash," or "Cat".

P.S. OK, back to the topic of some Whidbey Island FM...

-crainbebo

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Unfortunately, you are stuck with your local listening selection in the car.

fordranger797 said:

Unfortunately, you are stuck with your local listening selection in the car.

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Not if you have a smartphone. I regularly listen to NYC stations while being stuck in Seattle traffic.

Unregistered said:

Not if you have a smartphone. I regularly listen to NYC stations while being stuck in Seattle traffic.

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Agreed. Streaming is nearly all I listen to. (Although when I'm in Seattle, I'll check out KEXP or occasionally KOMO.)

When I am in Seattle, in the car, the only Seattle FM I will usually listen to is 96.5 KJAQ. As for AM, KOMO 1000/97.7. Everett north, it's KAFE 104.1. Auburn south, it's KXXO 96.1, and then KITI and KRXY when they come in.
But when I'm near a computer, there's hardly any Seattle stations I will ever listen to. Mostly the 5 listed on my "presets."

US to US, the Commission has specific Regulations. But we are now free to unhook our seat belts and accept Canadian interference. That's been the case for 10 years or so.

Tom Taylor's "NOW" newsletter reports the following:

"Oak Harbor, Washington is north of Seattle on Whidbey Island, and that’s where the FCC recently granted the construction permit for a new Class C3 FM at 103.3. (It will run 1,550 watts way up at 1,302 feet.) The CP won at an FCC auction is held by Sunnylands Broadcasting, which invites William Wolfenbarger into its ownership group as one-third owner of a successor company named Everett-Snohomish Broadcasting. Wolfenbarger’s interests include KNBQ Central Park, Washington at 98.5."

Way to grow Boss Bill! Who says small market radio ain't lucrative.

With all due respect to Bill and his business interests, it seems to me this is nothing more than a radio version of urban sprawl. Between cramming translators, LPFM's and more new CP's going on line, the FM band is rapidly becoming too congested. For small markets, more slices out of a small and shrinking pie.

And some are considering giving AM broadcasters FM translators too? Good luck with that!

103.3 is an open frequency...with an FM radio with narrow filters. Otherwise, this station is going to be swamped in probably 5 miles by CHTT 103.1 and CHQM 103.5. Thanks but no thanks. The only people that could probably hear this station clearly are the ones in the city of Oak Harbor.

-crainbebo

I think it's been for quite a while that a radio with narrow filters is essential. Here in Edmonds, most radios do pretty well, though there are some that even at 25 miles get overloaded on empty frequencies. The closer you get to the big tower farms the worse it gets. In Rapid City SD for example, the towers according to Radio Locator are only about 2 miles out of downtown. I'm sure the G8 would have no problems with this setup, but with the radios I had at the time I was there, even getting KSQY to come in at 30 miles or so away was a challenge.

Kelly A said:

With all due respect to Bill and his business interests, it seems to me this is nothing more than a radio version of urban sprawl. Between cramming translators, LPFM's and more new CP's going on line, the FM band is rapidly becoming too congested. For small markets, more slices out of a small and shrinking pie.

And some are considering giving AM broadcasters FM translators too? Good luck with that!

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It's been this way here since at least 1997. The congestion should have been called into check in 2002 at the latest. But it has gotten WAAAAY out of control since then. We need to pull all these Jesuscaster translators off the air as well as NWPR and KPLU repeaters as streaming audio can serve these areas without hogging up precious FM bandwidth. The FM band is finite and there is only so much room. As for FM translators for Seattle AM stations - FORGET IT. There is just no room there. At all.

KPLK 88.9 was not needed. AT ALL. CBUX-FM1 had a following with at least two people on this forum - Bongwater (Larry) and Goldilocks. The French CBC aired some great jazz, classical and French language music, but with KPLU blocking all of that in Skagit and Whatcom County, 88.9 is a disaster. Add K205FO with Spanish Christian programming, and KMIH in Mercer Island, and you've got yourself an unlistenable soup of programming.
All the CSNs forming the "translator chain" on 89.1 need to go. Now. No one listens to CSN anyways, unless you are in Twin Falls proper.

Something also needs to be done about KAFE and CHLG. The IBOC on 104.1 destroys CHLG until past White Rock. CKKQ is swamped by CFRO on the Lower Mainland.
KROH was unneeded. I'm sure there are 12 people that listen to that station on 91.1.

-crainbebo

The FCC doesn't regulate programming like Canada does, so none of that is taken into account when applying for an existing or new license/CP in the US. Armchair worth judgments based on what the station or translator is programmed are made by listeners. As with what happened to class D AM stations, the FM band was allowed too many open allocations and "first service" into small communities, without consideration of signal penetration from the larger neighboring city or towns.

Bongwater said:

It's been this way here since at least 1997. The congestion should have been called into check in 2002 at the latest. But it has gotten WAAAAY out of control since then. We need to pull all these Jesuscaster translators off the air as well as NWPR and KPLU repeaters as streaming audio can serve these areas without hogging up precious FM bandwidth. The FM band is finite and there is only so much room. As for FM translators for Seattle AM stations - FORGET IT. There is just no room there. At all.

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Take your personal bias and your agenda of people making any money off of the business of radio, and you'll realize the system is working just fine.

The only reason any of the standard Seattle stations has a translator, Hot 103.7's 103.3 in downtown Seattle (or wherever it precisely is, I'm sure I'll get corrected), is because there's money to be made off of that.

Entercom, or any other Seattle for-profit licensee don't care a lick about Whatcom or Skagit Counties because it's not profitable. I can't imagine profits are very high at KISM, KGMI or KAFE. Enter translators or repeaters, playing by the rules. Most of the programming on those I don't care for either, but I somehow manage a good night's sleep. Go turn on your computer and listen to Triple J, Triple M, or Triple Bacon Crunch Wrap, or whatever the stations you frequently brag about listening to.

Or, step away from the keyboard once in awhile and challenge the licenses of the operators to get them turned off. You, and everyone else have every programming problem solved, the onus is on you to put your money where your mouth is.

AQH said:

Take your personal bias and your agenda of people making any money off of the business of radio, and you'll realize the system is working just fine.

The only reason any of the standard Seattle stations has a translator, Hot 103.7's 103.3 in downtown Seattle (or wherever it precisely is, I'm sure I'll get corrected), is because there's money to be made off of that.

Entercom, or any other Seattle for-profit licensee don't care a lick about Whatcom or Skagit Counties because it's not profitable. I can't imagine profits are very high at KISM, KGMI or KAFE. Enter translators or repeaters, playing by the rules. Most of the programming on those I don't care for either, but I somehow manage a good night's sleep. Go turn on your computer and listen to Triple J, Triple M, or Triple Bacon Crunch Wrap, or whatever the stations you frequently brag about listening to.

Or, step away from the keyboard once in awhile and challenge the licenses of the operators to get them turned off. You, and everyone else have every programming problem solved, the onus is on you to put your money where your mouth is.

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I don't believe you when you say there's money to be made off of that 103.3 KHTP has. If there's so much money to be made off of a 250 watt translator that serves an area that is already served by the main signal, then why doesn't every commercial signal in the market have some sort of translator in that area? also agree about KPLK. My view on this is and has been for a while, that if one station has a translator in a particular area, everyone should have one in te same area.