KMKY has a CP to ever so slightly shorten its towers so that they don't have to be illuminated. Even seemingly inconsequential changes of this sort can affect the directional patterns. I would not be surprised if the engineers figured that they didn't need the added headaches of IBOC while they were proofing the modified setup. I suspect that IBOC will return at 1310 once a license to cover has been granted. Now, if it turns out that the license to cover has already been granted, you can forget about this posting, because the absence of IBOC under those conditions would indicate that I guessed incorrectly about the reason for the shutdown.
Here in Boston, the triplex of WXKS (AM) 1200, WRCA 1330, and WUNR 1600 was built from the ground up with the understanding that all three AMs would run IBOC. All three stations have been on the air from the new site for going on three years. The last license to cover (WUNR) was granted well over a year ago (closer to two years). I have never heard any of these stations running IBOC--even briefly. Since WXKS, the most powerful of the three signals (50 kW-U DA-2), is owned by Clear Channel, one of the most vocal IBOC proponents, I had expected that at least that one station would run IBOC. I have no inside info on why none of the three stations has apparently even tried to run IBOC, but there is plenty of room to speculate about the reason. BTW, WRCA is owned by Beasley and WUNR by a local company, Champion. WRCA runs 25 kW-D/17 kW-N DA-2 (five towers day/four night). WUNR runs 20 kW DA-1 (five towers). WXKS runs four towers day and three towers night. The site has a total of five towers. It appears that these stations run enough power to produce useful IBOC signals.
