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KGOW Moving to 94.1

L

LibertyNT

Star Participant
From RadioInsight

"Gow Media Sports “SB Nation 1560” KGOW Houston will move its programming to Centro Cristiano de Vida Eterna’s 94.1 K231CN Houston on October 1. When KGOW moves to 94.1, its programming will originate on the HD2 of sister “ESPN 97.5” KFNC Mont Belvieu as the 1560 signal will be leased to another party."

Looks like they've given up on 1560, wonder who will lease it.
 
Not only have they given up on the AM signal, it would appear they might be abandoning the 1560 daytime site, which has been off the air since early 2016 due to flooding issues. Those flood problems were almost certainly amplified by Hurricane Harvey. Sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on.

That makes two of the translator formats that will have disappeared; first La Mejor, then La Nueva.

Best use of the remaining 1560 signal, which is now fullltime from the night sight, would be an Asian language format. The highly directional signal is aimed right at the southwest side of the market, where the Asian demographics are concentrated. The highly directional day and night patterns had issues in many parts of the Houston metro, but the southwest side is not one of them.

I'm hoping that Charlie Pallilo will wind up in the afternoon drive timeslot.
 
Yes, KGOW's daytime sight flooded again. It'll be interesting to see how the new 94.1 does.

sportsmap941-200x156.png
 
So that will leave LBC with only LA CALLE for now until someone else leases it. Who would lease it? Any guesses?? Or do you think they will rebroadcast La Mejor on both 102.5 and 92.5? Is this something that's coming to FM or just online?


https://houston925.com
 
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LibertyNT said:
From RadioInsight

"Gow Media Sports “SB Nation 1560” KGOW Houston will move its programming to Centro Cristiano de Vida Eterna’s 94.1 K231CN Houston on October 1. When KGOW moves to 94.1, its programming will originate on the HD2 of sister “ESPN 97.5” KFNC Mont Belvieu as the 1560 signal will be leased to another party."

Looks like they've given up on 1560, wonder who will lease it.
Click to expand...
Why not rebroadcast 1560? Making KFNC-HD2 the parent station is not allowed by the FCC since the translator would would extend past KFNC's 60 dbu. That's a big no-no.
 
Mrtejano said:
So that will leave LBC with only LA CALLE for now until someone else leases it. Who would lease it? Any guesses?? Or do you think they will rebroadcast La Mejor on both 102.5 and 92.5? Is this something that's coming to FM or just online?


https://houston925.com
Click to expand...
They probably learned that making money off of these translators isn't easy with all the costs involved. Better to lease them one by one

Which brings me to my next point; 92.5 is straight up out kicking their coverage. I shouldn't even be able to hear them in Spring, yet they come in very strong. The FCC should set up office on Centro's church. Too much smoke coming out of this operation; Translators that cause interference, translators that go beyond their intended broadcasting area, translators with questionable parent stations, etc.
 
LibertyNT said:
From RadioInsight

"Gow Media Sports “SB Nation 1560” KGOW Houston will move its programming to Centro Cristiano de Vida Eterna’s 94.1 K231CN Houston on October 1. When KGOW moves to 94.1, its programming will originate on the HD2 of sister “ESPN 97.5” KFNC Mont Belvieu as the 1560 signal will be leased to another party."

Looks like they've given up on 1560, wonder who will lease it.
Click to expand...

Since when does mono KFNC have a HD2 channel? I don't see it on my HD radios.
 
We all know KGOW-AM ain’t what it used to be, but even with its diminished night-time-all-the-time signal with 15,000 watts directional, it’s still intensely superior to the new pip-squeek 99 watt FM signal at 94.1 which won’t penetrate much of anything in the big city, let alone the burbs. Then, it seems odd to make a Big-Splash-Announcement on a radio change that won’t happen until October 1st. I suppose that’s when the FM 97.5 HD2 signal will light up and FM 94.1 will convert to “SportsMap.” (What happened to SB Nation?) In Spring, I won’t get the FM 94.1 signal, but will give the Gow Guys a listen on FM 97.5 HD2, which signal is lousy in Katy/West Houston due to the tower being stuck in Winnie/Mont Belvieu. The actual listening audience can’t be expected to be above the zero that it currently is, when banking on a weak FM translator and an HD subchannel. Like Bruce Carter and BamaTX, I’m shakin’ my head on this miniaturization of the Gow presence in Houston.
 
BamaTX said:
Why not rebroadcast 1560? Making KFNC-HD2 the parent station is not allowed by the FCC since the translator would would extend past KFNC's 60 dbu. That's a big no-no.
Click to expand...

It's not a big no-no if Gow doesn't own the translator. However, it still has to get 97.5 HD2 over-the-air, and the digital signal rarely gets past the 60 dBu analog contour.
 
97.5 does not have an HD2 signal. If you think it does, what is it currently broadcasting?
 
stan said:
97.5 does not have an HD2 signal. If you think it does, what is it currently broadcasting?
Click to expand...

97.5 KFNC has an HD transmitter. It sits to the right of the analog unit. Not sure if its running right now, but if not its definitely there and ready to be cranked up. See pic from a post about KFNC on facebook. BTW there are more pics showing how bad the site flooded.
FB_IMG_1505442437906.jpg
 
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Kent said:
It's not a big no-no if Gow doesn't own the translator. However, it still has to get 97.5 HD2 over-the-air, and the digital signal rarely gets past the 60 dBu analog contour.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the rules stipulate that if Centro is going to retransmit a commercial station beyond it's protected contour, then they CANNOT profit from the rebroadcast? I can't find the rules (clunky iPhone doesn't play nice with the FCC site), but iirc then Centro will have to rebroadcast KFNC-HD2 without seeking any form of compensation (this includes leasing fees or cash to pay electric bills, site fees, etc). Any FCC junkies want to take a crack at looking up the rules?

The church of Centro would have have to be charitable if this is the case.
 
stan said:
97.5 does not have an HD2 signal. If you think it does, what is it currently broadcasting?
Click to expand...

It should have been rebroadcasting KGOW on KFNC-HD2 from the moment GOW took over. I do remember them broadcasting HD at one point (circa 2010?), but that was during their Cumulus days. I don't know why GOW turned off their HD.
 
Kent said:
It's not a big no-no if Gow doesn't own the translator. However, it still has to get 97.5 HD2 over-the-air, and the digital signal rarely gets past the 60 dBu analog contour.
Click to expand...

If he is leasing it, then it is not allowed according to my recollection. Maybe Gow is planning to continue leasing the KODA HD channel to feed it in addition to making SportsMap also available on 97.5 HD-2.

Gow paid $9,000,000 for 1560 in 2006.
 
Ryan Williams said:
I thought it was a one time licensing fee plus a % of the revenue generated from the channel on an ongoing basis.
Click to expand...
I believe this is the case. There are no more fees for HD Radio if you only run one channel. You only pay licensing fees and a percentage for subchannels (HD-2, HD-3, HD-4).
 
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Ryan Williams said:
If he is leasing it, then it is not allowed according to my recollection. Maybe Gow is planning to continue leasing the KODA HD channel to feed it in addition to making SportsMap also available on 97.5 HD-2.

Gow paid $9,000,000 for 1560 in 2006.
Click to expand...

This would actually work. But I just don't see GOW being leased space by one of it's competitors (KBME is KODA's sister station). And even if they lease another HD channel from Cox or Univision, I just don't see GOW paying two leases to run a station on a directional translator that is supposed to drop off once you get past the beltway.

Centro will have to receive no compensation for this set up to work for GOW. Something tells me this set up won't last very long. GOW and Centro already had a lease disagreement with the 97.3 translator.
 
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