• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Mighty 1090 Leaves The Air

P

pjc1961

Sports Radio Mighty 1090 (XEPRS-AM-1090 Roarito, Baja California, Mexico)
has left the air as of approximately 11:30 AM-Noon on Wednesday 4/10/2019.

It has been replaced with a simulcast of "Ultra 104.9" KJAV-FM-104.9 / KVJY-AM-840 Alamo/McAllen, TX.

The owner of the Texas stations (BiMedia, LLC) is the same Bichara family that was leasing 1090 to BCA.

This is related to the disappearance of XEPE 1700 and XEPRS-FM-105.7 due to missed payments on the lease agreements.
*****
Darren Smith Show podcast recorded around Noon PT on Wed. 4/10/2019:

https://www.mighty1090.com/episode/a-message-from-the-darren-smith-show/

and https://omny.fm/shows/darren-smith-show/a-message-from-the-darren-smith-show
*****
Twitter video of Scott Kaplan shortly after 3 PM PT:

https://twitter.com/ScottKaplan/status/1116099156961927168

*****
It appears that Kaplan is trying to form a media group to possibly take over the lease for 1090 from BCA.
Non-disclosure agreements prevent Kaplan, Darren Smith and other show hosts from discussing much in detail.
Kaplan will try to do a live show on Thursday 4/11/19 via the Mighty1090 app, Twitter, YouTube or other streaming means.
 
The station has flipped to Spanglish Dance/Top 40AJ, simulcasting KJAV Ultra 104.9 in the Rio Grande Valley Texas. Most of the commercials I have heard are in English and are Texas based. The On Air DJ is welcoming all the new San Diego and LA Listeners. So this was....planned at one end at least?
 
This is too bad. Those times I tuned in, I thought XEPRS 1090 was a good sports station with a good local staff. Despite losing the Padres to Entercom's 97.3 KWFN, and being on AM, it has more than double the ratings of The Fan. (Wow, KWFN's ratings are really bad!) ESPN now has no outlet in Market #17. XEPRS ran it late nights and weekends. Co-owned 1700 XEPE ran it most of the day, with some paid business programming in the daytime.

I wonder if someone will acquire the rights to 105.7, 1090 and 1700, and put some decent programming on them? Or is it too late for AM radio, even a 50,000 watt Class A, as 1090 is, or non-directional 10,000 watt XEPE? And while 105.7 has a good signal, with its tower in Mexico, it is not going to get much coverage in Northern San Diego County, putting it at a disadvantage. It runs 8,200 watts from a tower 1000 feet taller than the Empire State Building. That's good but it doesn't have the reach of 90.3 XHITZ, 91.1 XETRA-FM or 104.5 XHLTN.
 
Linked below is an article from the San Diego Reader dated 12/14/2018 -
regarding the pulling of programming from Max 105.7 XHPRS-FM and XEPE-1700.

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2018/dec/14/mexicans-cut-max-1057/

Apparently the same fate has met with Mighty 1090: delinquent lease payments.
According to the story, a buyout of 1090 for $11 million was being offered by
owner Andres Bichara in lieu of paying $100,000 per month in rent/transmitter fees.
*****
Afternoon host Scott Kaplan took to Twitter with live video shortly after 3 PM PT on Wed. 4/10
to address the situation and the future of the sports programming.
Despite there being non-disclosure agreements signed, Kaplan inferred
that he has been in the process of trying to put together a media company
that might be capable of purchasing 1090.

Kaplan video: https://twitter.com/ScottKaplan/status/1116099156961927168

*****

Darren Smith Show ~20 minute podcast recorded on Wed. 4/10/19:

https://twitter.com/DSmithShow/status/1116079607852101632

or https://omny.fm/shows/darren-smith-show/a-message-from-the-darren-smith-show

or https://www.mighty1090.com/episode/a-message-from-the-darren-smith-show/

*****

The Ben + Woods Morning Show says via Twitter they will be available
via the station's stream on Thu. 4/11 from 6-10 AM PT.

https://twitter.com/BenAndWoods/status/1116119886525128707

Station stream link: http://player.listenlive.co/27031

(has been playing the ESPN Network feed since the switchover around Noon-time on Wed. 4/10/2019)

*****
As does Scott Kaplan, at 3 PM PT on Thu. 4/11/19 via Twitter Live, Instagram Live, YouTube Live:

https://twitter.com/ScottKaplan/status/1116164076730630144
 
Very sad. I feel horrible for those who worked at the mighty 1090. I hope times don't get too financially awful for them.
 
MaxFM managed to stumble on for another couple months streaming via their website and app. Who knows how much money is left in the bank to try and do the same for 1090.
 
As poster "philosofy" mentioned in the previous post re: how long could they last just streaming - we just found out:

Similar to the fate of 105.7 Max FM, 19 days after the transmitter plug was pulled, the streaming plug was pulled
at 2 PM PT on Monday 4/29/2019 in the middle of the Darren Smith Show.
The www.Mighty1090.com website has a message posted that they have ceased operations, thanking the fans for their support.

Afternoon host Scott Kaplan has posted two Periscope videos (also linked to his Twitter account) recorded on Monday afternoon at the Mighty 1090 studios:

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1MYxNdvagMvGw

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1ynJORnnQBXGR?t=20

----------

Darren Smith has changed his Twitter account description to "radio free agent".
 
pjc1961 said:
As poster "philosofy" mentioned in the previous post re: how long could they last just streaming - we just found out:

Similar to the fate of 105.7 Max FM, 19 days after the transmitter plug was pulled, the streaming plug was pulled
at 2 PM PT on Monday 4/29/2019 in the middle of the Darren Smith Show.
The www.Mighty1090.com website has a message posted that they have ceased operations, thanking the fans for their support.

Afternoon host Scott Kaplan has posted two Periscope videos (also linked to his Twitter account) recorded on Monday afternoon at the Mighty 1090 studios:

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1MYxNdvagMvGw

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1ynJORnnQBXGR?t=20

----------

Darren Smith has changed his Twitter account description to "radio free agent".
Click to expand...

This is a very sad development and a sad day in radio now that the Mighty 1090 is officially dead. What is going to happen to all the on-air hosts? All of them were the highest rated sports shows in the San Diego market. What stinks is that 97.3 The Fan is severely signal limited and the station doesn’t even come in up in the North county area. 1090 AM had the advantage of being one of the strongest signals in the San Diego area. My hope is that 97.3 The Fan improves their signal, gets some translators and picks up all these now unemployed Mighty 1090 personalities. Sad day for radio in San Diego!
 
asugeorge1 said:
What stinks is that 97.3 The Fan is severely signal limited and the station doesn’t even come in up in the North county area. 1090 AM had the advantage of being one of the strongest signals in the San Diego area. My hope is that 97.3 The Fan improves their signal, gets some translators...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say 97.3 The Fan is severely signal-limited. It's a 50kw Class B, on the same towers as KLNV -- and not far from KGB's tower. Both those stations have strong ratings, so clearly those are viable transmitter sites. Yes, they're not as good as Soledad for North County reception, but The Fan can be heard up there. Also, nobody has mentioned that Mighty 1090 had signal issues in San Diego as well. True, they blast up the coast, and come in clearly in most areas of Los Angeles and even as far north as Santa Barbara. However, Mighty 1090 was/is highly directional, with a far weaker signal towards inland San Diego County. 1090 tried to compensate for that years ago, with a simulcast on 105.7 FM, which does a better job in far East County. I believe they also simulcasted some shows on co-operated ESPN 1700, which is 10kw non-directional and provided better coverage inland than 1090.
 
asugeorge1 said:
My hope is that 97.3 The Fan improves their signal, gets some translators and picks up all these now unemployed Mighty 1090 personalities. Sad day for radio in San Diego!
Click to expand...

93.7 is very tightly limited by same channel, adjacent channel and second adjacent protections.

And a translator can not be used to extend the 60 dbu of a station, only to fill in deficiencies.
 
DavidEduardo said:


93.7 is very tightly limited by same channel, adjacent channel and second adjacent protections.

And a translator can not be used to extend the 60 dbu of a station, only to fill in deficiencies.
Click to expand...

Take a look at the applications KWFN filed a few months ago to install a network of synchronized boosters across North County - five of them in a neat row from Encinitas across to Ramona.

They're designed to push 60 dBu right out to the edge of the main signal's predicted 60, which is terrain blocked going north (but which is otherwise a pretty decent class B from the Emerald Hills KOGO site.)

Similar "synchrocast" systems are working pretty well in other markets such as Boston (WXRV and WXLO). The technology has advanced considerably in the last few years.
 
fybush said:
Take a look at the applications KWFN filed a few months ago to install a network of synchronized boosters across North County - five of them in a neat row from Encinitas across to Ramona.

They're designed to push 60 dBu right out to the edge of the main signal's predicted 60, which is terrain blocked going north (but which is otherwise a pretty decent class B from the Emerald Hills KOGO site.)

Similar "synchrocast" systems are working pretty well in other markets such as Boston (WXRV and WXLO). The technology has advanced considerably in the last few years.
Click to expand...

I agree that boosters can be a partial solution, but the suggestion was "translators" which can't be used in many if not most of the North County areas of San Diego as the theoretical unobstructed 60 dbu of 97.3 does not appear to reach Carlsbad/Oceanside/Vista and, of course, the areas to the East that we might call the "Fallbrook Mini Metro".

About the only place a booster or translator could be effective would be the San Marcos area.

The terrain and the poor coverage by most of the SD stations is the reason we used to have a separate North County Arbitron book. But as the population move north and east, that sort of became a moot point. And the stations of significance licensed "up there" moved south, effectively eliminating an Arbitron subscriber base there.

Boosters likely can improve areas that appear on maps to have a signal but don't due to terrain (I'm quite intimately aware of the problems that KLNV has had in that region... another one at that site), but they won't help at the top of the county where there is a rather substantial and growing population.
 
Ah, but KWFN is a class B - and class Bs are protected to 54 dBu and thus can put boosters within their 54, so long as the booster 54 doesn't exceed the predicted main 54.

Entercom wouldn't have filed for these (and had them accepted for filing) if they didn't think they could have been granted. They're in the FCC records as KWFN-FM-1, KWFN-2, KWFN-3, KWFN-4 and KWFN-5.
 
fybush said:
Ah, but KWFN is a class B - and class Bs are protected to 54 dBu and thus can put boosters within their 54, so long as the booster 54 doesn't exceed the predicted main 54.

Entercom wouldn't have filed for these (and had them accepted for filing) if they didn't think they could have been granted. They're in the FCC records as KWFN-FM-1, KWFN-2, KWFN-3, KWFN-4 and KWFN-5.
Click to expand...

Ah, I forgot about the 54 dbu on B's. That would just barely put the boosters in those populous North County communities to the NW, but would not help to the NE.
 
DavidEduardo said:


Ah, I forgot about the 54 dbu on B's. That would just barely put the boosters in those populous North County communities to the NW, but would not help to the NE.
Click to expand...

The KWFN 54 gets to Ramona (but not to Julian).

Again, there's no way John Kennedy and the Entercom engineering braintrust would have filed for a Ramona booster if they didn't know they could get a Ramona booster. They know their stuff. And Bert Goldman, who did the filings for them, has been the engineering mind behind all these synchrocast boosters.

Let's see if the Ramona engineering filing makes it through this link...

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=101802811&qnum=5120&copynum=1&exhcnum=1
 
The bigger mystery, really, is why KWFN and KLNV stayed in Emerald Hills as North County's population boomed. The spacing issues aren't that daunting. KWFN is way more than fully spaced to KWIZ, KCAL-FM and KAMP. It's exactly fully spaced to KLYY under 73.207, but 73.215 short-spacing would buy up to another 23 km of proximity to KLYY, and you wouldn't need anywhere near that much to move it to Soledad with a DA. KLNV's spacing situation is even better. From Soledad, it would be fully spaced to KALI and KROQ, and just a couple of km short to (of all things) KIXA-FM in Lucerne Valley, but 73.215 contour protection would solve that even without a DA. Or rather, it would have been fully spaced if CC hadn't moved 95.7 to Soledad first. Once 95.7 moved to Soledad, IF spacing made it impossible for KLNV to go there. But it still could have gone on the KGB tower.
 
fybush said:
The KWFN 54 gets to Ramona (but not to Julian).

Again, there's no way John Kennedy and the Entercom engineering braintrust would have filed for a Ramona booster if they didn't know they could get a Ramona booster. They know their stuff. And Bert Goldman, who did the filings for them, has been the engineering mind behind all these synchrocast boosters.

Let's see if the Ramona engineering filing makes it through this link...

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS....jsp?appn=101802811&qnum=5120©num=1&exhcnum=1
Click to expand...

Those are pretty clever designs. If you look at a terrain map, the patterns fit the shadowed valley areas and look like they will not "overflow" and interfere with the main signal or any of the other boosters. They are taking advantage of the ability of the terrain itself to shield the signals, as most of the populated areas are not on hilltops but deep in the valley areas... Vista being a good example.

I'm guessing that the ability to rent on cellular towers made this possible. To build new towers in a high-NIMBY zone would have been difficult.

More interesting is the fact that Entercom is obviously spending significant money on this project, kind of a novelty today.
 
I'd expect the Padres have had something to say about it - I'm sure they would like to have those valleys back within their reach.
 
fybush said:
I'd expect the Padres have had something to say about it - I'm sure they would like to have those valleys back within their reach.
Click to expand...

I believe that is probably the case too. As someone who travels every other weekend to the North County (particularly Carlsbad, Vista and Fallbrook) from Phoenix, I can attest to the signal limitations of 97.3 in the valley areas, and my car has a pretty good FM radio. The HD radio signal aspect of KWFN is nice when it locks, but because of the various hills and valleys in the north county, it comes in and out. I think the network of boosters should work fine, but I wonder if the HD signal of the main transmitter will override the booster signals? This phenomenon occurs in various forms across the country, the most recognizable for me is driving up the I-17 to Flagstaff from Phoenix when the 93.3 HD signal from KDKB Phoenix cuts in and overpowers the analog signal of K227AP from Cottonwood (a translator of KVNA 100.1 FM from Flagstaff). You can literally have two different radio stations on the same channel come in, one on analog and one on HD. If the timing is right, it won’t be a problem with KWFN and their network of boosters.

Any idea when the KWFN north county boosters might be turned on?
 
Former Mighty 1090 Afternoon Drive host Scott Kaplan is hoping to get sports talk radio back on 1090 AM as early as August 1st this year.

On his Youtube/Facebook/Twitch/TuneIn webcast from the Callaway Studios, he talked about last week on how he met with the owners of the tower in Mexico and wanting to form a partnership with them to get this project off the ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsV3MOuu0UQ

On his social media debate site Sided, he ask listeners for their opinion on what the new station on 1090 AM should be called.

https://sided.co/debate/what-should-we-call-the-revived-1090
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom