All posts by Gary Stigall

Meetings

January 18 Meeting: NextGen TV and Advanced Emergency Alerting

I think most of you would agree that with all the technology we come in contact with daily, we could collectively do a better job of alerting each other of imminent dangers and solutions to those dangers. If you can transmit a couple of dozen TV channels simultaneously, and they come and go dynamically, what do you do about EAS? What about broadcast data that isn’t video?

SBE and NextGen leader Fred Baumgartner will give an online talk about the future of broadcast alerts. Join us Wednesday, January 18th at 11:30 PST via Zoom. Register in advance for this meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvduqgrD8sHdyiCiMUEU4M3C95hNgs5hMa. This will be a joint, online meeting with Los Angeles Chapter 47 and Phoenix Chapter 9.

Fred Baumgartner retired this month from his job as Director of Sinclair Broadcast’s ONE Media NextGen TV Implementation that started in 2017. He’s been a long-time SBE leader within the SBE community associated with educational projects like the annual SBE learning sessions at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. In San Diego, he helped lead the Qualcomm MediaFLO experiment from 2005–2010.

Local News

KSDS Responds to Halloran License Renewal Objection

KSDS (FM) San Diego filed an informal Opposition to Informal Objection pleading with the FCC on December 13, 2021 in favor of renewing the station’s license. The filing was made to counter an Informal Objection filed by attorney Dan Alpert, representing Friends of San Diego Public Radio, against renewing the San Diego Community College District radio station license. The original pleading appears to represent the opinions of a single person, San Diego radio personality, consultant, and program director Mike Halloran.

Continue reading KSDS Responds to Halloran License Renewal Objection →
Local News, National

KNX Begins Simulcasting on 97.1 FM

Audacy-owned KNX Los Angeles, known for its all-news radio format since 1968, began last week broadcasting on KNOU (FM) 97.1 and identifying itself exclusively by its FM channel location.

KNOU (FM) is licensed for 21 kW from Mt. Wilson with a directional antenna aimed southwest, so its signal toward most of the LA basin is compromised, but given its elevation, it still covers the region well.

With cars increasingly leaving out AM tuners (looking at you, Tesla), and with the superior fidelity of FM, the move could help boost listenership. Other Audacy all news outlets, such as KCBS San Francisco, WBBM Chicago, and KYW Philadelphia, now simulcast on FM stations.

Local News

FCC Dismisses More Local NCE FM Apps

The FCC last week released a seven-page list of Dismissed Applications from the recent non-commercial educational FM filing window. Included in the list:

Facility ID 767224 Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor application for 88.1 MHz at Descanso, CA. The FCC said it was in violation of the protected contour of a first-adjacent channel allotment in Esperanza, Baja California Norte, MX, and a co-channel allotment in Tecate, also in BCN.

Facility ID 766663 Activist San Diego application for 89.1 MHz at Glamis, CA in Imperial County. The FCC said it was in violation of the treaty-protected contour of the second-adjacent allotment in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, MX.