Some AM stations went silent last week as SDG&E cut power to San Diego County zones they deemed vulnerable to winds during extreme fire season. According to Darnell Forde, Salem Media Group Chief Engineer, KCBQ 1170 kHz and Family Radio’s KECR 910 kHz at their shared site in Lakeside lost power December 2nd, 2020 at 10:13 PM and it did not return until 5:02 AM on December 4th, some 31 hours later. They do not have generator backup power available.
KPRZ 1210 kHz south of San Marcos lost power briefly the same night, but an emergency generator ran until the utility restored power at 9:28 AM on December 4th.
Darnell said Lakeside and the area around Elfin Forest where the KPRZ transmitter is located experienced high winds during those outages.
San Diego Gas & Electric has adopted a policy of cutting power during wind storms since several fires in California were blamed on power lines arcing.
As is the custom, Chairman Ajit Pai announced his coming departure in advance of the changing administration in January. Normally, the FCC has five commissioners, two of the minority political party and three of the majority party, including the Chairman. Pai was appointed by President Obama in 2012 and rose to Chairman under President Trump.
Ajit Pai, in a press statement, listed his accomplishments: “Closing the digital divide; promoting innovation and competition, from 5G on the ground to broadband from space; protecting consumers; and advancing public safety.”
His critics have pointed to a perceived bias toward telecom interests over broadcast as the FCC has worked rapidly to sell, not lease, spectrum to the telecom giants directly from spectrum previously used by broadcasters with the goal of universally available fast networking. Ajit Pai had worked two years for Verizon as an Associate General Counsel before returning to public service in 2003. Pai has also worked against internet neutrality in favor of ISP traffic controls and surcharges.
For broadcasters, he supported the move for AM broadcasters to get an FM translator channel wherever possible, which has worked better for some broadcasters than others. He also pushed allowing AM stations to choose digital modulation if they wished. There has been no increase in broadcast spectrum, including for the crowded FM band, under his leadership.
The FCC October 15, 2020 approved the transfer of KFSD 1450 AM Escondido to IHS Media of San Diego for $150,000 from North County Broadcasters, the Astor family that had owned the station since 1996.
KFSD Escondido returned to the air May 20, 2020, with its adult standards music format, just under a year after going silent in June 2019. The station, owned by the Astor Group, had been looking for a buyer to take over the station since Art Astor passed away in 2016.
After nearly three years waiting, the FCC approved September 3rd the KGTV channel 10 application to increase their ERP from 20.7 kW to 160 kW from atop Mt. Soledad.
The FCC is clearing for auction some of the C-Band spectrum that broadcasters have used over the past decades. It seems they are in a bit of a hurry, so they’ve put into place some pretty good incentives to get out of the way of 5G telecom companies ready to bid.
KSDY-LD San Diego C-band dish, photo by Gary S.
If your company owns and has registered satellite dishes, the FCC has put together a catalog of reimbursable expenses you may incur to rearrange your C-band receiving habits. For example, if your programming syndicator is continuing its broadcasts without any interruption or change of frequency, you may only need a new inline receive filter. If you are part of a network that will need tighter compression, you might need a whole new receiver, along with that filter, plus the labor to install it. All the costs associated with those changes can be claimed, and your network provider, satellite owner, or your own corporate engineering crew can help with getting your organization reimbursed.
One interesting wrinkle is that in the interest of expeditiousness, the FCC is offering another route, and this is not to be ignored. They will pay a lump sum of $9,000 for a usable port to get you off the band. I installed a four-feed multibeam modification a few years ago for a client and now they are eligible for $42,000 as a lump sum, even if they only need to buy four passband filters for a total of about $2,500, including installation. That means they can pocket $39,500 without guilt or fear of prosecution. Pretty good, no?
What’s the catch? Well, the deadline for filing was pretty tight–August 31–but the FCC has extended that for two more weeks to September 14. If you are using an Intelsat satellite, you have probably already been contacted about this. Others, like NPR, Premiere Networks, or your TV network, has likely been in touch with you. If you are independent, contact your station attorney or vendors like Dawnco or SEG Wesco to see how to get your money.
