The FCC this week granted the transfer of KFMB-AM 760 kHz and KFMB-FM 100.7 MHz to Local Media San Diego from TEGNA. Local Media paid $5-million for the two stations to complement their Mexico-licensed LMAs XHTZ 90.3, XETRA 91.1, and XHRM 92.5. The stations will all be operated from their Sorrento Mesa studio headquarters. 

Meanwhile, iHeartMedia has begun an LMA to operate KFMB-AM and as of this writing has been simulcasting KOGO-AM on 760 kHz. It’s been reported by various sources that Local Media of San Diego has immediately sold KFMB-AM to iHeartMedia for a yet-to-be-disclosed price. 

There have been talks about KOGO multiplexing its signal on the KFMB towers in Santee, and this would be a logical step in that direction. iHeart can own and operate all three outlets without exceeding FCC limits on local ownership: KOGO 600 kHz, KFMB, and KLSD 1360 kHz. 

The KFMB radio stations will have to change call letters as part of the transfer deals. 

Longtime San Diego audio-video systems engineer Steve Sagady passed away February 21, 2020. 

Sagady designed and oversaw the implementation of an impressive list of projects through his years with TV Magic. He led the design and buildout of the XETV “Fox 6” new studio facility in San Diego in 1999. The system featured the first implementation of an all-digital newsroom. When an internal ESPN project stalled, he took over to design the ESPN Los Angeles studios at Staples Center, and later the Network Operations Center at the Trinity Broadcast Network in Santa Ana. 

When TV Magic closed, he teamed up with Bob Anderson, formerly with XETV and TV Magic, and built several municipal council room A/V systems that were remotely controlled by their company PDI. He designed the TV master control room of the Gila River Indian Community in Chandler, Arizona. 

Sagady started his career as an engineer at a sound recording studio in Santa Barbara. 

I had the fortune to work with Steve at TV Magic for two years and got to observe his ability to concentrate and design complex systems with astounding attention to detail. 

Steve was dogged by health problems through much of his adult life, and he succumbed to a heart infection in mid-February. 

Steve will be missed by those of us who loved and admired him.