As part of a nationwide staff reduction, the local Technical Operations Director, JR Rogers, was laid off on March 31, 2026. He had been with the organization under various owners since 1991. He worked at KFMB AM-FM from 1976 until 1991, including time with the famous “B-100 B Morning Zoo.”
Category Archives: Local News
KFMB-TV 8 Joins The Nexstar Group
[Update – On Friday, March 27, a U.S. district judge ordered television operator Nexstar Media Group to temporarily keep TEGNA’s assets separate pending a review of the acquisition for potential antitrust violations.]
On March 19, 2026, the FCC approved the $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA TV stations by Nexstar Media Inc., including KFMB-TV 8 San Diego. The CBS network affiliate will join independent KUSI and Fox network affiliate KSWB (“Fox 5”) under common ownership in the San Diego market. The deal makes Nexstar the owner of 259 television stations in the U.S. and includes a waiver of the FCC’s national ownership rule, which prohibits a single corporation from owning more than 39% of the country’s stations. Cable and satellite distribution groups have filed legal challenges, citing Nexstar’s future leverage in retransmission fee negotiations. Some states and Newsmax have also filed legal challenges.
FCC rules currently disallow a single entity from owning more than two full-power TV stations in a given Designated Market Area (DMA), but the FCC waived this rule for San Diego, citing a possible loss of local news should KUSI be divested.
There is some speculation and rumors that the local operating group of stations will close the Engineer Road plant, where KFMB has operated since 1976. No word yet on what will happen with the current engineering staff.
52nd Street Transmitter Site Has A New Master Antenna
The 52nd Street Transmitter Site, owned now by Vertical Bridge, has a new master FM antenna, recently erected by crews. iHeartMedia San Diego Market Director of Engineering, John Rigg, says that once the multiplexer is completed, the 8-bay, 1/2-wave spaced array will serve KHTS 93.3, KWFN 97.3, KGB-FM 101.5, and KLNV 106.5, as well as auxiliary use for KMYI 94.1 and KIOZ 105.3.
The same 52nd Street tower will host KLSD 1360 and KSDO 1130 AM.
The old KOGO transmitter site in Emerald Hills is slated for housing development, so the transmitters there need to be moved to the single-tower Vertical Bridge-owned site, originally occupied by KGB-AM 1360, on 52nd Street, about a mile to the northwest.
KLSD is operating on an STA at the historic KOGO tower site, and KSDO is operating at 52nd Street using a vertical drop wire.
KOGO 600 moved to multiplex with KGB-AM 760 near Santee in 2024.
Until work is completed, KNLV continues to operate from the old KOGO tower. KHTS and KGB are operating from a lower-gain auxiliary antenna at 351 feet on the 52nd Street tower. KWFN has an aux site at Mt. San Miguel.
Cox Cable and Charter to Merge
Remember when San Diego was once served by two cable companies? Southwestern Cable had the territory north of Interstate 8, and Cox Cable had the territory south of that highway. Well, now it’ll be one company.
On February 27, the FCC approved Charter Communications’ $34.5-billion purchase of Cox Communications. The combined corporation will be called Cox Communications, but the fiber and cable TV delivery service will continue to be called “Spectrum.” It’s set to become the largest internet service provider, with 38 million customers.
The two companies’ business services have been competitive over most of San Diego County for some time.
The future impact on San Diego employees is unknown.
Tijuana Adds Channel 9 TV Signal
AVSForum viewers report a new signal from south of the Mexican border on Channel 9 VHF, 186–192 MHz. XHCPAT-TDT is said to broadcast from Colinas de Agua Caliente in Tijuana with a licensed power of 60kW ERP.
This is an interesting development since KSDX-LD is licensed for channel 9 from Mt. San Miguel, albeit at a very low power of 275W ERP from a two-element omni-directional horizontal antenna.