The FCC issued a Public Notice on October 16, 2024, selecting from 2023 LPFM filing window mutually exclusive (MX) applications for further processing. The PN listed filings in a separate spreadsheet with selection criterion scores. Petitioners have 30 days to file objections to the selections. Applicants have 60 days to file Major Change (usually frequency move) amendments and 90 days to file frequency time share proposals.

Three San Diego area applicants were given the green light, forcing them to time share the 96.9 MHz channel each chose. The three applicants were:

• The Labors Training and Community Development Alliance with its site near the intersection of Interstate 5 and California State Highway 54.
• The Football Camp for Kids with transmitter in the same area.
• The Justice Overcoming Boundaries in San Diego County with the transmitter at Bonita Long Canyon Park.

The three parties could ask to share the channel with differing time schedules, or carry some or all of the programming over a merged operation. Sometimes parties get cold feet with the complications and expenses and quit the process altogether.

An FM station with no known authorization on 101.7 has been interfering with adjacent channel KGB-FM in areas south of downtown San Diego. The station broadcasts religious music and information, apparently from Tijuana. Operation is reported to be intermittent. The station has a Facebook page and a forum page about it on RadioDiscussions.com. If you have any information you can add about its whereabouts, please let us know. 

Thanks to Bob Gonsett for this news tip. 

The Society of Broadcast Engineers has released the latest addition to the Broadcast Station Self-Inspection Guides. The new Guide covers AM broadcast stations. The SBE released the FM and TV Guides in April 2024. The SBE partnered with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to produce the Guides. These Guides are designed to aid stations and Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) inspectors in evaluating a broadcast station’s compliance with FCC rules and regulations.

The Guides are being developed to replace the FCC Self-Inspection Checklists that were first released in the 1990s, but had not been updated for nearly 15 years. While the previous Checklists only provided references to rules, the new SBE Guides include recommended practices for stations to establish policies and procedures for their own stations to ensure overall regulatory compliance.

The project was announced at the SBE National Meeting held in September 2023, and received widespread support from state broadcaster associations, many of which are actively involved in their own ABIP programs.

The SBE Government Relations Committee, chaired by Charles “Ched” Keiler, CPBE, 8-VSB, ATSC3, CBNE, formed a working group of SBE members in April 2022 to begin reviewing and updating the Guides. Additional Guides for other broadcast services are under review and will be released later.

SBE President Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, ATSC3, DRB, said, “The SBE is proud to offer the next edition of the Self-Inspection Guides. There was great interest in the AM version at the 2024 NAB Show, and I commend the Committee for its work in producing this version.”

The Guides are available for download from the SBE website under the Legislative/Regulatory and Resources tab. They are free to SBE members.

On August 1, 2024, at midnight, XEPRS 1090 at Rosarito, BCN, Mexico, began its Spanish-language Catholic “Monte Maria” religious programming, apparently ending a contract with BCA. 

The station had operated as “The Mightier 1090” with ESPN radio sports programming that included play-by-play NFL, MLB, and NBA games, local sports talk on the Jim Rome Show, SportsGrid, The Rich Eisen Show, Scott Kaplan, and SportsMap programming.

According to Wikipedia, this ends a run of “border blasting” mostly English programming that began with the Wolfman Jack Show in 1965 using the callsign XERB. Mexican broadcasting of US-originated content is increasingly challenging since the Mexican government requires carrying a substantial load of public service announcements that supersede commercials.

The station was built with a 3-tower array that maximized their 50,000 watt (transmitter output) signal up the Pacific Coast. The station could readily be heard daytime in Los Angeles and at night as far as Oregon.

KPBS-TV/FM this year is undergoing a great turnover, with four broadcast engineers leaving to retire. Their professional experience totals over 150 years, 90 of that at KPBS.

Kevin Birch, Broadcast Engineer, left January 31 this year. He had joined the station in 2000 after having worked at KUSI (TV).

Kevin Schrader, Senior Engineering Manager, left January 31 as well. He joined in 2013 after stints at Cox Cable, XETV, and KGTV.

Rockley Curless, RF Engineering Manager, left January 31 after 22 years at KPBS. Unfortunately, he passed away March 14, 2024, only six weeks after retirement.

Leon Messenie, Director of Engineering since 2001, says he’s scheduled to retire June 30, 2024 after 32 years of technical work at KPBS.