A number of San Diego and Tijuana stations have changed, or are changing soon their network affiliations for various reasons.

The CW Network is moving from XETV (physical channel 23) to KFMB 8 May 31 as a cost-savings move for Televisa. The CW 6 news operation discontinues March 31, though KFMB is expected to re-start CW6 news on June 1 and take over the channel 6 cable and satellite slots with the CW6 brand.

Galavision is moving from XHBJ 44 to XETV 23 May 31. Galavision is owned by Televisa, which also owns XETV.

Azteca America has moved to XHDTV 47 from KZSD analog 39, but is expected to eventually land at XHAS 34.

Currently, KZSD 39 is duplicating KGTV 10, but is expected to leave the air during repacking.

Telemundo is moving to KNSD 40 from XHAS 34 on July 1. This has been foreseen for some time since KNSD’s owner, Comcast NBC Universal, also owns the Telemundo network.

Last week, the FCC announced fines for two San Fernando Valley parties accused of illegally broadcasting that we reported on in December 2016.

The Enforcement Bureau imposed a forfeiture order of $25,000 against Nelson Quintanilla for operating a pirate broadcast station on 95.1 MHz in Panorama City.

They also imposed a monetary forfeiture of $25,000 on Iglesia el Remanente Fraternidad Elim, Inc. and Belarmino Lara for operating a pirate radio station on 93.7 MHz in Arleta, near the intersection of I-5 and CA-118.

Bob Gonsett, a well-known broadcast engineering consultant who counted among his clients XETV Tijuana, said this about the announced closure of their San Diego office:

XETV not only had the best channel to cover San Diego from a propagation standpoint, it also had a rich history of being technologically first in a number of important areas including the use of circular polarization which significantly improved indoor “rabbit ear” reception.  Station management in the U.S. was constantly striving to make XETV Number One and they made the funds available to do so. The Tijuana transmitter plant, run by Felipe Fernandez, was a meticulous operation in full compliance with SCT/FCC mandates and from a labor perspective,

Phil always advocated the very best for his engineers. He was a true father to many. It was an honor and privilege for me to work with XETV for decades as their FCC engineering consultant.

In an effort to test our amateur radio equipment and prepare for the “big one” we will be conducting a net on the Mt. Soledad UHF repeater

When: Wednesdays starting 1-25-17 @ 1900 (7pm PST)

Where: Mt. Soledad UHF Amateur Radio Repeater      https://sbe36.org/amateur-radio-repeater/

445.540    – 5mhz      pl 88.5     FM

Who: Matt Anderson (KI6KHB) will be net control, we will start with group information and member check ins/traffic for the net

Suggestions or comments shoot me an email (MattAnderson@iHeartMedia.com)

Please throw this in your calendar, going to shoot for every Wednesday until further notice.