San Diego sports radio technician Rick “Red” Hill died September 29 of pancreatic cancer. Rick was a fixture in setting up Padres and Chargers radio broadcasts, and worked for KFMB and iHeart Media, among others.
Category Archives: Local News
San Diego FCC Field Office to Close in Compromise Plan
The FCC Enforcement Bureau July 16th adopted a plan to keep more field offices open than originally proposed, but San Diego still did not make the cut, instead relying on services from the Los Angeles office. The FCC came under fire for its planned reduction in force from Greg Walden of the House of Representatives and from the SBE and broadcast industry lobbyists concerned about piracy and RF noise sources. The FCC responded to Congressional inquiries with a letter and Q & A document outlining their reasoning for the cutbacks.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler responded to concerns about staffing in May, defending their plans to close offices, citing analysis that showed poor efficiency of services. SBE President Joe Snelson, in a Radio World interview, said their own input regarding field services indicated critically overworked staff, though he said they could not analyze the input from consultants regarding their recommendations because they were not made public.
Precise closure dates have not been announced.
SBE 36 Welcomes “Blue”
Chapter 36 welcomes new member LaDarien LaBlue. He’s a broadcast engineer at KGTV 10 and word has it he’s fast learner and a strong contributor to the team.
“I come from a pure HR and IT background working at illumina for past seven years as Senior Executive IT Technician. I played baseball at LSU and Northwestern State University. I’m from Louisiana and have 4 older brothers and a beautiful daughter named Jordyn. I love what I do here at KGTV.
“It’s really no different, other than things move very fast in broadcast. What I’m learning is that most broadcast equipment is going IP-based and I’m really excited about that.”
Transfer of San Diego’s Lincoln Financial Stations to Entercom Complete
The FCC today announced the approval of transferring ownership of Lincoln Financial radio stations to Entercom. In San Diego, this includes rocker KBZT 94.9 MHz, country KSON 97.3 MHz, and soft rock KIFM 98.1 MHz, In Escondido, this includes the KSON repeater Class A KSOQ 92.1 MHz.The Department of Justice still has to approve the buy-out from an antitrust perspective.If approved, Entercom will own over 110 stations in 26 markets. Entercom took over management of Lincoln Financial stations early this year with a limited marketing agreement (LMA).
Bill Eisenhamer continues to lead the local engineering effort and reports no major changes yet.
Matthew Anderson Gets CBRE Certification
Matthew Anderson, the latest addition to iHeartMedia’s engineering crew, passed his SBE Certified Broadcast Radio Engineering exam earlier in June.
Congratulations Matt!
If you would like to get an SBE certification, they’re easier than ever to study for with the study guide CD. Tests are given periodically in San Diego. For more information check out our information page.