FCC Visits Alleged Yuma FM Pirate

The Los Angeles office of the FCC alleges Eric V. Evans was operating a pirate FM station on 96.5 MHz on Hillside Place in Yuma, Arizona on January 30, 2018. They issued a Notice of Unlicensed Operation, a sort of cease and desist letter, last week. This notice did not detail any contact with Evans but mentioned simply that he was the listed owner of the residence.

The FCC issued a large number of these notices to alleged pirates in the past year, but the vast majority were in Florida and the area surrounding New York City.

FCC Approves Sale of KFMB Stations to Tegna

The FCC granted on February 6, 2018 the application to transfer control of the longtime family-owned KFMB Stations to Tegna of McLean, Virginia. The Meyer family, most lately Elisabeth (Meyer) Kimmel, had owned the AM, FM, and TV stations since 1964, an oddity in an industry typically held in large clusters by publicly-traded corporations.

The fate of approximately 200 employees, the most of any San Diego media company and many with long seniority, lies now with the media giant made primarily of the stations from the Gannett, King Broadcasting, and Belo groups that have merged over the past few years.

The change brings up numerous questions: Continue reading FCC Approves Sale of KFMB Stations to Tegna

Bext Takes Over RF Specialties of California

Bext, a San Diego-based supplier and service provider of FM Antennas, RF Combiners, RF filters, FM Transmitters and many things RF, recently bought RF Specialties of California and moved their employees to their Tenth Avenue facility downtown. Steve Moreen, the past owner of RF Specialties of California and Program Chair of SBE Chapter 36, last year began a sales position for Dielectric, the antenna manufacturer busy with TV channel repacking orders.

I asked Bext owner and general nice guy Dennis Pieri about the sale. Continue reading Bext Takes Over RF Specialties of California

February 2018 Meeting – Get the Sound Your Program Director Wants

With the latest broadcast audio processors, it’s easier than ever to give your station a competitive audio signature your audience and your program director will both love.

Paul Kriegler of the Telos Alliance visits Chapter 36 Wednesday, February 14th at 12 noon at iHeartMedia, 9660 Granite Ridge Drive in San Diego. He’ll give a talk on audio processing and try to answer your questions. Telos will provide a simple lunch. SBE members and guests are always welcome.

About Paul Kriegler

Paul joined Telos in November 2017. Like most Telos Alliance employees, Paul comes from a broadcasting background, including more than 25 years of broadcast management and programming experience, most recently with Lotus Radio in Reno and Emmis Broadcast Group in Austin. Over the years, Paul has been an incredible advocate of Omnia at all of his stations, which makes him a great fit for his new role. Paul says, “Processing is definitely a piece of the puzzle and part of the secret sauce on many successful stations. I look forward to helping my brothers and sisters in programming get the exact sound they want.”

Society of Broadcast Engineers