TWELFTH EDITION i FM ATLAS and Station Directory By Bruce F. Elving A handy Reference to the FM Stations of the United States, Canada and Mexico -C... }( n:J.'Yi'f{)L'i^v0.4_>":.::\ :Y){F.QROv.. ;p;.Qri{.<iÇ.. :.~f., www.americanradiohistory.com i www.americanradiohistory.com FM ATLAS AND STATION DIRECTORY TWELFTH EDITION By Bruce F. Elving, Ph.D CONTENTS: F Musings 2 Key to Symbols 8 FMaps (FM Atlas) 9 Station Directory, Part I (FM Stations by geography) 101 FM Translators [and Boosters] 132 Station Directory, Part II (by frequency) 143 FMemoranda 190 FM Program Formats and Notify Coupon 192 Copyright © Bruce F. Elving, 1989 International Standard Book Number: 0-917170-08-3 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 89-083679 FM Atlas Publishing Box 336 Esko MN 55733-0336, U. S. A. Historic Address: Adolph MN 55701-0024, U. S. A. www.americanradiohistory.com FMusings Monophonic Translators Via Satellite Threaten Local FM Broadcasting With the Federal Communications Commmission in 1988 allowing noncommer- cial FM translators to get their programs via translators or microwave, the way has been cleared for the big players in religious broadcasting to set up mini -stations all over the country. Hundreds of applications have been filed by Family Stations, Inc. (primary KEAR *106.9 San Francisco), Moody Bible Institute (primary WMBI-FM *90.1 Chicago), and Bible Broadcasting Network (primary WYFG *91.1 Gaffney SC). Cities where such translators would be located are as diverse as Roswell NM, Paris TX, Marquette MI, Pueblo CO and Lincoln NE. As of this book's deadline, only one satellite -delivered translator has been granted in the lower 48 states-in Schroon Lake NY, to Bible Broadcasting Network. Look for it on the page 15 map, up near Ticonderoga. Public and religious translators utilizing satellite feeds have existed for several years in Alaska. Because of a limited number of transponders and narrow bandwidth on the satellite, most public translators in that state are monophonic. Indeed, the fear is that as satellite -delivered translators spread across this nation, like a plague, they will clutter the FM dial with monophonic signals, cloning a far -away station's programming with no local public service or input. Such stations will most likely have such a narrow audio bandwidth that any SCSubcarriers present on the 67 or 92 kHz sideband of the primary station would also be wiped out. All this translator activity by only a few parties has gotten public and community broadcasters properly concerned. It has resulted, at least temporarily, in the FCC's not approving any such grants if over 160 km from the primary station-especially if new full -service stations would thereby be precluded. I had a role in publicizing a ploy used by at least one of the groups mentioned above in that they have applied for translators in obscure places, probably so as not to attract attention to the real city of service. Here's what a subscriber to FMedia! newsletter wrote the FCC, about an FM translator application in an Alaskan ghost town: "There is absolutely no community or village, or even a settlement, on Long Island since the 1940s, when it was manned by U. S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel during World War II... What I find most objectionable about the application is the premise to serve an isolated and uninhabited location, only to move, in an undercover fashion, to serve an alternate, more desirable location. Their intent obviously is to 'sneak in' and serve the city of Kodiak... If a religious broadcaster can easily use deceptive practices to obtain a translator, think of how easy it would be for a less -than -upstanding commercial broadcaster to use these unenforced procedures to his advantage. The end result may be chaos on the broadcast bands, and the listener gaining nothing." Most of the religious translators are in cities already having religious stations. Some of the comments in support of my opposition to satellite -delivered translators have come from other religious broadcasters concerned about national broadcasters who have no programming expenses in the local market coming in via FM translator and siphoning audiences. Translators affect commercial FM, too. Responding to pressure from commercial broadcasters, the FCC in 1988 imposed a freeze on new commercial FM translators, or major changes in existing translators. It's anyone's guess as to when the freeze will end, or what will be the outcome. Commercial broadcasters in Arizona and other states complain about translator inundation of their markets by out of town broadcasters, and want stricter rules put in place to 2 www.americanradiohistory.com assure that local broadcasters are favored. Groups of translator operators want more freedom for translators, including local programming and carrying their own commercials, presaging "low power FM." Lee Shoblom, KBBC 101.1 Lake Havasu City AZ, writes: "No one is taking bets on the outcome of this hi -tech shoot-out. The only certainty in this electronic range war is the simple fact that no compromise is possible. The banner on both sides clearly states 'take no prisoners'." Whatever role translators take in the future, this book will continue to list them. FM Listening Up-Again! The Fall '88 RADAR (Radio All -Dimension Audience Research) study has Monday-Friday,6am-midnight come out, giving more good newsto FM broadcasters. 40% FM's share of audience has risen two percentage points from fall '87, when it was 74 percent (as reported in FM Atlas -11). An interesting part of 30 the study is that FM in -vehicle listening has surpassed AM in morning drive -time, 6 to 10. AM FM - 20 radio tunings -in in the car, however, exceed FM in In -car listening as a the afternoon, as the accompanying chart shows. AM percentage of total Least affected are broadcasters in small towns 10 listening, M -F, 6am- where one told me that only about $50,000 of the midnight. $400,000 annual billings is there because of the separately -programmed FM. 6am 10am 3pm 7pm 12 Broadcasters Snuggle Up to Bigger Cities Capitalizing on FM's rapid growth in major cities and its comparative stagnation in small towns, many broadcasters able to do so are upgrading and attempting to cover a nearby major market with an intensive city -grade signal (70 dB, which is a stronger signal than the 60 dB primary given in Part I of the Station Directory). Examples of stations making the upgrade are KOMJ 103.7 Atlantic IA -Omaha NE, WBYR 98.9 Van Wert OH -Fort Wayne IN, and WROV-FM 96.3 Martinsville VA, reaching out and serving Roanoke. Some stations are "rimshotters," trying to serve a nearby larger city with an inadequate signal. WZZT 103.1 Johnstown OH tried to serve Columbus, and has retreated to its city of license and become WEZS. WMKJ 96.7 Newnan GA hopes for a power increase to better enable it to reach Atlanta. Two Atlanta area FM stations are preparing to take advantage of a relaxing of FCC ownership rules, which allow stations to serve the same area, so long as their 70 dB signals do not intersect. The old rule was that the 60 dB signals could not intersect. An agreement, subject to FCC approval, has been made to merge the ownerships of WEKS 104.1 La Grange -Atlanta and WYAY 106.7 Gainesville -Atlanta. If approved, the move would almost certainly start a precedent in other cities. "The advantage of owning two FM stations is that we now have an opportunity to service both the northern and southern Atlanta communities and all of the small towns adjacent to Atlanta," says Robert B. Green, general manager of WYAY. Options include keeping the programming of the two stations as is, or to program them the same. Canada's C KO all -news network station in Toronto, broadcast in pseudo -stereo, won't be switching from 99.1 to 580 AM after all. Agreement reported in the 3 www.americanradiohistory.com last edition was rejected by the Canadian Radio -Television and Telecommunica- tions Commission as not being in the public interest. With the deal not going ahead, and CKO not getting the $4 million it was hoping for, the future of CKO stations in Regina and Winnipeg may be further O ALL -NEWS RADIO delayed. The CRTC has admonished CKO to build those stations as soon as possible. You'll see marked on many of the Canadian maps some Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) stations that have not yet been built. French CBC-FM stereo station CJBC-FM *90.3 Toronto may not even appear during the useful life of this book. FMX System Embroiled in Controversy Despite at least one company announcing an FMX generator for transmitters, and several receiver manufacturers saying they're ready to go ahead, the technology reported on in the last edition as a means for better, long-distance FM stereo reception, has been clouded by a study conducted by Dr. Amar Bose and Dr. William R. Short of the Bose Corp. in MA. In a highly mathematical paper, which also mentions "objective field testing at 15,000 locations," they write that this leads "us inescapably to the following opinions. 1. Broadcast station coverage, instead of being increased as originally hoped, is decreased by the FMX system. 2. FMX transmission degrades reception on existing FM stereo receivers. 3. FMX receivers are inferior to existing FM stereo receivers for receiving FMX transmissions." They go on to say that only in the special case of weak signals, without multipath, involving a serious listener "who is playing the music loudly enough such that the background hiss is objectionable...the FMX system offers a reduction in background noise..