1030 WGSF(AM), the longest-running Spanish-language radio station in Memphis, is working to rebuild its transmitter site after it was ransacked in a May copper theft.

The station, owned by Butron Media, was left with a myriad of critical components either rendered missing or destroyed, but it has rebounded with the launch of an FM translator from the same transmitter site.

On May 18, the station’s Jackson Ave. tower site was targeted. Memphis Police said that Kyle Walton, Terrence Goodman and Jonathan Yarbrough were arrested two days later after they were caught burning the copper cables from the WGSF tower site in front of a house on National Street — less than half a mile from the tower site, according to WREG(TV) in Memphis.

Engineer Steven Lara told Radio World approximately 85% of the station’s Kintronic Labs phasor is gone. Coaxial lines coming out of the transmitter were sliced, and its three ATU units were also vandalized by the thieves. WGSF estimated that just replacing the stolen copper wiring and componentry will cost approximately $170,000 — not including engineering fees.

A special temporary authority the station filed on May 28 mentioned that the equipment inside the three transmitter-site doghouses was about 50% destroyed. “The thieves took as much copper as they could carry,” the STA, filed by Steve Crissey of Bromo Communications — Butron’s technical consultant — said.

Today, WGSF’s AM signal is back on the air with reduced power, and it started broadcasting on its 101.5 FM translator on June 11 after its FCC license was granted.

WGSF had operated with 50 kW during the day and 10 kW during critical hours from one tower, non-directional. At night, it ran 1 kW using a directional three-tower array, all located at the same Jackson Ave. site.

The station runs a Spanish-language Regional Mexican format with the “Radio Ambiente” slogan.

Anger, Sadness But Support
Radio World spoke with co-owner Sergio Butron and employee Daniella Garcia. Ivette Butron Ramos is the company’s CEO, while husband Sergio is president.

Initially, Butron and Garcia said they felt angry. Then came sadness.

“It was more than a decade of work — more than just monetary value,” they told Radio World on Friday. What hurt most was the disruption of the connection with listeners, many of whom were asking why the station was off the air, they said.

Local TV stations picked up the story the week of June 9, but the outpouring of support from listeners had already begun.

“The community started with their support the very next day,” Garcia said.

Listeners were concerned and upset. Some even offered to donate money — which Butron declined.

“We didn’t just want to take their money,” Garcia said. “But we were overwhelmed by the support.”

Still, the financial impact is significant.

Former Engineer Lends a Hand
WGSF hired three engineers to work on restoration since the theft, including Lara, chief engineer at Flinn Broadcasting, which previously owned the station. He helped transition the station’s equipment when Burton purchased it in 2023.

As a bilingual engineer, Lara was the first person Butron contacted. Although he no longer has a vested interest in WGSF, he was happy to help.

“It’s a minority-owned station with a massive signal, and I couldn’t imagine the hurdles they would have to go through to get the signal restored,” Lara said.

Butron said the station’s first step after the incident was filing for the STA to operate 1030 AM at a reduced power of 100 watts.

A Beacon of Hope on FM
WGSF’s pending FM translator, 101.5 W268DP Memphis, was granted its license on June 11 under special operating conditions. Since the FM is licensed to broadcast from the same site as the AM signal, it had required a proof-of-performance test before and after translator construction. Due to the theft, the FCC waived that requirement for a 12-month period.

The 101.5 translator had been previously associated with Butron’s other AM station, 1180 WGUE(AM), licensed to Turrell, Ark.

Butron made a Facebook Live video explaining the situation and announcing the launch of the 101.5 FM signal.

In a small bit of luck, Lara said the coaxial line leading to the FM antenna had been pulled violently, possibly shifting the antenna — but not enough to disconnect it nor disrupt it from producing its licensed transmitter power output of 34 watts.

The vandals would have needed to cross a fence to reach the FM antenna directly.

“They went for what was visible and directly in their sight,” Lara said.

But the damage was already extensive.

“One piece of a phasor costs thousands,” he said.

Based on how equipment was moved around at the site between his visits, Lara believes the vandals returned a second time after the initial break-in. Memphis Police told WREG they got a tip that men were seen dragging cables toward National Ave. the day of the burglary, and then another tip that several people were seen burning the copper wiring.

Lara is in contact with Kintronic Labs about rebuilding the phasor cabinet or purchasing a new one, along with a replacement tuning unit, on the long road back to restoring the station’s full-power AM signal.

Butron and Garcia said that for now, WGSF is airing music only, but full programming will resume this week.

Hispanic Community Voice Silenced
Lara said the station is unique to the area, one of only two Spanish-langauge stations on the dial, with Butron’s 1180 AM “La Jefa” being the other. “That is a big facet of the Memphis community that they serve,” he said. “They didn’t deserve this.”

The Butron website explains that the couple, originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, traveled to Tennessee beginning in 1999 for vacations and fell in love with its culture. They observed a language barrier between immigrants in the area and natives. That motivated them to close the communications gap.

The couple had previous operated WGSF, dating back to 2014, under a time brokerage agreement, before purchasing it outright from Flinn Broadcasting.

Ivette Butron Ramos is noted as the first Hispanic in Memphis and second statewide to operate and own a radio station. She was named one of the top 10 “Women of the Bluff” by the website We Are Memphis in March.

Copper Thievery Cases Continue
Walton, Goodman and Yarbrough were charged with burglary of a building, theft of property, and tampering with evidence, according to WREG(TV).

Court proceedings are ongoing. Butron and Lara were present at a hearing on June 13. Lara said that camera footage from around when the incident occurred is still being reviewed.

[Related: “Letter: How We Caught Copper Thieves With an FBI Assist”]

Radio World noted an apparent increase in reports of copper thefts at transmitter sites within the last year at both AM and FM stations. One reader said their station had been hit three times in a five-year period.

utron urges other broadcasters to remain vigilant. He said he’s already heard from station owners in West Memphis, Knoxville and Little Rock who’ve also experienced copper theft.

They all agree: Stations need to keep security tight. Keep fences locked and cameras running.

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced the tentative agenda for the September Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2024.

The FCC described the agenda items as follows: 

• Improving Access to Video Conferencing Services – The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in video conferencing, including by the use of telecommunications relay services (TRS).  (CG Docket Nos. 23-161, 10-213, 03-123)
• Bolstering Protections Against Robocalls and Texts –The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would bolster current FCC rules on blocking and robocall mitigation in key areas, including by expanding requirements to block calls based on reasonable do-not-originate lists and by creating new financial penalties for carriers who fail to protect consumers from illegal calls.  (CG Docket Nos. 17-59, 21-402)
• Freeing Up Spectrum to Support Satellite Broadband Service – The Commission will consider a Report and Order that will provide 1300 megahertz of spectrum in the 17 GHz band for non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) space stations in the fixed-satellite service (FSS) while also protecting incumbent operations. The Order provides a more cohesive global framework for FSS operators and maximizes the efficient use of the 17 GHz band spectrum.  (IB Docket No. 22-273) 
• Improving Digital FM Radio Service – The Commission will consider a Report and Order implementing a streamlined process for authorizing digital transmissions at different power levels on the upper and lower digital sideband in order to enhance digital FM radio coverage and prevent interference.  (MB Docket No. 22-405)

The commission also said it plans to vote on seven unspecified enforcement actions. 

The FCC noted that publicly releases the draft text of each item expected to be considered at the next Open Commission Meeting.  Drafts of items under consideration that involve specific, enforcement-related matters, which can include restricted proceedings and hearing designation orders, will not be publicly released.  One-page cover sheets are included in the public drafts to help summarize each item.  All these materials will be available on the FCC’s Open Meeting page: www.fcc.gov/openmeeting. 

The Open Meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. ET in the Commission Meeting Room of the Federal Communications Commission, 45 L Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.  Open Meetings are streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live.

WASHINGTON—Insinuating a connection between Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, National Public Radio wants to see an end to low-power television Channel 6 stations from using analog FM radio services and has asked the FCC to refuse future authorization of such use of what are called “Franken FM” stations.

NPR filed its comments in response to the FCC Media Bureau’s request for feedback on whether analog LPTV stations should be able to continue to program an analog radio service—available on the FM dial (87.7)—after the final digital television conversion deadline.

NPR says that LPTVs’ use of radio airwaves can occupy 30x the spectrum a traditional FM station would use and would cause problems if permitted to continue to operate on analog.

“Franken FMs pose an ongoing threat of harmful interference to public radio stations operating in the immediately adjacent FM band reserved for noncommercial educational broadcast stations,” NPR’s comments to the FCC read. “Moreover, the grossly inefficient use of spectrum adjacent to the NCE reserved FM band ultimate prevents public radio stations from expanding their signal coverage or otherwise offering a multiplicity of additional public service programming for the American public.”

LPTVs believe that these concerns are exaggerated.

“There [are] currently over 20 LPTV stations transmitting analog audio carriers available on 87.7 FM, yet the LPTV-C is not aware of any outstanding (not resolved to satisfaction of the listener) complaints about actual interference between the audio signal transmitted by these analog LPTV stations and nearby FM stations on Channels 201 or 202,” the LPTV Group's Mike Gravino told the FCC. “However, if the commission chooses to be overly cautious, it can adopt both contour overlap restrictions and prohibitions on actual interference that would eliminate any theoretical risk of interference between 87.7 FM audio carrier and nearby NCE FM stations. In everyday, real-world operating conditions, the current or proposed expanded 87.7 FM services will not cause impermissible interference to other broadcast licensees in their markets.”

LPTVs also have argued that their stations benefit unserved or under-served audiences, though NPR counters that these stations typically offer country, contemporary, Spanish language, religious and sports programming, areas that it says are well served by FM radio stations.

This can all be traced back to the digital conversion of 2009. At that time, full power stations were required to go all digital, but the FCC allowed LPTVs to continue to broadcast in analog until 12 months after the completion of the post-incentive auction repack. The auction is currently scheduled to be completed on July 3, 2020, giving LPTVs until July 3, 2021, to switch completely to digital.

NPR, in its argument, says that its position of ending operation of Franken FMs is supported by the Communications Act, FCC regulations and federal communications and spectrum policy. If LPTVs were allowed to continue Franken FM operations, “[the FCC] would have to develop additional rules to govern these Franken FM services to avoid interference to adjacent reserved band NCE FM stations and to assure reception of the LPTV’s primary video service by DTV receivers.”

NPR concludes the commission would better serve the public by reaffirming the DTV conversion deadline.

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—The Great TV Channel Auction and Repack is now underway, with television and FM radio broadcasters doing the necessary work to change frequency assignments and install new equipment. It is a lot of work, but progress is being made daily.

In addition to the repack project work now underway, the FCC is currently asking for comments about the repack process and reimbursement for affected Class A stations, low-power TV stations, translators and FM broadcasters; deadline is Oct. 26. In addition to the full-power repack, as many as 1,000 smaller stations are being moved in 10 phases, which will cause dislocation and incur some expenses for LPTVs and translators that were not protected in the repack. This also affects some FM stations colocated on TV towers.

In the event you’ve been lost in space for the past two years, the Channel Auction and Repack exists to shift TV broadcasters to VHF and lower-UHF channels, with the goal of freeing up spectrum for wireless services for mobile devices. A distant model was the BAS Relocation program from 2005 to 2010, which also had broadcasters giving up a slice of spectrum for the benefit of a cellphone company.

Since the process began in the spring of 2017 after a spectrum auction that yielded approximately $20 billion to the federal government, more than 120 full power and Class A television stations have moved off their pre-auction channels, according to Jean Kiddoo, chair of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force.

“Approximately half of those stations chose to move before the first formal transition deadline,” she said. “The other half consists of stations that won incentive payments during the auction but elected to continue broadcasting by sharing a channel with another station, and have now implemented those channel-sharing agreements.”

NOW UNDERWAY

By the time you read this article, the first formal phase of the Channel Auction and Repack is now underway. Kiddoo said that the testing period for Phase 1 of the repack began Sept. 14 and ends Nov. 30. There are 82 full-power and Class A television stations scheduled to transition during Phase 1.

[Read: Transitioning To New Channels—Phase 1 Deadline Looms]

Obviously, re-assigning channels of TV broadcasters and radio stations is an expensive proposition, fraught with complex engineering challenges as well as concern about changes in propagation and coverage. Congress appropriated funds to pay for this work, and broadcasters have been receiving reimbursement.

“The initial reimbursement fund totaled $1.75 billion, and as of April 16, 2018, virtually all of that [$1.742 billion] has been allocated by the FCC,” Kiddoo said. “That represents 92.5-percent of total estimates for each station. “Stations have been able to draw down against their allocation by submitting invoices for eligible costs incurred since October 6, 2017.”

As for the remaining 7.5-percent of the projected costs and additional expenses, it appears to be on the way.

“Congress provided additional funding in the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act to reimburse reasonable costs incurred by full power and Class A broadcasters as well as previously-ineligible LPTV/TV translator and FM stations,” Kiddoo said. “The rulemaking to adopt rules and procedures to reimburse the latter is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2019.”

How does this translate to the real world of actual broadcasters going through the repack work? Dale Scherbring, a regional director of engineering for Sinclair Broadcast Group and the company’s repack manager, said the project is keeping him busy.

“The Sinclair Broadcast Group’s engineering team has been working on 100 repacks for the company-owned stations and fulfilling contracts with our partner stations,” Scherbring said. “Phase 0 stations and one Phase 1 station have made the transition and are on the air.”

Phase 0 stations on the air include:

• WCHS (Charleston, W.Va.)
• WDSI (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
• WICD (Champaign, Ill.)
• WNUV (Baltimore, Md.)

The only Phase 1 station moved so far is KJZZ (Salt Lake City).

Scherbring said that the company’s Phase 1 stations currently in progress for repack work are:

• KBTV (Beaumont, Texas)
• KFDM (Beaumont, Texas)
• KMEG (Sioux City, Iowa)
• KPTH (Sioux City, Iowa)
• KMPH-CD (Fresno Calif.)
• KRXI (Reno, Nev.)
• WNWO (Toledo, Ohio)

“The remaining 88 stations are in various stages of equipment order, tower studies and overall planning,” he said.

MASSIVE SCOPE

There has been a lot of discussion about the massive scope of this project versus the relatively small size of the broadcast equipment manufacturing industry. In other words, would the manufacturers of transmitters, antennas and ancillary components be able to build high-quality and reliable equipment for the repack in the relatively short time frame for which the project is scheduled? Then, will there be sufficient crews to properly install it?

“The overall planning for our projects is showing no major issues,” Scherbring said. “The implementation of some projects is running into major weather delays for the tower crews, some vendor-delayed shipping issues, and in some cities major delays with local zoning permits.”

The NAB keeps its eye on the big picture across the country. Dennis Wharton, executive vice president of communications for the NAB, said that he is giving special attention to project timing—especially in the latter stages of the work.

“We remain concerned that the 39-month timeframe created by the FCC is simply insufficient to accommodate all the stations that have to be moved,” Wharton said. “It’s going to be especially difficult for stations in later phases that may not have already contracted for repack work. The tragic loss of four talented tall-tower workers reduced an already small pool of qualified tower dogs. In addition, the first couple phases have fairly long transition periods—132 days in the case of Phase 2. However, Phases 3 and beyond are very compressed—just 34 days in Phase 5—and any unexpected delays will affect scheduling like a stack of dominoes.”

Wharton also noted that many stations are linked with one or more other stations and cannot transition until those other stations have also transitioned. And due to cold weather and dangerous weather conditions, there are only so many months of the year that tower work is feasible in the northern states.

NEXT GEN TV

In the past couple of years, there has been a lot of discussion of ATSC 3.0 and Next Gen TV, and stations across the country are keeping this in mind now that repack work is upon them.

“I believe many stations being repacked will upgrade to equipment that can more easily transition to Next Gen TV,” Wharton said. “Some of this new equipment can move from the current standard to Next Gen TV transmission with the flip of a switch, so it does present an opportunity for stations to upgrade for the future.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group has been a avid proponent of ATSC 3.0, so the question came up as to what the company might be doing for the repack to prepare for an ATSC 3.0 future.

“Sinclair has maximized stations’ signal reach and included some vertical polarization elements in all the new antennas that are being purchased,” Scherbring said. “This will enhance ATSC 3.0 [operations], but the costs of these items are not reimbursable, so they are an extra cost to each station.”

STILL NOT CLEAR

There’s no question that the channel auction and repack is big—really big. In addition to the repack at full-power stations (which is fairly well known and documented), the FCC said that the number of affected low-power, translators and FM broadcasters is still not clear.

“We do not yet know how many FM or LPTV and translator stations will be affected by the repack,” the FCC’s Kiddoo said. “To date, construction permits for more than 1,500 of the roughly 2,100 LPTV/translator stations that filed applications in the special displacement window have been granted. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that the commission adopted in early August sought comment on eligibility requirements and reimbursement procedures for those FM and LPTV/translator stations that incur costs as a result of the repack.”

Therefore, it remains to be seen exactly what the costs and time schedule will be to complete all repack work. In the meantime, work is proceeding quickly across the country.

When asked if the repack was a good thing or just another regulatory nuisance, one broadcaster replied philosophically.

“We can all be armchair quarterbacks on Monday morning,” Sinclair’s Scherbring said. “These are the new rules we broadcasters must live with—we will make it happen.”

For all the latest news and insight on the repack, visit our repack silo.

WASHINGTON—The American Cable Association says MPVDs and full power and Class A TV stations should get priority access to $400 million in 2019 incentive auction relocation funds before FM radio stations or low powers and translators get a share.

The latter were initially not included in the fund, set up to compensate broadcasters and MVPDs for costs of the post-incentive auction repack, but Congress earlier this year made them part of the fund, directing funds for 2018 specifically to FMs ($50 million) and low powers and translators ($150 million), but was less clear about the 2019 funds.

In proposing a framework for allocating that money, the FCC noted the lack of specificity about the 2019 funds and asked whether it should prioritize MVPDs et al. before FMs and low powers. ACA says definitely.

ACA told the FCC in comments this week that it is certainly feasible that MVPDS, full powers and class A's may need all $400 million, and if that is the case, they should get it.

"It would be unfair, therefore, to permit others—including LPTV, TV translator, and FM stations—to access the funds appropriated for 2019 until all entities for whom the reimbursement fund was originally created are fully satisfied," ACA said.

[Read: NAB Urges FCC To Minimize Consumer Disruptions, Wait To Prioritize Repack Reimbursements]

ACA pointed out that while only 136 MVPDs have so far filed for reimbursement—many have to adjust their headends to receive stations being moved in the repack—"hundreds more" are expected to file for reimbursement over the next two years.

Congress has consistently prioritized reimbursement of MVPDs and full power and Class A stations over all others," ACA president and CEO Matthew M. Polka said of the filing.

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission should seek to minimize disruptions to TV viewers and FM radio listeners as it firms up how it will distribute the $1 billion additionally allocated by Congress to reimburse broadcasters for their channel relocation expenses, NAB said in comments filed Sept. 26 with the agency.

The comments, filed in reference to the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on reimbursement of repack-associated expenses to LPTV, TV Translator and FM radio stations, also pointed out the agency has no reason at the moment to think the additional funds won’t cover the expenses of “all eligible entities”

A key point in the filing centers on how Congress apportioned funding in its Reimbursement Expansion Act (REA), which passed in March. Of the $1 billion, Congress apportioned $600 million for FY 2018 and $400 million for FY 2019. The law caps FY 2018 spending at $600 million but does not restrict how the $400 million FY 2019 funds are allocated.

“At the outset, the plain language of the REA includes no limitations on how to allocate FY 2019 funds, in stark contrast to the express limitations for FY 2018 funds,” NAB said in the filing. The association told the commission that the language of the act “confirms that FY 2019 funds may supplement the funding levels made available in 2018.”

The NPRM sought comment on whether or not, and if so, how, reimbursement payments from FY 2019 funds should be prioritized. NAB urged the FCC only to prioritize funding if the facts prove doing so is needed. That will only become clear once FM and LPTV stations submit their cost estimates, NAB said.

“The Commission presently has no reason to believe that the $1 billion Congress appropriated will prove inadequate to reimburse all eligible entities for expenses associated with repacking and a limited basis, if any, for guessing where shortfalls are likely to arise. The Commission may have sufficient funds available to reimburse all eligible entities for expenses incurred during repacking, meaning that any prioritization at this point could prove unnecessary,” NAB said.

The FCC has a statutory deadline of Mach 23, 2019, to put in place rules for reimbursing FM and LPTV stations. Shortly after that, FM and LPTV stations will submit their estimates, and TV stations and MVPDs will have provided updated information on their repack expenses. Only then will the agency know if there won’t be adequate funds, how big the shortfall will be and how to prioritize payments, the association said. “Waiting to see whether prioritizing reimbursement will be necessary is the most reasonable approach,” the filing said.

However, if the commission insists on prioritizing payments, NAB offered its desired approach. First, allocate funds as soon as possible to make sure FM stations receive 80 percent of actual or estimated costs and that at least $50 million specified in FY2018 funds is allocated to FM stations; second, fully reimburse full-power and Class A TV stations being involuntarily repacked; third –if funds are available—fully reimburse FM radio stations impacted in the repack; and fourth, “use remaining funds to reimburse displaced LPTV stations and translators for any costs exceeding $150 million [which Congress set aside to cover their relocation expenses].”

(A separate filing this week from the National Translator Association places the estimated relocation expenses of LPTV and TV Translator stations at about $77 million.)

The filing is available online. 

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.