ANSWER:

Unfortunately no, we will not.

Major League Baseball retains Internet streaming rights. Individual teams are not allowed to offer streaming in their agreements with their radio network affiliates.

I’m sorry for this. But our hands are tied.

ANSWER
Yours is a question we get nearly every fall.

If it were up to us, we’d be on the air at 100 kilowatts. The equipment to broadcast at a higher power output is relatively cheap and, despite the high energy costs that so dominate the headlines as I write this, so is the electricity.

If we could, we’d go buy a gangbusters transmitter and crank it all the way up.

And so would every other broadcaster.

Therein lies the problem.

If every broadcaster simply put as much signal in the air as he or she had the checkbook to buy, the spectrum would be a chaotic jumble of useless noise.

Which is what was rapidly becoming the case in the late 1920s and early 1930s as the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) was formed and that agency began allocating frequencies, power and directionality.

When the sun sets, KTBB, like most AM radio stations, changes its power and the directions in which it most strongly radiates its signal.

Radio Frequency energy (RF) in what is commonly called the AM band (535 kHz to 1700 kHz) has a characteristic called the skywave. During the day, ionization of the atmosphere by the sun suppresses the skywave and your receiver detects only the groundwave. But at night, when solar energy is gone, the skywave is “free” to travel great distances. As a result, the skywave of a station in Tyler, Texas can cause severe interference for a station in a state as far away as either coast. The skywave effect diminishes with an increase in frequency (dial position). Therefore, a station that is low on the dial like KTBB at 600 kHz will have a very significant skywave component.

To deal with this physical property of AM radio, the FCC allocated radio stations in the U.S. in such a way that some stations are fully powered both day and night, a great many stations are only on the air in the daytime and the rest operate at a higher power by day and a lower power by night.

KTBB is in the last group of stations. Our daytime power is 5,000 watts. Our nighttime power is 2,500 watts. We change power at local sunrise and local sunset. As you know, that time changes with the changing of the seasons. As I write this, our power-up time on KTBB is 7:30 a.m. CDT and our power-down time is 6:45 p.m. CDT As I mentioned, those times change as the seasons change.

As if that weren’t enough, KTBB, like most AM stations, uses a directional antenna system. Simply put, we radiate our signal more strongly in some directions than in others. This, too, is to provide protection from interference to stations in other communities that also operate on our frequency (600 kHz) as well as to stations in other communities that operate on frequencies adjacent to ours (580 kHz, 590 kHz, 610 kHz, and 620 kHz). Our directional pattern changes for daytime and nighttime operation at the same times that our power changes. Our pattern is such that we do not radiate as strongly to the east toward Longview at night as we do in the daytime. Also, we protect KLBJ(AM) in Austin. They are at 590 on the dial, the first adjacent channel to us at 600 kHz. Thus, we “pull in our horns” to the south as the sun sets.

The question that always follows is, “Well, can’t you do something to raise your power.” And the answer that must follow is, “No, we can’t.” The AM Table of Allotments for the United States is a giant jigsaw puzzle. What we do will affect our neighboring AM stations, which will affect their neighbors and so on. So what we have is for all intents and purposes fixed. I hope this answers your question.

You can view a table listing of the AVERAGE HOURS OF SUNRISE AND SUNSET by clicking on this link: Sun Hours

Many of our listeners that are affected by our power and pattern changes are making use of our web streaming service. If you live in the Tyler-Longview metropolitan survey area as defined by ARBITRON, the radio ratings company, you can subscribe to our streaming service for only $0.99 and you can listen on any computer you own.

The eligible counties of residence are Smith, Gregg & Cherokee.

Click here: Stream Terms for complete information.

I appreciate your interest and I hope I have answered your question.
Paul L. Gleiser
President

A little technical information. Radio Frequency energy (RF) in what is commonly called the AM band (535 kHz to 1700 kHz) has a characteristic called the skywave. During the day, ionization of the atmosphere by the sun suppresses the skywave and your receiver detects only the groundwave. But at night, when solar energy is gone, the skywave is “free” to travel great distances. As a result, the skywave of a station in Tyler, Texas can cause severe interference for a station in a state as far away as either coast. The skywave effect diminishes with an increase in frequency (dial position). Therefore, a station that is low on the dial like KTBB at 600 kHz will have a very significant skywave component.

To deal with this physical property of AM radio, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated radio stations in the U.S. in such a way that some stations are fully powered both day and night, a great many stations are only on the air in the daytime and the rest operate at a higher power by day and a lower power by night.

KTBB is in the last group of stations. Our daytime power is 5,000 watts. Our nighttime power is 2,500 watts. We change power at local sunrise and local sunset. As you know, that time changes with the changing of the seasons. As I write this, our power-up time on KTBB is 7:30 a.m. and our power-down time is 7:45 p.m. As I mentioned, those times change as the seasons change.

As if that weren’t enough, KTBB, like most AM stations, uses a directional antenna system. Simply put, we radiate our signal more strongly in some directions than in others. This, too, is to provide protection from interference to stations in other communities that also operate on our frequency (600 kHz) as well as to stations in other communities that operate on frequencies adjacent to ours (580 kHz, 590 kHz, 610 kHz, and 620 kHz). Our directional pattern changes for daytime and nighttime operation at the same times that our power changes. Our pattern is such that we do not radiate as strongly to the east toward Longview at night as we do in the daytime.

The question that always follows is, “Well, can’t you do something to raise your power.” And the answer that must follow is, “No, we can’t.” The AM Table of Allotments for the United States is a giant jigsaw puzzle. What we do will affect our neighboring AM stations, which will affect their neighbors and so on. So what we have is for all intents and purposes fixed. I hope this answers your question.

You can view a table listing of the AVERAGE HOURS OF SUNRISE AND SUNSET by clicking on the link below:

http://www.ktbb.com/sunhours.php

I appreciate your interest.

Paul L. Gleiser
President

ANSWER
The momentary interruption that you hear is the result of the physical movement of some rather large relays that serve to:

* increase transmitter power output from 2,500 to 5,000 watts
* change the shape of the station’s radiation pattern to the daytime pattern as set forth in our license.

This daily event occurs at local sunrise as it is defined in our license. During the month of July, that defined time is 6:15 a.m. Central Daylight Time. Accordingly, we must make the change at that time to be in compliance with the terms of our license.

Thanks for your question and thanks for listening.

Paul L. Gleiser
President

ANSWER

Michael Savage is not returning at the same time of day as he occupied when he left Talk Radio Network. His show is being syndicated by Cumulus Media Networks and it airs beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central) as opposed to 6 p.m Eastern (5 p.m. Central) with his previous syndicator.

It is possible that we may, at some date, begin clearing Michael Savage’s show. But for now, we are under contract to the Wall Street Journal Radio Network and to the Laura Ingraham Show for the hours beginning at 8 p.m. Central. We cannot make a change in programming prior to living out the terms of those agreements.

Thank you for your interest and for listening to KTBB.

Paul L. Gleiser

Details Here

Michael Savage says publicly that he intends to return to the air via a new syndicator at some point in the near future. However, he is not on the air anywhere at this time.

Paul L. Gleiser

To listen to AM600 KTBB we now offer apps for both Android & iPhone!

To listen to 92.1 ESPN we now offer apps for both Android & iPhone!

If you would like to access the mp3 streams directly see below for direct links.

AM600 KTBB

http://ice7.securenetsystems.net/KTBBM

ESPN 92.1FM

http://ice7.securenetsystems.net/KYZSM

Thanks for listening!

ANSWER:

First, I AM HQ. The decision came from me. If I ever wish to appeal the decision, I’ll have to find a mirror.

Second, all-sports radio is one of the real success stories in radio today. The format has audience and ratings 12 months a year. And it’s not about the “shoe laces on the third string quarterback’s shoes.” With respect to the two largest big leauge sports, by the time the NFL has finished the Super Bowl, the Texas Rangers and all of Major League Baseball will be headed to training camp. By the time basball season is over in early November, it’s starting to become clear which teams will be a factor in the NFL post-season.

Then there’s major college football and NCAA’s Final Four. Not to mention the NBA, the NHL and NASCAR.

There’s something to talk about every week. That’s why Sports Illustrated publishes a magazine 52 weeks of every year.

All-sports radio is very successful and among those successes across the country, ESPN Radio stands at the pinnacle. ESPN is arguably the best practitioner of spoken-word radio in the business right now and I mean that even when compared to the “big guns” of talk radio like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity (both of whom appear on KTBB 600 AM). ESPN’s product — the talent and execution — is simply outstanding. That fact, taken together with the sports department that we have built here over the past 20 years, gives us what we believe is a huge advantage over the one other station in the market that is half-heartedly airing some second-tier sports
programming.

Given that we gave Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard, et.al. three years to make an audience success out of KTBB-FM, and given that that success never materialized, and given that there was a gaping hole in this market for a quality all-sports station upon which we could utilize talent and programming assets we already own, and given that all-sports radio when done well is working spectacularly well in markets across the country; switching KTBB-FM to ESPN’s all-sports format was a pretty easy decision.

The answer to your question asking if women listen to the format the answer is yes, but not in nearly as great numbers as men. We know that going in and target our ad sales effort accordingly. Again using Sports Illustrated as an example, it doesn’t contain ads from the same advertisers as found in Southern Living.

And that’s why the format IS a cash cow. All-sports radio opens up advertiser categories that are unlikely to buy radio on any other format just as Sports Illustrated has advertisers that buy little or no other magazine advertising. For the right advertisers, the format produces excellent results.

We’ll wind up with much greater demand for commercial inventory on ESPN 92.1 FM than Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard, et.al. were ever able to generate. We quickly discovered when we shut down the music on KDOK and turned that station into KTBB-FM that just about all we were able to do with our current KTBB-AM advertisers was allocate some of what they were going to spend on KTBB-AM anyway to KTBB-FM. The station did not attract significant additional budgets from our existing clients by virtue of its programming and it did not attract additional demand as a result of its ratings. Its ratings were poor and getting poorer with every survey.

We are, however, already starting to see demand from a different cohort of advertisers for ESPN and that’s before the station has had time to be rated. This represents true incremental revenue to us, something that the prior incarnation of the station, despite our best efforts, was never able to produce in any significant way.

Thus, as to your question, “Does radio make money doing this type of programming?,” the answer is, yes, a ton of it. In markets large and small.

Such is our hope for ESPN 92.1 FM.

I hope this answers your questions.

Many thanks for taking the time to write.

Paul L. Gleiser

We therefore made the business decision to go a different direction with KTBB-FM. On Sept. 6, we adopted ESPN Radio’s programming, a format that is enjoying good success across the country, particularly in places where it is moving to the FM band.

I’m sorry that we did away with the programs you liked. But the economics of running an advertiser-supported business dictated that we make the changes that we made.

KTBB-FM is becoming ESPN SportsTalk 92.1 FM effective September 6, 2011.

We made this programming decision for two reasons.

The first reason is because we have observed the success of ESPN Radio in other markets. ESPN Radio has evolved and matured over the past decade to become some of the best talk radio programming in the industry. The format is enjoying particular success in markets where it is being placed on FM signals. Given that this company already has a very sizable commitment to sports programming, as exemplified by such things as Texas Rangers baseball, University of Texas football, local high school football and the long-running, highly successful SportsTalk with Bill Coates, fully adopting the ESPN Radio brand is a natural evolution.

The second reason is that the lineup on KTBB-FM that we will be replacing has not produced the kind of audience success that we hoped for when we launched it in the spring of 2009. We had high hopes for KTBB-FM when it replaced the oldies music format on KDOK, but those hopes have not been realized.

While KTBB-AM continues to be hugely successful in terms of audience and advertiser support, KTBB-FM has not delivered as we hoped it would.Business is business. Like all radio stations, revenue success is driven by audience success. It is therefore clear, after more than two years, that a change is in order for KTBB-FM.

For these two reasons, we made the decision to change the programming on KTBB-FM.

With respect to the programs that currently air on KTBB-FM, our plan as of now, our plan is to retain Dave Ramsey on KTBB AM 600 at 5:00 p.m. and to retain Laura Ingraham on KTBB AM 600 at 9:00 p.m.

The decision to carry the speech today was based on long-standing editorial policy that has served us well and that stands irrespective of who happens to be holding the office at the moment. We made similar editorial decisions throughout the eight years of President Bush’s administration.

We make the programming decisions that we make in as consistent a manner as possible and in a sincere effort to carry out our mission to keep our audience informed.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Paul L. Gleiser

There are many issues surrounding homosexuality that are fair game for discussion in the media and in opinion journalism. The proper role, if any, for openly gay individuals in the military, the legitimacy of same-sex marriages and the public behavior by some individuals at gay and lesbian events held outdoors in public view are among topics about which reasonable people may disagree. These and other topics surrounding homosexuality are topics that talk radio hosts and opinion journalists may legitimately pose to their respective audiences.

With that said, the way our Talkback question was posed might be seen as asking, “Do homosexuals, by their very existence, threaten to bring down America?” We believe that such a question, posed in such a manner, is likely to generate more heat than light.

I understand how those who either heard, or heard about, KTBB’s Talkback question on Wednesday might have been offended. For the offense that was taken, we sincerely apologize.

Paul L. Gleiser, President
KTBB Radio

ANSWER
I’m sorry for the incovenience. Witholding streaming audio of game broadcasts is not our idea.

We have hit a brick wall with respect to streaming audio of major college and professional sports contests via our website. Essentially, none of the contracts that govern these broadcasts permit it. Rangers games are subject to the provisons of Major League Baseball’s streaming rights policy. Cowboys games are subject to similar provisions within the NFL. All of the major colleges withold audio streaming rights from radio broadcast contracts.

For years, we more or less ignored these proscriptions and streamed most of the games anyway. But that will no longer work. The leagues and the schools are actively policing internet streaming and if a broadcaster gets caught streaming a broadcast, that station can suffer very significant financial penalties and will likely lose the broadcast rights.

Thus during football and baseball games, we stream the program that would have been on had there not been a game.

I think it is an egregious disservice to the listener and it’s an egregious disservice to the broadcaster that provides the team broadcast coverage in the market. The teams will never gain in the streaming revenue that they reserve for themselves what they would lose in broadcast revenue were it not for affiliate stations like KTBB.

Every year at renewal, we will continue to press the leagues and the syndicators for streaming privileges. But for now, they have gained the upper hand on this subject and our hands are tied.

I again apologize for the inconvenience.

Paul L. Gleiser

ANSWER

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Much of the advertising to which you refer is on the air as a result of one or another of our network affiliations. The financial model in television and radio is that the network provides the programming in return for clearing the network’s commercials, either directly in the program that the network provides or at some other time during the broadcast day.

Like most news and talk-formatted radio stations, we have multiple network affiliations. Our primary news network is ABC. We get Texas-related news content as a result of our affiliation with the Texas State Network. We air commercials for the Associated Press Radio Network as a part of our compensation to the AP for our news wire service. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck come to us via Premiere Radio Networks.

All of these affiliations require that we air the commercials that they sell.

One of the by-products of the very difficult economy we have suffered is the downgrading of the caliber of advertisers to which network commercials are being sold. Demand for broadcast commercial inventory is a function of economic activity and, as we all know, economic activity has not been so great in the past couple of years. As Darrell Royal once said, “old ugly is better than old nothing,” and in this economy we are all, station owners and networks alike, compelled to seek revenue from whatever sources there are.

We will not knowingly air commercials that are demonstrably false or misleading. This includes commercials from the network. We will not air commercials that cross a line (the we define) with respect to taste or
propriety.

This standard, however, still allows commercials on the air that we might rather not have. But I have to be reasonable with respect to declining to air network commercials. They have to have the revenue or they cannot continue to provide the programming.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Paul L. Gleiser

ANSWER

I cannot speak for other broadcasters in the market. There is always a
chance that one of them will make the business decision to change formats on
one of their stations to something similar to what KDOK did. When and under
what circumstances that might occur, I cannot say.

I miss KDOK, too. I liked listening to it a lot. But it was not a growing
business and it was taking away resources that were necessary to protect and
grow our core franchise, which is news and talk. Playing music on the radio,
and particularly music from a “frozen” playlist, in other words a playlist
that does not continually take in new material, has become a very different
business than it used to be. The proliferation of personal music devices and
the ability to easily interface those devices to the sound system in one’s
vehicle has dramatically chnaged the game for FM radio music broadcasters.

In order to keep time-spent-listening to KDOK at competitive levels, I was
having to spend a ruinous amount of money every year doing focus group
research on the KDOK playlist in order to determine which songs were getting
burned out and which songs needed to be brought back into rotation. The
truth is, it is hard to compete with a person’s iPod. The playlist on a
person’s iPod is the absolutely perfectly researched playlist for that
person. It is particularly true in a format that doesn’t regularly introduce
new music, such as an oldies station like KDOK, that constant music research
is necessary or the audience will not spend as much time listening and that
ratings will suffer.

KLUV in Dallas conducts continuous music research in order to address this
issue. The problem for a similar station in a market like Tyler is that it
costs the same amount to do the research in Tyler as it does to do the
research in Dallas-Ft. Worth. The cost of research as a percentage of KLUV’s
revenue, however, is a fraction of that same cost as a percentage of KDOK’s
revenue.

Thus, we made the decision regarding KDOK and, despite the fact that I miss
KDOK, it has proven to be a good business decision.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Paul L. Gleiser