On Nov. 8, it was a victory for Donald J. Trump.
Now, in the birthplace of Starbucks, a victory of sorts has come for Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved and Armstrong & Getty.
That’s because Bonneville International Corp. has acquired an FM translator for a Seattle-Tacoma Talker it owns.
RBR + TVBR OBSERVATION (Full Text Below, for subscribers): The seller of this FM translator is one of two school districts in the Seattle-Tacoma area that give high schools practical learning about radio as a business, and not as a hobby or play toy for giving shout-outs to their friends. The parent station of this translator is exactly what the NAB and RAB needs to endorse and provide grants for across the nation, if it wants radio to have a healthy future.
In an asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on Nov. 18, Bonneville is paying $300,000 for K233BU in White Center, Wash., from the KMIH.org Radio Booster Club.
That’s a huge windfall for KMIH-FM 88.9 in Mercer Island, Wash., a Class D noncomm owned by Mercer Island School District No. 400.
KMIH is branded as “Hot Jamz,” and plays a mix of Rhythmic Top 40 music with a student-run operation similar to that of Nathan Hale High School’s dance music-focused KNHC-FM 89.5.
With 62 watts at 551 feet, K233BU broadcasts at 94.5 MHz from a Hilltop locale along E. Madison Street, giving it full city-grade coverage of Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and much of Redmond.
The sale leaves KMIH with a diminutive signal at 88.9 MHz covering Mercer Island proper.
K233BU will now be used as a FM simulcast partner for Talk KTTH-AM 770, a Seattle-licensed Class B with a two-pattern directional signal offering 50kw during the day and 5kw at night; it must power down when the sun is down to protect both KKOB-AM in Albuquerque and CHQR-AM in Calgary.
Bonneville has paid a $75,000 deposit for K233BU to the school district; with the deposit Bonneville obtained a letter acknowledging that the University of Washington’s noncomm KUOW-FM does not have an existing right of first refusal to purchase the translator.
RBR + TVBR OBSERVATION: We wish we had school districts like those in Mercer Island and Seattle, Wash., where high school students have the ability to truly learn about how a radio station works firsthand by being on the air, or being a program director. We hope Mercer Island School District uses the funds to continue the operation of “Hot Jamz,” even with a diminished signal. Tap in to digital solutions, and expand that brand so that it competes against the big boys. Some may ask what the heck happened to “93 KUBE” and point to commercially licensed competitors. But let’s give Mercer Island High School’s KMIH and Nathan Hale High School’s KNHC-FM “C 89.5” some credit. These stations are exactly what the NAB and RAB needs to endorse and provide grants for across the nation. You really think high schoolers anywhere else, save Piper High School in Broward County, Fla., are thinking about a career in radio? Aside from the morning show of preference, are they tuning in? Maybe if the industry truly stepped up and did something to build our future leaders while they are still assessing career choices and universities, we wouldn’t be so gray.
