After almost four decades of simulcasting to the Santa Barbara market on KSBX (89.5), non-commercial news/talk KCBX San Luis Obispo (90.1) is going dark by the end of the year.
The reason for the signal going dark is due to ducting, where warmer waters change how radio signals cross over bodies of water, that has San Diego University news/talk KPBS, which is also broadcast on 89.5 but 200 miles to the south, overtaking the KSBX signal.
“To be clear, this is not a problem that KPBS can fix, and it is not an intentional effort by them to break into the Santa Barbara radio market. This is a climate change issue,” KCBX Inc. President/GM Frank Lanzone wrote in a message to listeners. “The KPBS signal is now interfering with KSBX, rendering it unusable for our broadcast.”
Despite the changes coming to the station Lanzone said that the station will continue to cover news and issues relevant to the Santa Barbara community.
“After a thorough review of the situation, we’ve determined that there is no avenue for us but to end our broadcast at 89.5 FM at the end of this year and help our Santa Barbara listeners reach our broadcast in new ways,” Lanzone said.
“KCBX considers Santa Barbara an integral part of our listenership, and we have no plans to reduce or limit news coverage or reporting on local Santa Barbara events and happenings.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
