This is Beagle-ears -> Lars -> Santa Barbara -> Radio

Santa Barbara Radio Stations

AM

From http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?wat=34.27&lon=119.40&dist=50.

FreqCall SignPower (Eff) Location Description Website Owner
990 KHzKTMS5 kW Gibraltar Road News/Talk www.990am.com Clear Channel
1250 kHzKEYT2.5 kW Goleta Beach (Patterson Rd) News/Talk www.keyt.com Smith Broadcasting Group
1290 kHzKZBN500 W
(122 nights)
Garden St / 101 Adult standards (Frank Sinatra Era) 1930's-1940's Easy Listening Rotijefco (Bob Newhart)
1340 kHzKIST-AM650 W Milpas Street / 101 Oldies - Clear Channel
1490 KHzKBKO1000 W 101 / Salsipuedes Spanish/Folk - "Radio Bronco" - Spectacular Broadcasting Inc -> Clear Channel

FM

From http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?land=&staat=CA&stadt=Santa+Barbara.

FreqCall SignPower (Eff) LocationDescriptionWebsite Owner
88.7 MHzKFAC12 kW BNS Gibraltar KUSC (APR) Affiliate / Rebroadcast www.kusc.org Univ. of So. Cal
89.5 MHzKSBX210 W BNS Gibraltar KCBX (San Luis Obispo NPR) Rebroadcast www.kcbx.org Public Radio KCBX
90.3 MHzKMRO-FM270 W Cineguitas Road New Christian Station: Construction Permit granted
91.5 MHzK218CP3 W BNS Gibraltar Calvary Chapel: Christian
91.9 MHzKCSBFM620 W Broadcast Peak University of California www.kcsb.org U.C.S.B.
92.7 MHzK224BO15 W Broadcast Peak Western Translators, Los Gatos. Is this KEAR (Christian, SF) ? Licensed to GAVIOTA, not SB.
92.9 MHzKJEE820 W BNS Gibraltar New Rock. Licensed to MONTECITO, not SB. - James Evans
93.7 MHzKDB12.5 kW BNS Gibraltar Classical - Pacific Broadcasting Co
94.5 MHzKSPE810 W Broadcast Peak Spanish/Pop "La Musical" (Licensed to Ellwood) - Spectacular Broadcasting Inc -> Clear Channel
96.7 MHzKSYV6 kW Chalk Hill, Solvang Country -
97.5 MHzKMGQ16 kW Broadcast Peak Light Jazz - Engles Enterprises -> Cumulus Media
99.9 MHzKTYD34 kW Gibraltar Road Classic Rock and Roll www.ktyd.com Clear Channel
101.7 MHzKSBL310 W BNS Gibraltar Adult Contemporary. Licensed to CARPINTERIA, not SB. www.ksbl.com Clear Channel
102.3 MHzK272DT4 W BNS Gibraltar KCLU (Thousand Oaks NPR) repeater www.kclu.org Calif. Lutheran Univ.
103.3 MHzKRUZ105 kW Broadcast Peak Contemporary Rock. - Cumulus Media
105.9 MHzKRAZ65 W Broadcast Peak New: June 2001- Shawn & Sandra Knight
106.3 MHzKKSB240 W BNS Gibraltar - Contemporary hits/Top 40. Licensed to GOLETA, not SB. Engles Enterprises -> Cumulus Media
106.9K295AH ? ? -Goleta LicenseAssociation for Community Education, Camarillo, CA
107.7 MHzKIST-FM930 W West Camino Cielo (Near Gun Club) Contemporary Hits/Top 40 "Today's Favorites" www.kistfm.com Clear Channel

TV

Most people believe that there is only one TV station in Santa Barbara, so if you do not have cable, there is nothing to watch. This is actually not true, as the following table shows; you just have to know where to point your UHF antenna: Towards BNS Gibraltar (see the map below).
ChannelCall Sign Location Network/Description
3KEYT-TV Broadcast Peak ABC - Smith Broadcasting of Santa Barbara, CA
15K15DB - Translator BNS Gibraltar Trinity Broadcasting Network, Santa Ana, CA
17KSBB-LP ? Smith Broadcasting of Santa Barbara, CA
22KWHY-LP BNS Gibraltar Harriscope of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
26K26FT - Translator (KCET) BNS Gibraltar Community Television of Southern CA, Los Angeles, CA
32KSBT-LP BNS Gibraltar Arnold Applebaum, La Mirada, CA
38K38DK - Translator BNS Gibraltar Costa de Oro TV, Pacific Palisades, CA
43KTSB-LP BNS Gibraltar Univision - J B Broadcasting, Santa Monica, CA
49K49EK - Translator BNS Gibraltar Coastline Communications, Pasadena, CA
55K55AP - Translator (KCET) Broadcast Peak Community Television of Southern CA, Los Angeles, CA
59K59CD - Translator BNS Gibraltar SJL of California, San Luis Obispo, CA
59K59FV - Translator ? Biltmore Broadcasting, Pacific Palisades, CA

Transmitter Sites

As in most cities, there are a few locations which have a clear line of sight to almost all of the population in the area, and this is where transmitters are clustered. Since we do not have any skyscrapers here, those sites are mountaintops. Two of these stand out:

Broadcast Peak, between Goleta and Lake Cachuma. This site at the very rigde of the Santa Ynez Mountains has an unobstructed view of the entire Santa Barbara County. This is well known in the community and is the site of the local television station: KEYT-TV channel 3 (ABC) as well as the university radio station KCSB (91.9 FM). About a quarter mile further west is Santa Ynez Peak, filled with non-broadcast communication towers: Microwave links for the county, for AT&T etc. Halfway between Broadcast Peak and San Marcos Pass KRUZ (103.3 FM) - one of the highest powered transmitters in the USA - sits on a tower by itself.
BNS Gibraltar (Community Radio Inc) on Gibraltar Road, halfway up the mountain right behind the city of Santa Barbara. Almost all the radio stations in Santa Barbara are gathered in this one spot, but hardly anyone has seen it. While the towers at broadcast peak are silhouetted against the sky, the ones on Gibraltar blend in against the backdrop of the mountainside chaparral.

In addition to the broadcast stations, this site houses paging transmitters, wireless internet access points, microwave links, public safety transponders, etc etc. For information about this site, see http://www.sbtower.com.

The mountain ridge neatly cuts off the coverage area of the Gibraltar transmitters. At first glance, this may seem to be a bad thing, since it prevents (poor and marginal) coverage of the North county. But it is actually a great advantage, since it prevents interference between Santa Barbara's stations and those in Santa Ynez, Santa Maria and Lompoc, and thus allows for more stations than if the antennas were on top of the mountains.


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