KSIQ (96.1 FM, "Q96") is a move-in FM radio station from Brawley to the San Diego, California area. The station has a main transmitter site in Campo, California, east of San Diego and west of El Centro, with a booster transmitter on Mount San Miguel. It airs a Contemporary Hit Radio format.

History[link]

Previously, KSIQ Q96 was a commercial Class B radio station located in Brawley, California, that broadcast to the Imperial Valley, California, area at 50,000 Watts ERP.

In early 1981 it was called "SI-96" (pronounced "SEE-96"), using the middle letters of its call sign. "SI" stood for the Spanish word meaning "yes." This was meant to attract the large Hispanic audience and to have them interpret the name as "Yes-96."

In 1983, this changed to the simpler name "Q-96". This name caught on much better. KSIQ became a popular FM station in multiple markets including Imperial Valley, California, Yuma, Arizona, and internationally in Mexicali. Before the move it was the highest rated station in the Imperial Valley. The station played a Contemporary Hit Radio format that was unique to the county at that time, as most stations in the area played country or Mexican music.

In early 2010 KSIQ, seeking a larger market, announced that it was moving to San Diego. The only on-air talents who moved with the station were morning DJ Tony Driskill and afternoon DJ Stacy Lynn.^[1] KSIQ began broadcasting to the San Diego area from its new main transmitter and booster on March 17, 2010.

Program directors[link]

• Tony Driskill (1987–1993)
• Dan Watson (1993–1996)
• Tony Driskill (1996–2003)
• Vincent "Toby" Salgado (2003–2008)
• Tony Driskill (2008–Present)

Owners[link]

• Kurt Leptich (1981–1984)
• Stodelle Broadcasting (1984–1999)
• Commonwealth Communications, LLC (1999–2003)
• Cherry Creek Radio, LLC (2003–present)

Current[link]

KSIQ still airs a Contemporary Hit Radio format. Its new moniker, "San Diego's New Q - Q96," references San Diego's legendary KCBQ.

The main transmitter is located east of Lake Morena, just west of Campo. The booster station is located atop Mount San Miguel along with several other transmitters, including those of television stations KUSI and KNSD.

The main transmitter has 25,000 watts ERP, down from 50,000 ERP watts at its Brawley site, and the booster is licensed for 700 watts ERP. Aside from Campo, the station primarily serves San Diego south of Interstate 8 and Northern Baja California.

Booster site problems[link]

The booster site went through a long period of non-operation and problems from late October 2010 through July 2011. On early morning October 22, 2010 the booster transmitter went silent, transmitting a dead carrier.^[2] Cheery Creek Radio, the owners of KSIQ, applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a Silent STA: A "special temporary authority" to retain their license despite not being on the air. The application stated that the T1 link to the booster transmitter failed, that troubleshooting was underway, and that they intended to return to the air as soon as possible.^[3]

On Tuesday, November 16, 2010, KSIQ was heard in San Diego again.^[4] But on January 24, 2011 the San Diego Radio blog reported that KSIQ's relay on Mount San Miguel was not operating, and the signal from the main transmitter in Campo was not reaching San Diego.^[5]

On March 31, 2011, the station's management requested a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to operate the booster transmitter with temporary facilities from an alternate site. The site proposed was just west of Sweetwater Reservoir, about four miles west of the Mount San Miguel location. The STA request also included a significant increase in transmitter power for the booster, from 700 watts ERP to 5000 watts ERP, but also noted that the new site would be at just 137 meters above sea level (compared to 785 meters for the booster site on Mount San Miguel) and that the new antenna's height would be nine meters below the average terrain.^[6] This request was granted on April 5.^[7]

The station intended to file an application for permanent use of the new site if it proved successful. However, the new site and increased power did not improve reception. The old booster site on Mount San Miguel resumed operation in July 2011 with 700 watts ERP.

On May 24th, 2012, KSIQ's booster went off the air yet again. This was simultaneous with KPBS-FM's report that their transmitter, also on San Miguel, had lost power, apparently due to a brush fire that affected the incoming lines. However KPBS's signal was restored the next day, while KSIQ is still off the air as of May 29.

References[link]

1. ^ >Furguson, Chris (2010-01-17). "Q96 Radio Moves To San Diego This Weekend". Tribune Weekly Chronicle. http://tribwekchron.com/2010/01/q96-radio-moves-to-san-diego-this-weekend/. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
2. ^ Carmichael, Chris (2010-10-25). "Media Bytes for Monday, October 25, 2010". http://blog.sdradio.net/2154/media-bytes-for-monday-october-25-2010/. Retrieved 2010-10-25. "KSIQ-FM at 96.1 is off the air, except the booster station on Mount San Miguel remains on. Just the carrier is broadcasting in stereo. The situation has happened since the last rain storm [...]. It is believed the main transmitter in Campo is off the air." 
3. ^ "All Access Music Group". 2010-10-29. http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/82930/weno-nashville-sold-to-anchor-broadcasting-texas-f. Retrieved 2010-10-29. "The licensee says that the booster, which serves the heart of the population core in SAN DIEGO, went silent when the T1 link failed on OCTOBER 22nd, and that the station's personnel "are troubleshooting to determine the cause of this problem and to restore KSIQ-FM1's service as soon as possible."" 
4. ^ Carmichael, Chris (2010-11-17). "Media Bytes for Wednesday, November 17, 2010". http://blog.sdradio.net/2346/media-bytes-for-wednesday-november-17-2010/. Retrieved 2010-11-18. "KSIQ-FM is back on the air. It is not known if the station is at full strength; but it was heard in Poway, Mira Mesa, and points east on I-8 freeway." 
5. ^ Carmichael, Chris (2011-01-24). "Media Bytes for Monday, january 24, 2011". http://blog.sdradio.net/2827/media-bytes-for-monday-january-24-2011/. Retrieved 2011-01-29. 
6. ^ Federal Communications Commission (2011-04-05). "FCC license database, FM Query Results for KSIQ". http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=KSIQ#10000. Retrieved 2011-05-07. 
7. ^ Federal Communications Commission (2011-04-05). "Letter to counsel for CCR-Brawley IV, LLC, KSQIQ-FM1(FB)". http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=25400. Retrieved 2011-05-07. 

External links[link]

• Query the FCC's FM station database for KSIQ
• Radio-Locator information on KSIQ
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KSIQ

Coordinates: 32°40′44″N 116°31′01″W / 32.679°N 116.517°W / 32.679; -116.517

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Adam Ficek (born in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire) is an English musician who performs under the 'Roses Kings Castles' name, and was a song writer and member of Babyshambles.

Ficek joined the Babyshambles in 2005 with former The White Sport band mate Patrick Walden. Prior to 2005 Ficek had recorded with the Mains Ignition, The White Sport and has also recorded two jazz albums.

Roses Kings Castles[link]

Adam Ficek's side project - Roses Kings Castles (RKC) - began as a platform to build ideas while on tour with Babyshambles.^[1]

It was initially set up as a formal creative feed for Babyshambles and as a platform on which to build and air his own musical ideas. "It's an outlet for putting stuff out, just demos that I've been working on", states Ficek.^[2][3]

After releasing songs on the internet via his Myspace, Ficek released his first single "Sparkling Bootz" in April 2008. His debut album Roses Kings Castles, was released on the 22 September 2008.

Ficek charts the highs and the lows of self releasing his album through the medium of his blog, where he gives an insight into the music industry.

The first RKC tour took place in January 2009 in 19 venues across the United Kingdom with a European tour soon after.

January 2009 saw the release of a limited edition cassette featuring new demos which were later rerecorded for Suburban Timebomb.

In August 2009, Roses Kings Castles released the EP Apples and Engines.

The second full length Roses Kings Castles album Suburban Time Bomb was released in December 2010. The release was backed by a full band tour of the UK, Europe and South East Asia.

In 2011 Roses Kings Castles became RKC and released a free single "Here comes the summer". On 31 October RKC released the album "British Plastic." It contained 11 tracks (all written by Ficek). Ficek played all instruments except for guitar which was played by ex-White Sport and Ex Babyshambles member Patrick Walden.

Discography[link]

• Mains Ignition – Turn on (Tummy Touch) – 2002
• The White Sport – Songs the Postman can whistle (High Society) – 2004
• Babyshambles – Down in Albion (rough trade) 2005
• Babyshambles – The Blinding (EMI) – 2006
• Babyshambles – Shotters Nation (EMI) – 2007
• Peter Doherty – Grace Wasteland (EMI) – 2008

RKC[link]

• Roses Kings Castles – Roses Kings Castles (The Sycamore club) – 2008
• Roses Kings Castles – Ltd edition cassette ep – 2009
• Roses Kings Castles – Apples & Engines ep – 2009
• Roses Kings Castles – Suburban Time Bomb – 2010
• RKC – British Plastic – 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Adam Ficek
• Ficek Blog
• Official RKC website
• Flickr: Ficekblog's Photostream
• Video interview and acoustic session on music.virgin.com
• Mains Ignition
• Audio interview with Adam Ficek on Roses Kings Castles
• Adams official forum
• Adam Ficek Interview
• 22 July 2010 interview with Adam Ficek by Richard Melville

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (February 2009)

Jordan Harris is an American digital animator specializing in CGI effects whose credits include Spawn (1997), Titanic (1997), Godzilla (1998), Stuart Little (1999), Little Nicky (2000), Dungeons & Dragons (2000), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Stuart Little 2 (2002).

External links[link]

• Jordan Harris at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article related to cinema of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e