KAKM Signal Update 2

Wed, October 15, 2008

During the day today (Wed, Oct 15), KAKM’s on-air signal has been steadily improving. Engineers made one change this morning to some of our microwave transmission equipment, a change that takes several hours to take effect.

Then this afternoon, engineers swapped out an additional piece of equipment at our Glen Alps tower site that immediately made a noticeable signal improvement.

For the moment, we are actively monitoring the signal to ensure the improvements hold into the night hours. But we’re hopeful that we’ve found most, if not all, of the fixes required.

Thank you to all our patient viewers for bearing with us. We’ll provide yet another update when we’re confident our signal is fully back to normal.

KAKM Signal Update

Wed, October 15, 2008

As many viewers have already noticed, we’re in the midst of a difficult technical problem with our TV signal.

Late last week we began to experience problems with getting our TV signal out to our transmissition site at Goose Bay, just north of downtown Anchorage across Knik Arm.

This signal problem tends to break up the over-the-air signal (both audio and video) to varying degrees depending upon time of day and other factors. Therefore, anyone watching KAKM via analog or digital over-the-air signals (”rabbit ears” or “antenna” sources) are affected — which is a good portion of our audience. Viewers on GCI Cable are unaffected. Viewers in Mat-Su area on MTA cable, however, are affected, as MTA currently pulls its feed from our over-the-air signal. Some evenings, the breakup is so bad the station is completely unwatchable.

Our engineers have been working every day (and night) for the past several days tracing the source of the problem, working with equipment vendors and, thankfully, getting assistance from fellow broadcast engineers in the Anchorage area. We’re down to three possible problems, each of which are being tested and investigated at this time. We’re working with vendors, including one that’s flying in late this week, and we’re considering even more dramatic and expensive measures.

We’re using our web site, KAKM.ORG, to post updates as we get them. And to help people find these updates, we’re also:

updating our overnight phone system to alert people of the web updates
taking calls at our main number — 550-8400 — during business hours
asking our engineers to take as many after-hours technical calls as they can after hours (in between repairs and tests)
handling e-mail inquiries, web comments and complaints as fast as we can, including a message from our General Manager, Steve Lindbeck
intermittently displaying a “lower third” message on KAKM’s broadcast signal, alerting viewers that we’re aware of the issues and referring them to KAKM.ORG for more info

Meanwhile, we need to let the broadcast engineers continue their work. We’re checking in with them every few hours and as we learn more, we’ll post updates here.

We deeply apologize to our over-the-air viewers for this interruption in service.

Anchorage Edition: October 10, 2008

Fri, October 10, 2008

Each week, host Michael Carey gathers journalists and commentators for a review of the week’s news, politics and public affairs in Anchorage and Alaska. Topics this week include:

The results of the Troopergate “abuse of power” report on Sarah Palin’s termination of Paul Monegan are due today (but came out after this program was recorded)
Todd Palin releases his statement on Troopergate
The Alaska Legislature wins its battle to retain subpoena power, especially in matters of investigating other branches of government
The Ted Stevens defense team is working the “good guy” angle, even bringing in high-ranking and celebrity character witnesses, like Colin Powell
The Wall Street collapse — how does it impact Alaska, and specifically the Permanent Fund?
Oil prices are dropping — how does this impact Alaska in the midst of everything else?
Sarah Palin’s winning over the fervent Republican base in the election with her Obama attacks, but what about the rest of the voters? Or, alternately, where would McCain be without her?

Download Audio (MP3, 30 min)

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Anchorage Edition: October 3, 2008

Fri, October 3, 2008

Each week, host Michael Carey gathers journalists and commentators for a review of the week’s news, politics and public affairs in Anchorage and Alaska. Topics this week include:

Sarah Palin and Joe Biden debate in St. Louis for the VP spot
Ted Stevens trial in Washington boils over and then temporarily halts
“Troopergate” continues with Alaskan judge ruling in favor of the legislature’s investigation
Legislative races in Fairbanks
A large, yet unmeasurable, rural-to-urban influx is showing up in Anchorage schools

Download Audio (MP3, 30 min)

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TONIGHT: A Charlie Rose Special: Warren Buffett

Wed, October 1, 2008

With the economy on everyone’s mind, Charlie Rose is conducting a special interview tonight with Warren Buffett, a trusted market analyst, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the second-richest man in America and a major player in what’s turning out to be a cleanup of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.

Charlie Rose conducts this exclusive 1-hour interview with Buffett in the midst of Wall Street chaos, airing tonight — Wednesday, October 1 — on KAKM Channel 7 at a special time of 9:00pm. Rose and Buffett will talk at length about the state of the U.S. economy and what may be on the horizon for the stock and credit markets as well as general business economics.

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