Technical Profile: WKEM-LP

FM Technical Profile: WKEM-LP

Station Name:: Kiss 98.5
Frequency:: 98.5
Format:: Classic R&B
Transmitter Location:: [map] On the southwest corner of the intersection of Mill Street and South Holt Street, just off I-65, in Montgomery.
Power (ERP):: 45 watts
Antenna:: Omnidirectional
Antenna HAAT:: 135 feet
Other Information:: 60 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.

:
PS-WKEM
Time-present
Text-6 A.M. till 9 A.M Benny O Jay on WKEM-LP
PTY-[?]
PI-WKEM-FM
More Information:: [FCC]
[FCCdata]; [Radio-Locator]; [Wikipedia]

[Image] Image showing the tower as it's under construction.
[Image] Image of the completed tower before the antenna and cabling was installed.
Owner:: Equality Broadcasting Network
History:: This station received its original construction permit in February 2015, with the antenna originally to be located on the WCOV-TV tower in Montgomery. Due to reasons unknown, an antenna location change was sought to move it to a site west of the city. This required waivers for second channel adjacent operation to full power stations and an FAA clearance due to the construction of a new structure exceeding the FAA's minimum height requirements. A license to cover was filed in November 2015. Although the LPFM Database website listed this station initially with a Religious format, it is now an R&B format with classics and the occasional hit mixed in. The station currently ID's as "Kiss 98.3".

Allegations of fraud surfaced online in mid-March of 2016 that the station's ownership defaulted on payments to the tower company and crew, and did a charge-back on payments made to the engineer who worked to get the station's paperwork in order with the FCC. The allegations say that ownership claims the tower was never delivered and that the engineer didn't do his job. After these claims came to light on the Radio Discussions message forum, the ownership threatened them (and me) with legal action. The posts were deleted. Persons not affiliated with either side of this issue have confirmed the tower is up and the station is on the air. I've reached out to both the engineer and the station's ownership on this matter, but person(s) associated with Equality Broadcasting Network have thus far refused to offer their side of this issue and have asked that names and all allegations be redacted.

The station received a construction permit to move up one channel, to 98.5 MHz, at the start of February 2017. They filed a license to cover that same month. The station received a permit to raise antenna height slightly (with a concurrent reduction in power) in late September 2017. That permit was superseded by one that involved a move further into Montgomery, a few blocks south of the I-65 and I-85 interchange. It was granted in September 2019. A license to cover for that facility was filed in September 2022.