89.5 KSBX broadcast will come to an end before 2023
For almost 40 years, KCBX Public Radio has had a broadcast in Santa Barbara under the name KSBX. By the end of the year, KCBX will end this broadcast at 89.5 FM reaching Santa Barbara and surrounding areas. However, the 90.1 signal reaching the Santa Maria area and 90.9 signal reaching the Santa Ynez Valley and Goleta will continue.
A change in atmospheric conditions caused by climate change has created a frequency interference with our fellow NPR member station KPBS in San Diego, about 200 miles away.
KPBS is aware of the issue and cannot fix it on their end.
In a letter to listeners, KCBX President and General Manager Frank Lanzone said, "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."
The climate phenomenon is called ducting, where warmer waters change how radio signals travel over bodies of water — in this case, the ocean. The KPBS signal is now interfering with KSBX, rendering it unusable for our broadcast.
However, the end of KSBX does not mean KCBX News will stop covering the area. We will continue to cover Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas along with the rest of Santa Barbara County that our FM signal still serves. Listeners unable to tune in to an FM signal can still stream KCBX live on this website or on the NPR One app.
"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."
KCBX's public page for listener comments and feedback is available here.
Carbajal announces federal public health grants for Santa Barbara County
Congressman Salud Carbajal joined with local health officials in Santa Barbara today to announce new federal public health grants aimed at raising the number of residents who have received the new bivalent COVID-19 booster target more recent variants like Omicron.
“Community Health Centers of the Central Coast alone will be receiving over $1 million. The county and Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics will both get over $200,000, and American Indian Health Services are receiving an additional $100,000," he said.
The new funding is meant to help these organizations do more outreach and education on the importance of vaccines and how residents can access them.
Carbajal said right now, less than 20 percent of eligible Santa Barbara County residents have received the latest version of the COVID-19 booster. Nearly 70 percent of county residents have completed their primary series of vaccinations.
The congressman and local public health officials also encouraged Central Coast residents to take precautions against two other public health threats this winter: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the seasonal flu.
Central Coast residents can find a COVID-19 booster or flu shot near them by visiting vaccines.gov.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants:
$1,041,493 for Community Health Centers of the Central Coast
$265,765 for the County of Santa Barbara
$214,258 for Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics
$112,702 American Indian Health & Services
