It is a locally owned radio station launched in 1994 to target the growing Hispanic population in Memphis. Now, it is scrambling to resume over-the-air broadcasts of its AM radio station after becoming the victim of copper theft at its transmitter.
WGSF-AM 1030 in Memphis, known as “Ambiente,” is presently dark and on May 28 was granted an AM Engineering Special Temporary Authority application by the FCC as it navigates how to resume operations.
Filing the application was Ivette Butron (pictured, at left), who runs Butron Media Corp. with her husband, Sergio. In an environment where AM radio is threatened primarily by automakers who may not wish to include a kHz-band tuner in their vehicles, copper theft remains a significant threat — one that has all but stopped the Butrons from conducting day-to-day business while leaving Hispanics without a longtime local communications source.
An emergency wire antenna is central to the STA request, citing “extraordinary circumstances.”
Licensed as a 50kw non-directional daytime and 10kw non-directional critical hours/1kw directional nighttime facility, WGSF found itself vandalized at approximately 7pm on May 18. When the copper thieves were done, approximately 60% of the antenna phasor cabinet was removed. The coax line tips were cut off. Equipment inside the three doghouses was about 50% destroyed. “The thieves took as much copper as they could carry,” said George S. Crissey, Technical Consultant for Bromo Communications, in the engineering STA request.
To get back on the air, Butron requests that WGSF operate with a temporary power of 100 watts non-directional during all hours, from the center tower of the station’s 3-tower array (ASR 1238176) in Northeast Memphis. “Since it is unknown when WGSF will be able to return to the air with its full licensed facility, Special Temporary Authority is requested for 180 days,” Crissey said.
In a 2018 interview with Memphis Business Journal, Ivette Butron shared how she and her husband agreed to purchase WGSF from Carmen Reyes, returning to Memphis from Mexico. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 6.8% of Memphis’ population was Hispanic or Latino, as of July 2017 — a slight climb from the 6.5 percent recorded in the 2010 census.
As of Thursday (6/11), Butron Media had no idea when WGSF would be back on the air. Speaking with Nexstar Media Group-owned WREG-3, Sergio Butron said the total estimated damage was around $160,000. “They also broke down doors to get into the dog houses of the station towers. Most of the things they broke have been repaired and reinforced,” he said. “It’s infuriating, it feels helpless, but above all, it’s frustrating to see years of work reduced to nothing.”
Thanks to an unidentified witness, a suspect has been identified by the Memphis Police Department. On May 20, individuals who spotted masked men walking through the neighborhood with copper cables a day after the theft were seen burning cable. MPD acted quickly, arresting Kyle Walton, 35, Terrence Goodman, 32, and Jonathan Yarbrough, 52, were taken into custody. Each was charged with burglary of a building, theft of property, and tampering with evidence.
For Butron Media, the break-in has led to increased security at its broadcast tower site, with a camera system now being monitored by local law enforcement.
