see for yourself,

http://www.answers.com/topic/kvly-tv-mast

FYI - a tower a couple of miles away and near the same size has fallen twice. Once when hit by a plane and once it was taken down by an ice storm.

Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

Also, note the direction of the shadows of the “twin” towers in the upper-right, relative to the rest.

There is nothing special about this bit of earth except it’s location in relation to surrounding cities. The central valley of California stretches over 400 miles north-south and up to 60 miles across. There are virtually no tall mountains near the center of the valley. The location where these towers are located is at or near sea level where the valleys water resources become the Sacramento River delta and empties west into the San Francisco (San Pablo) bay. Essentially, the whole valley slopes toward these towers providing excellent coverage of surrounding areas. (Think seating in a movie theatre where the towers are the screens.) The central valley is home to over 5.5 million people and is also one of the fastest areas in the California and the west. Once you take all this into account, the best way to serve the broadcasting needs of the area is to place a transmitter up as high as possible in the lowest point of the area, hence the tower. Since FM radio, UHF/VHF/HDTV television and all other signals above about 1Mhz are inherently dependant on line of site, it becomes a evident that a large tower constructed in this location would serve the maximum number of people.

Here’s some more info on the central valley:
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/nov/central_valley/
It truly is a natural wonder of the world providing about 1/4 of the US with food. It’s also been said that virtually anything can grow within the valley, from kiwi to pineapple and rice paddies to olives groves.

Although impressive, it is still not as impressive as early 1800’s Spanish accounts of the entire valley being flooded with seasonal run-off creating a lake a few to several feet deep over an area of 10,000+ square miles. During this season it was said that bird migrations could number so large that the sky could become as dark as night completely blocking out visibility of the sun… sometimes for hours.

Another impressive tower is the disused KSBW tower west of Morgan Hill, CA. While only 1572 feet tall it sits on a ridge that is nearly 2500 feet in elevation.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
An interesting account of a climb to the top (this one doesn’t have the dumb waiter like elevators that the Walnut Grove towers above have) can be found here:
http://www.oldradio.com/archives/warstories/1572feet.htm

This tower was erected to bring it’s height near to height of Loma Prieta (where many local stations transmit from) so it’s signal could cover San Jose and the Bay Area while still keeping the station legal since it’s studios are located in Salinas over 35 miles away. Loma Prieta would also be an obstruction to parts of the Bay Area if the tower was lower.

Wordy but hope it’s informative.

Although there is no absolute height limit for antenna towers, both agencies have established a rebuttable presumption against structures over 2,000 feet above ground level. The FCC has a policy that applications filed with the FCC for antenna towers higher than 2,000 feet above ground will be presumed to be inconsistent with the public interest and the applicant will have a burden of overcoming that strong presumption. The applicant must accompany its application with a detailed showing directed to meeting this burden. Only in the exceptional case, where the Commission concludes that a clear and compelling showing has been made that there are public interest reasons requiring a tower higher than 2,000 feet above ground, and after the parties have complied with applicable FAA procedures, and full Commission coordination with FAA on the question of menace to air navigation, will a grant be made (47 CFR § 1.61 Note).

On a lighter note, here’s a very small and unimpressive golf course to the west of the Hearst-Argyle Tower.

Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

My question is, what’s so special about this exact spot that makes everyone want to prop up their own 2000-foot towers? Elevation, soil, weather? (Or something out of American Gods?)

Also, I tend to agree that it does seem rather suspicious that 609.6 meters is *exactly* 2000 feet. On the other hand, I would have expected Wikipedia’s figures relating to ‘the tallest things’ to be reliable (what the Internet lacks in spelling, it more than makes up for in pedantry)

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randal_L._Schwartz