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Station For Sale

K

kf4rca

Guest
AM1310 is for sale. Apparently the LMA thing with the Mexicans has expired. They are running oldies interspersed with announcements inviting inquiries for interested parties to email them at [email protected]
Their transmitter sounds horrible. Much worse than WAZX (who's still running Christmas music-in English). Maybe they're running a plate modulated class C tube transmitter like a Western Electric or Collins.
I had forgotten how bad those sounded.
Their tower is in the middle of a Marta parking lot and it may HAVE to be re-located costing more than the station is worth.
 
I would string up a long wire (if the site is lost) and match it with a translator.
 
Did WAZX get their AM side sorted out with a new/solvent owner? This may be the year the FCC starts hearing the sounds of jingle mail as people send in their AM licenses for all these class D daytimers nobody wants anymore.

WJBB-AM (the old WIMO) in Winder got themselves a 90W translator at 107.1, with a null to the northwest (natch). http://radio-locator.com/info/W296CX-FX
 
Actually, plate modulated AM rigs can be made to sound quite good. However, on the profit potential of a standalone class IV AM, you can't keep the lights on, much less fix the equipment. And on looking, 2.5KW daytime, 31Watts at night. As a stand alone, about as viable as a perforated fetus.
 
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1310----No thanks. 1550---No thanks even at 50kW. These AM stations need to go away. 1550 had been running some sort of Asian format before Christmas. Most of the time it was silent. Bits and pieces of audio from time to time...not air worthy. Hour and hours of dead air.

If you are tempted to buy an AM. Do yourself a favor. Go into your yard and dig a hole. Every week or so go dump a pile of money into it. It will simulate the thrill of owning an AM station. At least with the hole, you might be able to dive in and get most of your money back.
 
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HGR1290 said:
1310----No thanks. 1550---No thanks even at 50kW. These AM stations need to go away. 1550 had been running some sort of Asian format before Christmas. Most of the time it was silent. Bits and pieces of audio from time to time...not air worthy. Hour and hours of dead air.

If you are tempted to buy an AM. Do yourself a favor. Go into your yard and dig a hole. Every week or so go dump a pile of money into it. It will simulate the thrill of owning an AM station. At least with the hole, you might be able to dive in and get most of your money back.
Click to expand...

I don't see how anyone can make it a go in this town with an AM signal with no night signal to speak of. All the formats still viable on AM--news, talk, sports, full service--need a night signal in a town where rush hour starts before dawn and ends in the PM after 7:30.

Something tells me that ethnic talk can't stand a chance against Internet stations and smartphones.
 
The "Original" 1310

…was an innovative idea by some local guy in Decatur. Studios were upstairs on a small office building on the Square. The call was reflective of their all-female staff, and programming aimed at women. After a while it degenerated into an automated music format. System was three large reel-to-reel players that shifted the pay heads and reversed direction at the end of the reel. Each full track ran about 2 to 3 hours, playing a 15/16 ips. Sounded god-awful; muffled, no treble. After each machine had played both tracks, the operator took down that reel, boxed it up, put up the next one. When all three were reloaded, the system was ready to run the next day. Commercials were all recorded on carts but had to be manually started. The r2r tapes had cue tones that stopped for the CAs. After the spot, the r2r was re-started, sometimes to the accompaniment of a "wow" on the music, or a "bump" because the auto stop wasn't all that accurate. They had a wire machine (UPI() but I think it was only there for the EBS tests and alerts.

Even during the summer months they did an early sign-off, I think because they had to protect some distant 1310 signal.

I lost track of it until these recent incarnations at a ethnic talker. At the time of the automated music they had pretty good billing, carrying chain grocery store ads and other major retail ads.

I think for a while they carried McNeil's "Breakfast Club," but that was the only program they carried from ABC, certainly not the news programming.
 
Mike_Rafone said:
…was an innovative idea by some local guy in Decatur. Studios were upstairs on a small office building on the Square. The call was reflective of their all-female staff, and programming aimed at women. After a while it degenerated into an automated music format. System was three large reel-to-reel players that shifted the pay heads and reversed direction at the end of the reel. Each full track ran about 2 to 3 hours, playing a 15/16 ips. Sounded god-awful; muffled, no treble. After each machine had played both tracks, the operator took down that reel, boxed it up, put up the next one. When all three were reloaded, the system was ready to run the next day. Commercials were all recorded on carts but had to be manually started. The r2r tapes had cue tones that stopped for the CAs. After the spot, the r2r was re-started, sometimes to the accompaniment of a "wow" on the music, or a "bump" because the auto stop wasn't all that accurate. They had a wire machine (UPI() but I think it was only there for the EBS tests and alerts.

Even during the summer months they did an early sign-off, I think because they had to protect some distant 1310 signal.

I lost track of it until these recent incarnations at a ethnic talker. At the time of the automated music they had pretty good billing, carrying chain grocery store ads and other major retail ads.

I think for a while they carried McNeil's "Breakfast Club," but that was the only program they carried from ABC, certainly not the news programming.
Click to expand...

I don't think WOMN 1310 was the first version of that Decatur station but my memory is foggy. Those were great calls though!
1310 has been all kinds of formats over the years. Before Charlie Kim bought it back in the mid 90s it was black gospel. George Buck bought it in the 70s and started the gospel tradition. I think the calls were WXLL. (In those days Buck rented the back room at WRFG when it was on Euclid Ave.)Buck sold the station to Bob Bell when Buck bought WYZE. Bell sold to a lady named Marjorie - can't remember the last name. She sold to Charlie Kim.
 
There are not a lot of stations on 1310:

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/lo...Y&format=&dx=3&radius=200&freq=1310&sort=freq

The two “big” night time signals around these parts were in Chattanooga and Ashville NC’s WISE. The Chattanooga station is gone. WISE at night only has 1 KW directional signal, which has to be protected.

My best guess would be to go directional from the Northwest side towards the east. There is a 5 KW 60 Watt night time Class D in SC., which has no night time protection. Of course the class D in West Point (which IIRC was a CC / IHeart station) would still have to be protected in the daytime. Someone could figure out a directional pattern(s) from the existing 590, or 1080 towers that should cover a lot of the market for the daytime and nighttime too. You might have to be creative with the city of license but a 25 or 50 KW 24 hour signal concentrated over Atlanta due to a directional pattern might work.
 
No way you will ever get that investment back. There is no need to slap make-up on these skinny malnourished pigs. AM in Atlanta has had a steady-quick decline over the last few years. WSB adding a Simulcast on FM....That one reason to not have to listen to AM. 680--added an FM. 790 all but gone. Whats left? Some odd music formats, a few lower tier talk formats and niche formats.

Again, No thanks. 50kW day and night---nope.
 
HGR1290 said:
No way you will ever get that investment back. There is no need to slap make-up on these skinny malnourished pigs. AM in Atlanta has had a steady-quick decline over the last few years. WSB adding a Simulcast on FM....That one reason to not have to listen to AM. 680--added an FM. 790 all but gone. Whats left? Some odd music formats, a few lower tier talk formats and niche formats.

Again, No thanks. 50kW day and night---nope.
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I realize the AM listenership in Atlanta is limited, but WSB is still paying the electric bill for 750. Salem will pay $2.750.000 for WDWD 590.
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=101671794&qnum=5040&copynum=1&exhcnum=2
If I had the money, here is what I would do:
You should be able to secure a decent 50 KW transmitter for around $100K. There is a dissembled MW 50 for 15K:
http://radio-classifieds.com/transmitters
I am sure there are better used Xmitters available. IMHO 100K should get you a decent transmitter.
Phasing equipment $100K,
engineering for the FCC $100K,
installation $50K,
and 50K for unforeseen expenses.
So for less the $500,000 someone could upgrade this this station. Then let someone low ball you for a million plus. You have doubled your money
 
secondchoice said:
I realize the AM listenership in Atlanta is limited, but WSB is still paying the electric bill for 750. Salem will pay $2.750.000 for WDWD 590.
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS....jsp?appn=101671794&qnum=5040©num=1&exhcnum=2
If I had the money, here is what I would do:
You should be able to secure a decent 50 KW transmitter for around $100K. There is a dissembled MW 50 for 15K:
http://radio-classifieds.com/transmitters
I am sure there are better used Xmitters available. IMHO 100K should get you a decent transmitter.
Phasing equipment $100K,
engineering for the FCC $100K,
installation $50K,
and 50K for unforeseen expenses.
So for less the $500,000 someone could upgrade this this station. Then let someone low ball you for a million plus. You have doubled your money
Click to expand...

You are forgetting cost of land or, if rented, land improvements such as bringing in utilities, a building, fencing, security, paving of parking and access, etc.

Also the cost of zoning and lifting of permits. That, today, is often the biggest challenge and a major legal expense and can take years.

Add in, also, the ground system and the towers. For a system that would wedge a 50 kw signal in, likely 4 or more towers with ground.

Project cost likely to be well over $1 million if land can be leased. And you still have a very directional signal at 1310 that will cover the equivalent of perhaps 2.5 kw at 550.

You won't get it back, and it won't get built for years and years.
 
Heard a very depressing interview with Alan Weiner recently. He's owner of an AM-FM-SW operation in Maine. He predicts AM will be totally dead in TWENTY years.
All major market AMs have started simulcasting on FM. Increased noise levels in the future will destroy Grad B reception for AMs. As LED lighting takes over in the home, AM reception will be impossible. He's noticed kids are walking around with an ipad device not listening to radio. The FCC should do something to clean up the interference on the band.
 
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DavidEduardo said:


You are forgetting cost of land or, if rented, land improvements such as bringing in utilities, a building, fencing, security, paving of parking and access, etc.

Also the cost of zoning and lifting of permits. That, today, is often the biggest challenge and a major legal expense and can take years.

Add in, also, the ground system and the towers. For a system that would wedge a 50 kw signal in, likely 4 or more towers with ground.

Project cost likely to be well over $1 million if land can be leased. And you still have a very directional signal at 1310 that will cover the equivalent of perhaps 2.5 kw at 550.

You won't get it back, and it won't get built for years and years.
Click to expand...

I agree with the land and zoning issues. I was thinking of using an existing site like 1080, 590. or 1550.
 
secondchoice said:
I agree with the land and zoning issues. I was thinking of using an existing site like 1080, 590. or 1550.
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In that case, add $250 k and up for the diplexing equipment for both signals. I believe the sharing station would have to redo its DA proof, particularly if any towers are added.
 
Someone earlier mentioned getting a translator to pair with the AM. That would be the only hope for this facility but the 2 millivolt contour for a 2500 watt station is not very large - the translator would provide coverage similar to a LPFM - 5-6 miles, at best. But that would cover much of Decatur so you could super-serve that suburban city with [insert viable format here]
 
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