WRKL 910 AM- Another Local AM Station With Issues

[Barry]

This station in Rockland County, which simulcasts a Polish language AM in located in Chicago, has been off the air for at least a few days. They have a tower that collapsed a few years ago. Instead of replacing it, WRKL's owner Polnet Communications, has been applying for and receiving STA's from the FCC to operate with reduced power. The filings assert that Polenet doesn't currently have the funds to make the needed repairs, and is seeking to sell WRKL.
Did it ever make sense for a low powered station in Rockland County to be broadcasting for many years exclusively in Polish? It seems unlikely there are enough people in the area that speak the language for the station to be viable. My guess is that only a religious broadcaster may consider buying it.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

As far as I can recall (and the 60's is sort of my memory limit now) WRKL was always 1000 watts daytime only, with two towers. Here is their Radio-Locator daytime map.

WRKL-AM Radio Station Coverage Map

Their signal got yanked in, away from both New Britain CT and (?) Scranton 910 stations.

* * * * * * * * *

Some nostalgia, with pending board moderator permission .......
We DXers lived in Queens NYC, near the top of the 'o' in 'New York' on that map. We were kinda surprised that, on a reception QSL / coverage map, WRKL sent it all basically south -- right at WPAT's COL.
One of the older guys in the group (a geezer of 26 and a sometimes-DXer) drove a few of us up to WRKL. THe station was in two TRAILERS, with one of those subway-car ramps between the two. Studio and office both. Singular. Our chauffeur buddy suggested that if we rented a big Cadillac with a trailer hitch, we could drive up one night, hitch up the whole station and drive away with it, with tower lights sputtering on the Palisades Parkway behind us.

It'd be a repetitive and too-commonly modern regret to see this grand little station go the way of so many other local former daytimers. I logged and taped them here one late afternoon here, August 1995.

 

[Barry]

By sending most of its modest signal to the south, perhaps WRKL tried to reach Greenpoint Brooklyn, which has a substantial concentration of Polish people. But the map linked in the previous post indicates its primary area falls short.

 

[Marcos_C]

There is actually a fairly large Polish community in Bergen County. As of 2013, about 59,000 people of Polish descent lived there. The center of the county's Polish community is in Wallington, which appears to be located just outside of WRKL's daytime local coverage area.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Yessir, Barry, vis-a-vis Greenpoint / Williamsburg Polish-ancestry population. I have no way of knowing (40 years later) what the Polish ethnicity of those two neighbourhoods is in 2021. But I recall people in Brooklyn and even Astoria who would tune into Long Island's WLIX 540 for its Italian Hours shows. No doubt, the potential audiences for those ethnic program offerings on marginal signals have dwindled over the years .... through the swarms of AM dial noise .... through age, community changes and other social factors.

Now, I have no ancestral wagering on this next issue ; merely just curiosity. I'm neither of Polish, Jewish nor Italian ancestry. But it should be noted that Rockland County is nearly a full one-third Jewish locale. Does any AM station -- ANY station AM or FM -- program to this potential audience? Is there -- shouldn't there be -- a 2021 equivelant of WEVD on that Rockland County dial ?

Last I'd heard, WRCR 1700 -- a fine local station there (the former WRRC Nanuet on 1300) was playing music by the Culture Club and other 80's stuff. WRCR is listed as 'Adult Hits'. So perhaps someone here can inform me if there exists such a station -- full-time or close to it -- that programs to the largely 'Jewish neighbourhood' of Rockland County ?

 

[Barry]

WVIP 93.5 HD2 carries Zev Brenner's Talkline Network. It offers full time programming oriented toward the Jewish community. I am not sure whether it is relayed over any translators, or whether there are any plans to have it carried by one. Talkline is also on at night, on WSNR 620 AM and a couple of hours weekly on WMCA 570 AM.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

it should be noted that Rockland County is nearly a full one-third Jewish locale. Does any AM station -- ANY station AM or FM -- program to this potential audience? Is there -- shouldn't there be -- a 2021 equivelant of WEVD on that Rockland County dial ?

No, there shouldn’t be, because it will have no audience. The ultra-Orthodox Jews who inhabit those communities do not consume any media produced by outsiders. They do not use radio, TV, the internet or cell phones, except for those phones deemed “kosher” by their rabbis because they don’t have internet access. They are extremely suspicious, sometimes downright hostile, of anything from outside their insular bubble.

 

[fybush]

No, there shouldn’t be, because it will have no audience. The ultra-Orthodox Jews who inhabit those communities do not consume any media produced by outsiders. They do not use radio, TV, the internet or cell phones, except for those phones deemed “kosher” by their rabbis because they don’t have internet access. They are extremely suspicious, sometimes downright hostile, of anything from outside their insular bubble.

So much this. To the extent those communities have ever made any use of broadcast radio, it's largely been in the form of a couple of high-powered pirates. There was one in Monsey that was very active on 90.5 for a few years.

Zev Brenner's Talkline network (Talkline | Talkline Network) is another media source aimed at that community, and it's fulltime now on one of WVIP's HD subs (and a translator, too, iirc). But I suspect even that doesn't reach the most ultra- of the ultra-Orthodox.

There's also a geography issue. The communities in Rockland have a lot of give-and-take with the ones in Brooklyn and with newer ones up into the Catskills (the billboards along Route 17 are a whole different world of Glatt kosher brands you've never heard of), and the WRKL signal doesn't reach either of those areas. Nor is it even all that great these days when you get down around Monsey and Route 59.

 

[NewsStud]

So much this. To the extent those communities have ever made any use of broadcast radio, it's largely been in the form of a couple of high-powered pirates. There was one in Monsey that was very active on 90.5 for a few years.

Zev Brenner's Talkline network (Talkline | Talkline Network) is another media source aimed at that community, and it's fulltime now on one of WVIP's HD subs (and a translator, too, iirc). But I suspect even that doesn't reach the most ultra- of the ultra-Orthodox.

There's also a geography issue. The communities in Rockland have a lot of give-and-take with the ones in Brooklyn and with newer ones up into the Catskills (the billboards along Route 17 are a whole different world of Glatt kosher brands you've never heard of), and the WRKL signal doesn't reach either of those areas. Nor is it even all that great these days when you get down around Monsey and Route 59.

Coincidentally, roughly 30 years ago, Brenner tried buying then WLIR (AM) 1300. During his leased management phase prior to the sale contract, he ran a format on the station called “All Jewish. All the Time.”

The sale, however, turned into a nightmare. While the selling owner, the late Gene Gugig, was hospitalized, Brenner claimed to have completed the sale, except Gugig claimed he was never paid. A lengthy court battle ended with Gugig reclaiming control of the station but after severe personal financial cost in legal fees. Even though Gigi’s won the station back, Brenner made off with the studio equipment. WLIR 1300 resumed its pop standards format (1300 Memory Lane) playing pre-mixed cassettes through a throrougly used bar mixer.

(The above was told me, decades ago, from one side of the battle. I’m sure Mr. Brenner has a side to the story, too.)

As for the person who so blatantly said the “ultra” orthodox wouldn’t listen… that is such a nasty generalization. Plenty of Chasidic and Haredi Jews listen to radio, secular radio, especially for news. They likely won’t listen to new pop. But would they listen to some programming intended for them? Sure they would.

WRCR’s issue is that it’s on AM at a time when most people don’t listen to AM and even fewer people listen to radio to hear new music. WRCR’s secondary problem is it traded its 500 watt signal at 1300 for higher power at 1700, a frequency position most older car radios (driven by older people) can’t tune in.

 

[Barry]

A local news article states that WRKL, which has been off the air for several weeks, vacated its transmitter building. It is expected to be converted to a religious school. The article said the property covers over 12 acres, and was sold by Polnet Communications for $750,000. Polnet is said to have purchased it for $502,000 in 1999.
WRKL Transmitter Site

 

[Barry]

WRKL has apparently been deleted from the F.C.C. database.
Since the 910 AM frequency is at least toward the middle of the dial, could it make sense for someone else in the area to apply for a license to broadcast there?
Would it be possible for a new station to be established on that frequency somewhere in the region, closer to a larger potential audience?

 

[luperm]

What potential audience? Is there any significant listeing to anything on AM outside of the handful of successful legacy AM stations? You'd have to be crazy to build a new low power daytime AM station. I can't imagine what one would program that would attract any significant listenership that would warrant such an endeavor.

I don't think it could go any further south as it would need to consider WPAT.

Stations like WRKL going off the air is actually what needs to happen.

 

[Barry]

The fact that many AM stations have been able to secure FM translators is potentially a game changer, at least for some of them. Perhaps a new station on 910 AM could find a way to set up one that reaches a decent portion of affluent northern NJ or Westchester County.

 

[luperm]

Cumulus had a translator on 94.3 in Westchester. That didn't work out too well.

 

[davideduardo]

WRCR’s secondary problem is it traded its 500 watt signal at 1300 for higher power at 1700, a frequency position most older car radios (driven by older people) can’t tune in.

Expanded band authorizations began, in a rather slow and flubbed process, in the 90's manufacturers of all types of radios began implementing the new band specifications worldwide. By the time the US finally figured out how to allocate stations on the band, most radios already had coverage up to 1710.

Wikipedia: "When the ITU approved the extension of the "top end" of the AM band to 1700 kHz in 1988, few consumer radios could tune higher than about 1620 or 1630 kHz. However, it was reported at the time that FCC "officials have been meeting with American manufacturers of radio receivers to make an early start on producing sets capable of receiving signals in the new band..." and when the first U.S. expanded band radio station began operating in late 1995, it was estimated that by now there were 280 million radios capable of receiving the full expanded band."

 

[Barry]

WRKL is back on the F.C.C. AM station database.
Now I cannot find WRCR 1700, the other Rockland County station. Are these likely errors of some sort? WRCR is on the air, and AFAIK is not experiencing any serious new issues.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

In addition to WRKL, now I cannot find WRCR 1700, the other Rockland County station, in the F.C.C. AM station database. Is that likely an error of some sort? WRCR is on the air, and AFAIK is not experiencing any serious new issues.

You didnt look too hard, i found it in 10 seconds