Family Radio also has a 1KW daytimer in Eastern Connecticut for sale. 😂
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Status of WFME 1560?
- Thread starter MarcB
- Start date
And today, with everything from much stricter zoning to NIMBY groups, putting up a directional array for an AM, particularly a (former) Class 1-B station is very hard. As I mentioned before, there are many cases of such processes taking several years at least.
The current KGOW 15kw signal (night site running full time) operating with its correct parameters (not the current out of whack condition) is actually perfect for the Vietnamese speaking audience in Houston, as the tight main lobe is aimed directly at the heavily Asian parts of the metro area. No need to make any changes.
The Vietnamese format on KGOW is brokered time purchased by Viet Radio, which recently purchased KNGO in DFW. Been wondering if they would also want to buy KGOW.
WCTF Vernon, 1170. For a daytimer, it has a decent signal. I used to receive it with no difficulty in Meriden and Wallingford. Radio-Locator also indicates that part of Hartford and all of East Hartford are "local" reception areas.
And as a standalone daytimer, it's worth approximately $0, give or take whatever value there is in land under the towers.
As witness the fact that it hasn't sold.
$0? It could be worth something to an ethnic broadcaster. The fact that it hasn't sold may be because Family Radio is asking more than it's realistically worth today.
Which is, give or take the value of land and equipment, approximately $0.
No useful signal before 8 AM in the winter, or after 4 PM. No translator and no ability to get one.
I'm not saying this to be snarky. I'm saying this as a station broker who is constantly assessing the market and in touch with buyers. Even ethnic broadcasters understand there's just not any money to be made with signals like WCTF these days.
And again, I will make a similar offer: show me a station equivalent to WCTF (daytime-only, 1000 watts or less, no translator, medium-sized metro) where the license alone has sold for anything significant in the last few years, and I will send you a free Tower Site Calendar.
Though I don't know whether it has been offered for sale, perhaps another marginal station in the area is WGCH, 1490 AM. Located in Greenwich CT, it is broadcasting at around 350 watts under STA, because they need to use a temporary transmission site. Apparently the landlord of the land where their original tower was located wants to use it for other purposes. The station pointed out in their STA application it is hard to find another transmission site, because real estate is so expensive in Greenwich.
They had been leasing time on a translator a while back, but discontinued that, perhaps because its signal, which reached Stamford better than Greenwich, wasn't worth the expense.
They had been leasing time on a translator a while back, but discontinued that, perhaps because its signal, which reached Stamford better than Greenwich, wasn't worth the expense.
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The problem with WGCH is expenses outweigh the revenue it can bring in.
Its been for sale for over a decade.
IF WCTF had gotten a translator 10-15 years ago and had some local programming that it had maintained over the last 30 years, it might.. might be worth a tiny sum now... BUT you cant create new heritage these days.
But my point in my previous post is that they have $51 million from the land sale of their previous tower location. Rather than putting time and lots of $$ into legal and engineering fees, especially as this seems to be getting more complicated and potentially exponentially more expensive, they can also choose to sell WFME for whatever they can get for it and spend their $$$ on other signal(s) to spread the gospel.
Me as well, you've kind of summed up my thoughts here.
Land value is probably minimal, because it looks like flood plain for the Hochanum River.
IMO the problem there is that the price curve is pretty shallow for AM stations. A better facility (say, with night authorization or with an FM translator) won't cost you a ton more money than a daytime-only facility like WCTF would.
The best analogy I can come up with is to the housing market in an economically down area (pick your rust belt town). When there are few buyers in a market, the price for everyone races to the bottom, even though some properties are objectively nicer than others.
He should join this message board!
Maybe they should have thought about that before they sold their old site.
And perhaps WFME can become the first high-power test case for a HEBA. The only station that's currently using one (WQVR) is 1 kW, but they claim it can support up to 2 MW "on request":
Specs - World Wide Antenna
Impressive specs. PERFORMANCE DATA FREQUENCY RANGE Customized operating frequency in the range 525 kHz to 1705 kHz. Bandwidth 20 kHz standard, up to 30 kHz with AM “HD” (IBOC) or DRM 30. OPERATING POWER Up to 100 kW standard, up to 2000 kW upon request. With AM positive peak modulation of 125%...
worldwideantennasystems.com
Looks like something that could be installed on the FR land owned in NJMaybe they should have thought about that before they sold their old site.
And perhaps WFME can become the first high-power test case for a HEBA. The only station that's currently using one (WQVR) is 1 kW, but they claim it can support up to 2 MW "on request":
Specs - World Wide Antenna
Impressive specs. PERFORMANCE DATA FREQUENCY RANGE Customized operating frequency in the range 525 kHz to 1705 kHz. Bandwidth 20 kHz standard, up to 30 kHz with AM “HD” (IBOC) or DRM 30. OPERATING POWER Up to 100 kW standard, up to 2000 kW upon request. With AM positive peak modulation of 125%...
That is a pretty minor upgrade. Same tower, and probably a used 10 kw transmitter. Still, moving from 1300 to the very top ofWRCR - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Has there been any testing of a HEBA antenna in directional situations?
What has not been brought up here but what was discussed among some NYC engineers I know is that the old site was becoming "impossible" due to new buildings, cranes at the port facilities nearby, electrical distribution networks and such. Apparently it was becoming hard to keep the old pattern in compliance every time a new building or tower or whatever was built.
This is second-hand chatter I heard, but it sounds logical. Look at past and present aerial views of the zone and you can see lots of stuff that would make tuning the system a real challenge.
There have been systems that never could be tuned due to similar issues. 1130 in Milwaukee and 1500 in Detroit are good examples.
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