I grew up with 15 KSTP in the 70s and then as I became older, I continued there through the "TALK RADIO" days with Ira Fistell, Ray Briem, etc. I'm disappointed they continue to just do the ESPN radio programming. It must be very low cost, because it seems a waste to me of this powerful station.
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KSTP AM 1500
- Thread starter LDronglien
- Start date
You say it's a waste for 1500 KSTP to simply carry the national ESPN feed on a 50,000-watt clear channel station. Well, is the glass half empty or half full? KSTP used to have local Minneapolis-based sports shows. But with a popular 100,000-watt sports station on FM, 100.3 KFXN-FM, KSTP saw its numbers drop. So the local hosts were terminated and the station went with ESPN 24/7.
But at least there is an alternative to KFXN-FM if you don't care for what is being discussed or a sport that doesn't appeal to you.
Remember, this is a very directional 50 kw. on a terrible frequency.
1 kw on 550 would cover better than those 50 kw that KSTP has.
KSTP fell victim to bad luck. They did well with talk in the 90s, with Bob Yates, Barbara Carlson, Don Vogel, Tommy Mischke, etc. They also were the original Twin Cities affiliate for Limbaugh. Eventually, they drifted heavily into conservative talk. However, when Clear Channel launched their own talk station ( originally on 100.3, later swapped with KFAN for 1130), they took Limbaugh and Hannity, along with a few local hosts from KSTP.
So, KSTP went sports. They had local shows, including Joe Soucheray and Patrick Reissue, who stuck around from the previous talk format. But KFAN was pretty well established, and was doing incredibly well. Even more so when they went to 100.3. That was tough to compete against. When COVID hit and sports events were cancelled, they couldn't carry on, and dumped the local shows.
Now, KSTP doesn't have much of an FM presence. Just the HD2 feed of KSTP-FM and a weak translator. Hubbard has another FM, but they carry a female-oriented talk format that is now pretty established (and likely a favorite of Hubbard president Ginny Hubbard Morris. They're probably shut out from acquiring a decent FM signal in the market, due to the company's local ownership of two FM stations and two TV stations. So, KSTP 1500 is what it is.
Personally, I think they should take advantage of their digital podcast operation and put some of those shows there. Perhaps there's still some demand from local listeners to hear Tom Barnard on the local airwaves, albeit him bitching with his family members. But aside from that, there's not a lot the AM station can do. Still, it's value is sentimental, since Stanley Hubbard helped found it a whole century ago. Whatever is left of KSTP is still the crown jewel of a family-owned company that's still around several generations later.
KSTP outperforms a typical 1500 because it uses a Franklin-type antenna for its non-directional day signal. It's still easily one of the three best AMs in the market by day.
And the night DA is in the right place to cover the market and then some. I'd take it over any of the lower dial AMs in town except WCCO.
KSTP comes in just as well as WCCO in Kansas at night
KSTP is heard up here in Alaska from time to time, sometimes pretty well, sometimes not.. over vietnamese KSJX San Jose, CA
The could have acquired 95.3/96.3, but I'm not sure if those qualify as "decent" FM stations, and I gather the price wasn't right on them until it was too late (IE in 2019 Hubbard might have paid 30 million for those stations, but in 2020 they probably could no longer justify the expense as they were in survival mode with everyone else).
I miss AM 1500 - The Talk Station before they got all conservative. I also agree that it became a losing battle when basically the only reason conservative talk is successful (Limbaugh) went to 100.3/1130 later. I think any attempt to do that again, especially from a smaller owner like Hubbard, would be hard due to expense. WCCO can do it because they have help utilizing other talent from within Audacy outside of the bigger shifts, but Hubbard doesn't really have a lot of "nationwide" talent.
Also, the reality is, AM is dying. Even WCCO will someday have to move to FM or risk suffering the same fate as stations like WCBS have already suffered. Unlike the 1990s there aren't many good reasons to even TUNE to AM anymore, and all the addtional electrical noise (especially at night) really affects reception. When 1500 was the flagship for the twins, I had a hard time getting a clean signal in the west metro at night, something that would not have been a problem back in the 90s.
One of the major issues for a.m. stations, particularly in northern latitudes, is that both morning and afternoon drive times contain an hour or more of darkness in as much as half of the year. And in those periods of darkness, so many stations are highly directional and miss significant portions of their market.
What you have pointed out is the fact that there are many markets that only have one or two “full market“ signals both day and night.
Look at Cleveland, Ohio, where only one station on AM covers close to the full market both day and night. Everything else is either lower powered or highly directional or both. We can go around the country and see many many markets ranging from Phoenix to Albuquerque to Houston to Atlanta to Orlando and so on where there are few if any full market day and night signals.
The point that is missed in most discussions of AM “revitalization“ is that such a high percentage of all AMs are inadequate to cover even their local market.
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They didn't fire all their local sports hosts, but they moved who they kept into the podcast/youtube world, still managed by Hubbard. They've branded it as Skor North and have gotten some good numbers in the podcast world.
And to add to the Alaska note, I can usually get 1500 pretty well in western North Dakota at night and even during critical hours.
I've never heard WCCO, its always at least a weak to listenable KSDP on 830 from about 800 miles away. If not KSDP, just a soupy melange of nothing identifiable or just noise
Do you ever get any of the LA stations? I got KNX in the daytime there around 10 years ago.
I know you were asking someone else, but ill answer to
I get 1540 sometimes.
1070 is a mix of CFAX and KNX but KNX often leads.
i think ive heard KFWB once or twice
ive heard 1260 like twice
Ive heard 1480 a time or two
KMPC once or twice
1390 a few times
And KFOX 1650 a few times
They make it out to the Seattle area fairly regularly at night. Sometimes even coming in on a clock radio.
It was a long slow decline. Kind of like what happened to KGO in San Francisco. It's interesting that this station is the foundation of Hubbard Broadcasting. Stanley E. Hubbard founded the station in 1925. AM radio is not a growth area, regardless of the strength of signal.
I live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul DMA. I just don't like the sound of analog AM radio stations. It would take a very compelling format to get me to listen to almost anything on AM radio at this point. And, if I did, I would be asking if I could get it on an HD channel or internet stream!
I'm a very casual/amateur DXer, and haven't done much in years. Had to check the list I had made, I never pulled in a California station in North Dakota. I did get KPNW 1120, Eugene, OR once.
I live in downtown Minneapolis. 1500 is one of the few stations actually audible in the car and in my apartment.
Are you referring to just AM stations?
I would think you would get some FM stations.
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