The 14s: AM 1410-1490 stations

[Dondd]

As the 1470 Freq. of the Week thread is closed, thought I would start a new one on that frequency range, 1410-1490

The other morning at 7 a.m. CT here in the Austin, Texas, area, I caught KYYW 1470 in Abilene, Texas.
This station is a rare catch, have never heard it before.

What stations do you receive on the 1400s (besides the graveyard locals on 1400).

 

[sasha23]

1420 KTOE Mankato, MN
WOC Davenport, IA
1440 WZYX Cowan, TN
1460 WXOK Baton Rouge
WIXN Dixon, IL groundwave
KXNO Des Moines
WBRN Big Rapids, MI
1480 WLMV Madison, WI
WSLI Kentwood, MI
WKJR Rantoul, IL groundwave*
receiver location: Bartlett, IL
Sangean HDR-16
*Sony ICF-SW7600GR

 

[Dondd]

Abilene is 150 miles away, but as I don't normally receive it, KYYW 1470's 5,000 watts days and piddly 125 watts @ night, was a surprise catch.
Imagine my reception was groundwave.

 

[Dondd]

1460 WXOK Baton Rouge
WIXN Dixon, IL groundwave
KXNO Des Moines

I've receive the Des Moines station, once or twice, weakly, here in Texas. Fox Sports at night.

 

[schmave]

From Pickerington, Ohio by day ...
1400 A very weak WMAN from Mansfield
1410 WING/Dayton
1420 Nothing
1430 WCLT/Newark
1440 Nothing
1450 Slop from local WBNS
1460 WBNS/Columbus
1470 Slop from WBNS
1480 Slop from WBNS or maybe the last breath of WHBC
1490 A mix of WBEX from Chillicothe and WMRN from Marion, both 1,000 watts from roughly 45 miles away

 

[Dondd]

At night, I have received the following stations on occasion in the 1400s in central Texas:
Note: most of these only come in occasionally (except for the locals in bold).

None of these come in during the day, except the bolded locals.

1430	KTBZ	Tulsa	OK
1430	KSHJ	Houston	TX
1440	KELG	Manor	TX
1450	KCYL	Lampasas	TX
1460	KCLE	Burleson	TX
1460	KBRZ	Missouri City	TX
1460	KTKC	Springhill	LA
1460	KZNT	Colorado Springs	CO
1460	KXNO	Des Moines	IA
1470	KLCL	Lake Charles	LA
1470	KYYW	Abilene	TX
1480	KQAM	Wichita	KS
1480	KLVL	Pasadena	TX
1490	KJFK	Austin	TX

Of the locals, 1440 and 1490, the latter is the weakest, and usually un-receivable.

1430 sports Tulsa comes in often, more than the others.

1460 KCLE from Fort Worth area comes in frequently. I've heard this station on early a.m. (pre-6 a.m.) drives to the Austin airport. Have never identified it in the car, but did recently at home on my Yachtboy.
As KZNT on the same frequency from Colorado Springs has a similar format, it's sometimes hard to distinguish between the two. I believe I caught the Colo. station by matching its program schedule later that day.

Syndicated news-talk 1470 Lake Charles has also appeared.

 

[Xale57]

Nutley, NJ (day)
1400 WSTC Stamford, CT (weak)
1410 WHTG Eatontown, NJ(on certain radios, weak)
1420 WLNA Peekskill, NY (only receivable on 1417, 1418)
1430 WNSW New York, NY (very strong and why I have to tune off frequency for WLNA)
1450 WCTC New Brunswick, NJ (weak)
1460 WVOX White Plains, NY (slightly stronger than WCTC)
1470 WSAN Allentown, PA (very weak but there)
1480 WZRC New York, NY
1490 WGCH Greenwich, CT (weak)

 

[Deleted member 108832]

From Swan, Texas (in the Tyler-Longview market) all daytime unless noted.

1400 KGVL Greenville (weak) -this should be a fair signal from KEBE Jacksonville, but it has been dark for the last two years.

1410 KLVQ Athens (weak) classic hits 80's-90's
1430 KEES Gladewater (good, fairly local) Catholic -at night this is all Tulsa. The former KELI, now KTBZ, screams into NETX most nights.
1440 KEXB University Park (DFW, fair) Catholic
1450 KNET Palestine (weak) classic hits 80's-90's
1470 KWRD Henderson (fair) classic country
1490 KYZS Tyler (local, and first station in ETX) classic hits 60's-80's

 

[Dondd]

1430 KEES Gladewater (good, fairly local) Catholic -at night this is all Tulsa. The former KELI, now KTBZ, screams into NETX most nights.

Do you recall how long KEES was news-talk?
When I worked in TV news at KLMG in the mid-80s, one of my colleagues had some connection with that station, which had recently gone news-talk.
He told us the station owners didn't want to be only a "country station" or other music.
I seem to recall someone famous (in radio) owned it (then), but my memory is off.

 

[RyanHoward]

Warminster PA(Philly 'burbs):
1410-WDOV, Dover, DE
1420-WCOJ, Coatesville, PA
1430-zippo
1440-WNPV, Lansdale, PA
1450-WILM, Wilmington, DE
1460-WIFI, Florence, NJ
1470-WSAN, Allentown, PA
1480-WJJZ, Philly
1490-WBCB, Levittown, PA

 

[Dondd]

Do you recall how long KEES was news-talk?
When I worked in TV news at KLMG in the mid-80s, one of my colleagues had some connection with that station, which had recently gone news-talk.
He told us the station owners didn't want to be only a "country station" or other music.
I seem to recall someone famous (in radio) owned it (then), but my memory is off.

KEES was once owned by Matt Williams, son of radio talk legend Bruce Williams.
Growing up in Gladewater. | Does anybody remember when Matt Williams, son of Bruce Williams owned and operated KEES (AM 1430) radio | Facebook

KEES, Clarksville City Podcast - Loquis

It appears the station was later sold to Citadel.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

Do you recall how long KEES was news-talk?

It was, for sure, full-time N/T under Citadel, putting the time frame around 40 years ago. Matt Williams owned it prior to that, who was the son of Bruce Williams (a well-tenured radio man and show host, himself) and they are who certainly began plugging in the talk programming. I am not old enough to remember KSIJ, the early days of KEES, or Tom Perryman ever working there. I know he did, and have heard several of the stories having worked with him at Waller, but there were many years difference in our ages. He left 1430 to go to work for the Opry sometime in the 70's, then came home to ETX to work for Wes Dean at KGRI-A/F and KWRD in Henderson, not very long before Dean cut loose of KGRI AM. 1985, maybe? So, 1430 would've been airing a form of talk programming, either part-time or full-time, since the early 80's until Paul Gleiser sold it to Martin Broadcasting. Darrell Martin purchased both KEES and KGLD in 2005. My best guess is roughly 25 years of N/T on 1430, sandwiched in between the country and gospel formats.

When I worked in TV news at KLMG in the mid-80s, one of my colleagues had some connection with that station, which had recently gone news-talk.

It's remarkable just how long and twisting of a road it was to establish a steady CBS affiliate here in Tyler-Longview.

He told us the station owners didn't want to be only a "country station" or other music.
I seem to recall someone famous (in radio) owned it (then), but my memory is off.

The most famous person to own a station here is country legend Jim Reeves, and his wife Mary. They owned KGRI-A/F in Henderson originally. Mrs. Reeves is the one who sold the pair to Wes Dean, after Jim Reeves died and she remarried.

 

[gr8oldies]

Knoxville, TN
1400-WGAP, Maryville TN
1410-WVVB, Kingston, TN/WHLN, Harlan KY, WING, Dayton OH(night)
1420-nada
1430-nada days, WXIN/CKFH nights
1440-nada
1450-WLAF LaFollette TN, WLAR Athens TN
1460-i got nuthin
1470-WBCR Alcoa TN/WTOE Spruce Pine NC
1480-WJFC Jefferson City TN
1490-WITA Knoxville TN

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

1400-1490 has gotta be the most densely-licensed such 10-frequency spectrum of the AM dial.
As of now from NE PA, from when I moved here from Queens NYC and set the 'new catches' odometer back to 000, I count 48 different stations from 14 states and one province. Of course, it's easier to get such varied places here in the Northeast, as the states are all smaller, closer-by and thus different from other regions in the US.
The totals from Queens dwarf those logged from here. In that 1400-1490 cluster are three 'graveyard' frequencies -- half of the six local channels. Queens loggings from the 60's and 70's show some 75 catches from those three frequencies alone, among a total of maybe 180 for the 1400-1490 spectrum.
I'm sure a few DXers here -- Jim SATX comes to immediate mind -- have as many, if not more different ones logged. A lot of those 'graveyard' channel stations were still on 250 nighttime watts back then, too, with a much clearer and quieter dial overnight.

 

[wildthangjim]

From Houston TX, excluding locals, I count 41 stations logged 1400-1490. They're from 8 US states, 2 Mexican states. Half of the loggings are from Texas alone. Best frequency is 1440 with 7 loggings, followed by 1490 with 6. All of this is from 2018-present, mostly since 2021.

 

[Dondd]

It is a graveyard full of static and lower powered stations, particularly at night.

I don't recall any station in this band (1410+) being overly successful or high in the ratings (though there may be exceptions).
The high band position doesn't help, either.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

'1400-1490' is a randomly ascribed slice of the dial, much like the judgement and analysis of a similar wedge of a larger pie such as, say, 'Music of 1963-1972' * would be.
But still, okay, going on THAT as a basis:
Top-40 turf wars between stations on 1410 and 1360 in the same market -- two regional frequencies with big nighttime signals -- positioned major stations as being socially and musically critical in the same years. Other here will have their own local recall; the ones coming to mind instantly are Hartford CT's WDRC 1360 & WPOP 1410, and Pittsburgh's KQV 1410 & WIXZ 1360. Toss in other 60's matters such as Norfolk's 1230 WNOR vs 1310's WGH, Atlantic City's WMID 1340 vs WOND 1400, Scranton's WBAX 1240 vs. giant WARM 590 and others, and it's evident that many upper-band stations meant that genuine 'local' commotion meant for something that mattered.
*Recent* loggings here also point out some value in two regionals of the same format still regarding their regional signal territory as important real estate. Those logs from Mobile gospel stations WMOB 1360 and WLVV 1410 are between two upper-band regionals with mean in-market and adjacent signals.
1410-1490 indeed had its share of 'upper-band' dismissals licensed to it. But that breakout also had seven bigger, regional occupants who did quite well in their heyday. Kids knew how and where to find their music when the town's big main station lower on the dial played a stiff.


* the 'decade' of 1963-1972 formed the accepted basis and playlists for the Solid Gold format.

 

[gr8oldies]

'1400-1490' is a randomly ascribed slice of the dial, much like the judgement and analysis of a similar wedge of a larger pie such as, say, 'Music of 1963-1972' * would be.
But still, okay, going on THAT as a basis:
Top-40 turf wars between stations on 1410 and 1360 in the same market -- two regional frequencies with big nighttime signals -- positioned major stations as being socially and musically critical in the same years. Other here will have their own local recall; the ones coming to mind instantly are Hartford CT's WDRC 1360 & WPOP 1410, and Pittsburgh's KQV 1410 & WIXZ 1360. Toss in other 60's matters such as Norfolk's 1230 WNOR vs 1310's WGH, Atlantic City's WMID 1340 vs WOND 1400, Scranton's WBAX 1240 vs. giant WARM 590 and others, and it's evident that many upper-band stations meant that genuine 'local' commotion meant for something that mattered.
*Recent* loggings here also point out some value in two regionals of the same format still regarding their regional signal territory as important real estate. Those logs from Mobile gospel stations WMOB 1360 and WLVV 1410 are between two upper-band regionals with mean in-market and adjacent signals.
1410-1490 indeed had its share of 'upper-band' dismissals licensed to it. But that breakout also had seven bigger, regional occupants who did quite well in their heyday. Kids knew how and where to find their music when the town's big main station lower on the dial played a stiff.


* the 'decade' of 1963-1972 formed the accepted basis and playlists for the Solid Gold format.

1410 WING Dayton was one of those top 40s, and in some places a DXer could get a combination of WING, KQV and WPOP. During my childhood/pre-teen vacations to Fremont, Michigan, I discovered WGRD as a top 40 daytime in Grand Rapids, and after they signed off, WING came barreling in. WING and 980 WONE battled it out for awhile, then Group One took WONE country and attacked WING on FM with top 40 with WTUE. I remember a daytime 1410 in Lafayette, IN which was WAZY, those calls moved to FM. Several other formats followed including WFTE Country, a sale to a church and an early Contemporary Christian format.
I wasn't here in Knoxville in the early 70s, but what is now WITA on 1490 was apparently around that time, top 40 W-149.
In Indianapolis, WIRE was a highly rated Country station on 1430, and in Columbus, Ohio, WBNS was a competitive Hot A/C on 1460.