It’s a station hardly anyone knows about on a band hardly anyone cares about.
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WLIB 1190 AM
- Thread starter Barry
- Start date
What a great domain name. As with AM tower sites being worth more than the station, that domain is probably worth more than the web property that sat on it. It'll get sold off and reused in short order, probably for some AI tool or other!
On 'limited time' stations:
I'm s'sposing that a peek into the past numbers of those would have provided some budgeting wisdom.
The Limited Hours stations like WMBI Chcago, WOSU Columbus, WAIT, WNYC 830 and WLIB itself during those 5-9 PM hours -- the overall numbers too -- would probably be inconclusive inasmuch as they were largely non-mass appeal.
But when you throw into the mix Top 40ers like WHLO Akron and WJJD 1160 Chicago, there now were two reference sources. Those were 'mass appeal' stations -- two pretty good ones as well -- which came in quite well after darkness had turned on the lights near JFK Airport.
Any such studies of the success of those stations (and from back when AM alone was 'thee' dial) should have provided some basic strategy as to their fate during those four shadow-hour extremes 60 years later.
It's all water under the dam now. Many of those L-1 or L-3 stations are now full time. But some here might have some insight as to whether any studies were done.
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I'm s'sposing that a peek into the past numbers of those would have provided some budgeting wisdom.
The Limited Hours stations like WMBI Chcago, WOSU Columbus, WAIT, WNYC 830 and WLIB itself during those 5-9 PM hours -- the overall numbers too -- would probably be inconclusive inasmuch as they were largely non-mass appeal.
But when you throw into the mix Top 40ers like WHLO Akron and WJJD 1160 Chicago, there now were two reference sources. Those were 'mass appeal' stations -- two pretty good ones as well -- which came in quite well after darkness had turned on the lights near JFK Airport.
Any such studies of the success of those stations (and from back when AM alone was 'thee' dial) should have provided some basic strategy as to their fate during those four shadow-hour extremes 60 years later.
It's all water under the dam now. Many of those L-1 or L-3 stations are now full time. But some here might have some insight as to whether any studies were done.
.
It was always a battle between WHLO, WCUE & WAKR during the Top 40 era. Even though I moved up to the Akron area in 1970, I mostly listened to the Cleveland stations. WCUE got screwed because their nightime power drops to 500 watts and the nightime pattern is severely restricted so anyone to the west of the east of Summit county couldn't hear them. I live a couple of miles from the WAKR antenna and I can tell, even being that close, when they switch to nightime power, it's incredibly crappy with stations from all over impinging on the signal. WHLO, if you check their nightime power suppose to be pretty well spread out but they're almost a rumor when you get to mid & western Medina county. WHLO used to sponsor listerner appreciation day at Chippewa Lake Amusement park back in the mid 70s and routinely attracted close to 100,000 people.
Hmm Seems WLIB is off the air. Or at least I cannot pick it up on any of the SDRs.
as was stated several comments about a week ago
FCC filing:
Silent Notification and Request for Silent STA
WLIB(AM), New York, NY, facility ID 28204, went silent May 11, 2026 due to a severed
power line. The licensee hereby requests special temporary authority to remain silent while repairs are made.
This happened 9 days ago. Does it normally take that long to repair the line?
WLIB(AM), New York, NY, facility ID 28204, went silent May 11, 2026 due to a severed
power line. The licensee hereby requests special temporary authority to remain silent while repairs are made.
This happened 9 days ago. Does it normally take that long to repair the line?
What's the rush? Why waste the power on a signal nobody is listening to anyway?
According to previous FCC filings, WLIB began nighttime operation at a reduced power of 5kw non-directional on June 14, 2024 due to an electrical panel fire that damaged equipment at one of the towers in WLIB’s nighttime array.
The most recent updates requesting STA extensions stated that repairs to the phasing equipment were underway and the building and phasing equipment had been cleaned of soot and debris. However, the electrical service to the ATU building needs to be rebuilt and the control circuits for the phaser equipment need to be rewired.
Now we have a severed power cable which seems like it may be related to all of this, but that's just my guess. If so, it could explain why the repair is more involved than simply repairing the line in one day.
How much electrical power does an ATU need? If staying on was a priority string a couple hundred feet of Romex or if you want to be picky a string of outdoor rated extension cords down the catwalk until permanent repairs can be made.
I doubt getting WLIB back on the air is a "priority" for Emmis. It's simulcasting an FM music station. It serves no real purpose at this time.
To answer the question "who is listening to WLIB 1190? " The answer is me or at lesst I was until a medical emergency landed me in the hospital and rehab facility back in January 2026. I would drive my Mom nuts by putting WLIB on in the car. Their signal comes in in our area of central Connecticut of various strength. Mom can not stand static. That's why she hates it when i put on WLIB. The static doesn't bother me. It's the novelty of listening to AM radio. WLIB is the first time in years that wr"ve listened to any AM stations with any regularity.
While they're working at the transmitter site, hopefully they'll open up WLIB's audio bandwidth to more than just 5 kHz, which sounded terrible with music.
It's still narrowband audio, checked on a TU-680NAB.
I wonder if they fixed the underlying issues with the equipment and have returned to full power.
HonestlyvLa Exitosa's music selection is wild. I don't remember the last time I heard "Double Dutch Bus" by Frankie Smith on the radio. They also played "Here Cimes the Hotstepper " by Ina Kamoze. Lart time I heard tgat one was a while back on the now defunct 104.3 Jams out of Chicago. I also heard "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkkey on La Exitosa. Again I don't remember the last time I heard tgat one on the radio.
Maybe will put songs of Canadian disco band Lime the late duo of the 80's (like 103.5 KTU) on La Exitosa 98.7 like:
Your Love (U.S. Dance #1)
Come and Get Your Love (U.S. Dance #18)
Babe, We're Gonna Love Tonight (U.S. Dance #6)
Angel Eyes (U.S. Dance #12)
Guilty (U.S. Dance #22)
Unexpected Lovers (U.S. Dance #6)
Because both Denis and Denyse LaPage are gone.
Your Love (U.S. Dance #1)
Come and Get Your Love (U.S. Dance #18)
Babe, We're Gonna Love Tonight (U.S. Dance #6)
Angel Eyes (U.S. Dance #12)
Guilty (U.S. Dance #22)
Unexpected Lovers (U.S. Dance #6)
Because both Denis and Denyse LaPage are gone.
The old Class A WOWO would absolutely come booming in here on the East Coast.
I remember being in the car with the family coming back from Baltimore to Pittsburgh listening to
a Komets hockey game. The signal was as good as local for much of the drive.
Old WOWO 50000 Watt Skywave Map.
