It is possible that this wouldn't happen today, but in 1989 people in Savannah GA listened to WBT after Hugo hit.
And Charlotte wasn't much better off, but its radio stations still worked.
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AM 1110 Off The Air?
- Thread starter DToTheJ
- Start date
And Charlotte wasn't much better off, but its radio stations still worked.
No, I didn't. You can choose to look at it how you want, specifically because you disagree with me.
The point I make remains, regardless of how many transistor AM/FM radios are in existence.
The community will rally around the person who has one because they will want to hear what is happening... just like they did when few people owned them in the very beginning. It's not rocket science to understand. And it is easy to cherry-pick your argument to try to make someone look foolish.
But when someone THINKS things through... it makes sense. When you rush past it and try to mock because you think you know better, well, you might miss the point. People with logic and reason can think it through and understand. That is all that matters.
I can go around and around with you and Paul and whoever else thinks they "know better". I know the truth always prevails, so I have no dog in the fight. I am just the messenger.
How do you know who will listen, Paul? As a DXer, you should know the answer... people listen for various reasons. Maybe in CT they would listen to WTIC instead. But what happens when someone wants to sell that property and develop it, then the next and the next.. and then the station you work for?
You people should be ashamed for not sticking up. You are the people who stay silent until something happens to you, then you want the world at your feet to help you. No one will want to help you if you are not willing to help others. Just sayin'. And don't give me any crap that you do help... because the point is helping to advance the message about this station. If you don't agree, then sit down. Because people will take note of your resistance. And when you are crying for another radio job because your station was sold to a land developer... no one will care.
"You kids are having fun wrong!"
Knocking down towers takes any chance of revival away. People still listen to AM. Not as many, but they do.
And maybe the answer is fewer signals, with better regional programming, with a reason to listen... what is that reason? I do not have the answer to that, but someone else might...
But if you let them take the stations away, there is no turning back.
If you guys would like someone else to attack as "being wrong", Jerry Del Colliano (who has for years been publishing his own site ... with paid subscribers) had his commentary on the issue of taking AMs silent republished by Radio World:
“An Outbreak of License Forfeitures” - Radio World
Radio groups are beginning to treat weak licenses not as irreplaceable assets, but as recurring liabilities.www.radioworld.com
Never was a fan of him, never saw someone more negative about radio.. and often wrong.
There's a reason all of these AM's are going off the air across the country. They are not financially viable. WBT is now on a signal that is viable to their target audience with 107.9 and streaming reaching more audience than they did when just on the AM and the rimshot FM.
970 WZAN Portland was just surrendered to build 23 homes at over $1 million each. Who wouldn't they make that deal? WBT's programming survives, the brand reaches more people in a more sellable demo on FM. Time moves on. We may not like it, but what makes this one site more deserving of being salvaged than any other?
AM is a 100 year old technology. Name one other technology that is still in use with very little in the way of technological advancement in a century.
And if you think you can come on here and talk down to other posters because they don't agree with you, perhaps you need to act as a Managing Board Editor and edit yourself. We allow disagreeing opinions here but not attacking posters because you disagree with them. If you don't agree then sit down because people here are taking note of your unwillingness to accept their opinions. And when you are crying for another forum to post on because you've already burned bridges, no one will care.
I'm a realist. I have to be, because as a broker, if I can't figure out how to assemble a deal that gets a buyer and a seller together at a price that makes sense for both of them, no deal gets done for anyone.
The reality of radio in 2026, especially AM radio, is a harsh one. It's very hard to make money as a new entrant on the AM dial. It's very easy to lose a fortune.
And in that context, no amount of discussion of a hypothetical once-every-generation emergency situation changes the reality that in between those once-every-generation events, a station owner still needs to turn a profit day in and day out in its local market before they can even think about being available to someone 150 or 1500 miles away during an emergency.
Right now, the facts are these: the land on Nations Ford Road is worth much more for development than it is for the operation of a three-tower AM DA that currently has zero audience, zero programming and zero revenue.
Until and unless someone can come forward with a coherent, comprehensive business plan that demonstrates a path forward to rebuild an audience and deliver enough revenue to sustain the operation of that 50 kW signal on 1110, it's effectively over and done with, just like 560 and 810 in San Francisco and so many others that will keep falling in the years to come. No amount of emotional appeal to the history and romance of these signals can overcome the lack of a business plan.
(Which doesn't mean I'm opposed to the idea of honoring that history the way Johnny Caudle is trying to do, whether it's just a plaque or some sort of museum in the building. But there's a difference between a historical monument and a going business.)
The reality of radio in 2026, especially AM radio, is a harsh one. It's very hard to make money as a new entrant on the AM dial. It's very easy to lose a fortune.
And in that context, no amount of discussion of a hypothetical once-every-generation emergency situation changes the reality that in between those once-every-generation events, a station owner still needs to turn a profit day in and day out in its local market before they can even think about being available to someone 150 or 1500 miles away during an emergency.
Right now, the facts are these: the land on Nations Ford Road is worth much more for development than it is for the operation of a three-tower AM DA that currently has zero audience, zero programming and zero revenue.
Until and unless someone can come forward with a coherent, comprehensive business plan that demonstrates a path forward to rebuild an audience and deliver enough revenue to sustain the operation of that 50 kW signal on 1110, it's effectively over and done with, just like 560 and 810 in San Francisco and so many others that will keep falling in the years to come. No amount of emotional appeal to the history and romance of these signals can overcome the lack of a business plan.
(Which doesn't mean I'm opposed to the idea of honoring that history the way Johnny Caudle is trying to do, whether it's just a plaque or some sort of museum in the building. But there's a difference between a historical monument and a going business.)
I don't think that possability has been/was brought up, but it sounds like a good one. Unfortunately, we'll never know.
Dont you dare accuse me of not caring, not trying or staying silent when it comes to radio.
I've had conversations with @caudleweather privately about the realities.
Did you know 730 and 930 in Charlotte are or wll be going silent? Land under them is for sal.
610 WFNZ's land in Charlotte is for sale. 1110 WBT land is for sale, as we know.
I think another Charlotte area am has gone dark, but I cant remember which one.
560 n San francisco .. as scott mentioned is another. Its likely to go get its license turned in or deleted here soon. As Lance said, 970 in Portland.
That big 1110 skywave signal doesnt pay the bills or matter like it used to.
I'm big on radio, as anyone who knows me well enough knows. I have been very lucky in the last 15 years to work for owners (WDDH, WGGH, KSKO, KLMI) who let me see the books, ask questions and shared the realities with me.
After managing a station by myself for 5 1/2, I got a real good eye view of ROI in terms of time/energy/money spent.
All Johnny wants is some historical significance noted and saved. I'm all for that.
The other reality is petitions like this often do nothin more than raise the signal to noise ratio way too high on the noise site.
Many of us think at one time, Urban One had plans for 1110 beyond what they are now, and had plans to do something else with it and for multiple reasons, including land value, things changed. That should tell you something.
Fewer and fewer and fewer as time goes by. We see many of the formats that seemed to be okay on AM... like sports... are moving to FM in more and more cases.
And the listeners to AM are predominantly over 60 or 65 or older. Or they are members of a language-based minority that survives on minimal revenue or a religious group that supports an unlistened to station because of their faith.
There is not enough money available in an industry in decline to totally rebuild all its stations under a reassignment plan. We have to remember that AM is an obsolete technology subject to increasing levels of man made interference where most markets have outgrown the coverage of even the better AM assignment.
And in my city, there is no blacksmith, either.
If you guys would like someone else to attack as "being wrong", Jerry Del Colliano (who has for years been publishing his own site ... with paid subscribers) had his commentary on the issue of taking AMs silent republished by Radio World:
“An Outbreak of License Forfeitures” - Radio World
Radio groups are beginning to treat weak licenses not as irreplaceable assets, but as recurring liabilities.
Without going into a lot of detail, I was talking to a radio mentor and in the course of our conversation earlier today, I asked him if an old station in his hometown was still on the air, to which he replied, yes. I asked him if they were doing the same format they had been doing for several years (and I mentioned the format) and he said yes. I had heard they had finally gotten a translator, then he replied, Josh, they don't have the station on much, just enough to keep the license. Those might not have been his exact words, actually, kind a combination of mine and his LOL. Unfortunately, that old trick still happens.
Yeah, I completely understand the economics of it all, and I like to romanticize the idea of a past era.
This is a "discussion board about radio," not an "elected radio committee" that makes decisions for radio.
The technology might be antiquated, but it is one of the reasons we are here today. Not just by way of discussion, but by way of technology. In 100 years it's likely there will be no radio as we know it. And if nothing is preserved but words in a book or on a website... then no one will understand how we got to this point and how they will have gotten to where they are.
I'm not talking down to others any more than they are talking down to me. I don't apologize for what I've said, but it does pain me that I am being singled out. I think you still have a gripe with me that I do not think is warranted. And it's my fault for not reaching out to you when I should have to discuss the events as they were unfolding. Maybe I am wrong... I digress.
I fully "accept" others' opinions that I disagree with. And I will counter-argue and make my points, respectfully. It seems people here are ready for the industry to implode. Economics of the business aside, few are championing what radio was anymore. It's like you've accepted its demise and no longer really care about what once was.
I'm not saying you don't care. I know everyone does... but it doesn't feel like you do based on the replies. I have no ill-will towards anyone. We are all just here to enjoy the conversation...
It's been a while since I've been here to discuss radio... and maybe I have some catching up to do by way of discussing the "economics of radio" vs the "history and bygone era" of radio.
Fully understand the economics of the business.
With no blacksmith and being okay with it, are you okay with radio as we know it disappearing... possibly in our lifetime? I mean, hey, sell that land to a developer because there's more money to be made everywhere there is a radio tower. Who needs this thing called radio anyway? We have TikTok now.
This thread brought a memory back to me about Charlotte. Years ago, back in the mid 1980's, I worked in downtown Charlotte on South Tryon Street. As I remember, on my way to the office I had to park in a different lot due to an event nearby. As I was walking on that part of Tryon where a large skyscraper is located I noticed a plaque on the sidewalk commemorating the RCA Victor recording studio that was located in the former Hotel Charlotte building. Apparently this was a significant historical location due to recording of a number of bluegrass and country artists, such as Bill Monroe and others back in the late 1930's and the newer skyscraper built on that location remembered that bit of history.
Why I bring this up is that there is a long history of Charlotte tearing down and rebuilding real estate. WBT AM is no exception. With that said, it would be a shame to tear this station down in order to build something new without acknowledging what WBT AM did for the community the past 100+ years. While 1110 AM may have seen better days, it should definitely not be forgotten.
Why I bring this up is that there is a long history of Charlotte tearing down and rebuilding real estate. WBT AM is no exception. With that said, it would be a shame to tear this station down in order to build something new without acknowledging what WBT AM did for the community the past 100+ years. While 1110 AM may have seen better days, it should definitely not be forgotten.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I'm not crazy about him either and until now I hadn't read anything he has written since he instituted the paywall.
But in this commentary, I think he is at least 80% correct.