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1240 WLLV

The telephone line was laying on the ground and Bellsouth kicked the trouble ticket out not once, but twice!
 
They also sound like they are operating at reduced power. Is Davisdon going to do what needs to be done desperately at WLLV and WLOU?

They immediately need new management at both stations and a complete, top-to-bottom technical re-work of the studio facilities. Even with a good contract engineer on board, he/she can't continue to put rhinestones on road kill. I listen occasionally to evaluate the operation, and it's apparent the ownership really needs to get a grip and either invest in the facility or sell. The few well-done programs are buried in a sea of dated, amateurish production.

(And who is this "Golden Door" company on WLOU IDs, anyway? The FCC doesn't list them as current or pending owners or as a subsidiary of Davidson, and FCC Rules Part 73 has several references about false/misleading statements.)

They don't even have a phone interface system with delay for all the phoners they do-you constantly hear feedback, on-air ringing and the like. And maybe the STL phone link repair order was kicked back for a good reason-nonpayment of the line charges?
 
Don't they have a Marti? They could easily Marti the audio to the transmitter site and get back on the air that way.
 
I don't think they have any kind of RPU gear. And it appears the short tower off Lexington Road wouldn't present a clear target for a RF path, not to mention having to shoot from 20th & Broadway through Downtown
to the site.
 
That can't be 4 miles. Even with the Highlands in the way I'd bet a VHF marti would get them on the air.

You'd think they could come up with something rather than just be off.
 
We looked at everything. It's not the Highlands that gets in the way, it's downtown. Most of the folks on WLLV were willing to move to WLOU (an even a couple of them understood that WLOU was a more powerful station) so it was not a major deal to them.....so if they are not worried about it, I didn't lose any sleep with them being off the air.
 
I can't say I've ever worked in a situation like that, where you have 3 stations and none of them really matter so much, and you can move a program from one station to another because it's the one that's on the air today. That does make things a little different. :)
 
greg.hahn said:
Don't they have a Marti? They could easily Marti the audio to the transmitter site and get back on the air that way.
Click to expand...
I did that in Paoli a couple months ago...on FM. Beats dead air hands down.
 
greg.hahn said:
I can't say I've ever worked in a situation like that, where you have 3 stations and none of them really matter so much, and you can move a program from one station to another because it's the one that's on the air today. That does make things a little different. :)
Click to expand...

Pete and myself were talking about it over lunch. It goes against everything we have ever done to leave a station off the air like that. But they were able to move programs around, with a few of the people understanding they were getting a good deal being on a 2500 watt station verses a 1000 watt station. The spots that air on Bill's show in the morning aired as usual since the shows that pay on WLLV didn't air until after 9am and WLOU didn't have much time sold once they joined the network. People that listen to those stations also understand they are sister stations and there wasn't a problem getting the word out.

Now, I just have to stay on Bellsouth to fix my trunk that runs off of Lexington Road.
 
Bill is recovering well. Moving a bit slower than before, but doing well for someone who had a stroke. They patched the line last Thursday. The trunk still needs to be replaced, since the guy they sent out only had four conductor cable on his truck.
 
I'd love to hear a Blues/Jazz/Classic R&B format similar to what was tried with WLBJ-AM 1570 a few years ago, this time with real management and competent local talent in drivetime. Urban AC WMJM's music is sleepy, stale and repetitive, especially in the announcerless evenings and overnights. They haven't yet jettisoned the ancient Radio One-developed UAC "Quiet Storm"-centered version of the format.

You could bring in ABC's "The Touch" or resurrect a version of their late "Solid Gold Soul" format and take chunks out of Magic 101.3 (and glitch B96.5) by, among other things, broadening the playlist significantly to include all genres of Soul/Black/R&B music. For example, I'd love to hear some of The Impressions, some Quincy Jones and, really...you're only playing one James Brown cut? The UAC channel on the Muzak at the White Castle appeals to me more then WMJM...really!

However, WLOU's nighttime signal pattern is so bizzare that they null out too much of the potential audience northeast of their antenna site (protecting a co-channel in Kokomo, IN). This is why WLLV and WLOU have simulcast the majority of evenings and overnights...WLLV's 1kw/nights omnidirectional gives some coverage into WLOU's severe nulls. In the early '80s, the WLOU Gibson Lane tower site was chosen because the land was cheap and available immediately, not because the location would be the best to yield a desirable signal over the city...far from it. (FYI, WLOU went unlimited time with 500w/D nights on March 8, 1984.)

After radio sunset, WLOU totally disappears toward Downtown. When WDGS-AM 1290 was on the air in the mid '80s with UAC (firing a cardioid pattern due south right into Louisville with new transmission and processing gear), they really made a stir taking advantage of WLOU and WJYL-FM's signal deficiencies. Too bad they were run into the ground by ownership!
 
The King Bee said:
I'd love to hear a Blues/Jazz/Classic R&B format similar to what was tried with WLBJ-AM 1570 a few years ago, this time with real management and competent local talent in drivetime. Urban AC WMJM's music is sleepy, stale and repetitive, especially in the announcerless evenings and overnights. They haven't yet jettisoned the ancient Radio One-developed UAC "Quiet Storm"-centered version of the format.

You could bring in ABC's "The Touch" or resurrect a version of their late "Solid Gold Soul" format and take chunks out of Magic 101.3 (and glitch B96.5) by, among other things, broadening the playlist significantly to include all genres of Soul/Black/R&B music. For example, I'd love to hear some of The Impressions, some Quincy Jones and, really...you're only playing one James Brown cut? The UAC channel on the Muzak at the White Castle appeals to me more then WMJM...really!

However, WLOU's nighttime signal pattern is so bizzare that they null out too much of the potential audience northeast of their antenna site (protecting a co-channel in Kokomo, IN). This is why WLLV and WLOU have simulcast the majority of evenings and overnights...WLLV's 1kw/nights omnidirectional gives some coverage into WLOU's severe nulls. In the early '80s, the WLOU Gibson Lane tower site was chosen because the land was cheap and available immediately, not because the location would be the best to yield a desirable signal over the city...far from it. (FYI, WLOU went unlimited time with 500w/D nights on March 8, 1984.)

After radio sunset, WLOU totally disappears toward Downtown. When WDGS-AM 1290 was on the air in the mid '80s with UAC (firing a cardioid pattern due south right into Louisville with new transmission and processing gear), they really made a stir taking advantage of WLOU and WJYL-FM's signal deficiencies. Too bad they were run into the ground by ownership!
Click to expand...

When 1570 tried a blues/jazz format it was a mess. They played more soul blues (Malco Records stuff) and ignored the white blues audience. Go to any blues festival or concert and the crowd is mosty white.
 
I agree, the format was heavy on the Malaco/Ichiban school of southern soul, but a bit of that is fine...just not to excess. The two examples of UAC formats I gave have broader playlists than what American Blues Network supplies.

I repeat my belief that a UAC format that samples a full spectrum of the music over several decades would appeal to Black and White lovers of Classic R&B/Soul. There is so very much good music not being played on WMJM...the same tired ballads just don't get it!
 
WLOU's currently stuck on daytime pattern and power without any program modulation...just dead carrier. Did they lose STL and remote control as a result of the storm? They apparently can't reduce power or change the phasor settings.

Given their management's apparent lack of knowledge of Part 73 and Part 74 Rules, no one has went to the transmitter site and manually taken the transmitter off the air as required (or went to an on-transmitter site program source) when you lose positive remote control and/or program modulation for an extended period.

Davidson needs to get people in there who truly know radio operations, and while they're at it, upgrade or move their facilities!
 
Speaking of stations affected by the storm...any other off air conditions noted? All I'm aware of is a 30 hour silence at WIKI 95.3 Carrollton, KY caused by no power at the transmitter.
 
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