1360

[Pratte4Life]

Actually, WPTT had received a full point until recently. When Bowyer was there they usually pulled in 1.5 and WPTT, I would argue, was a player in that it gave listeners an alternative talk format.

You said it yourself- WJAS and WEAE have found audiences. So has WAMO-AM, which by your line of thinking would obviously not make it (WHAT? Urban talk in a market that is only 7.9 percent black? How could that ever succeed?) and, to a certain extent, KQV.

Finally, I haven't listened to WURP since they dropped Imus. That was two years ago.

But way to hold a grudge and stay with current events. Will you accuse Radio Realist and I of being homosexual lovers again to keep up with this theme?

I'd tell you about the changes that are going on to improve AM frequencies in the future, and perhaps an additional comment about how AM, while certainly not the band it was in the 1960s, is still a home for talk radio and sports fans and community radio (WJPA in Washington, for instance), but why waste the time?

 

[Boss Radio]

Well, if 1.5 makes you a "player," then I guess they are. Scraping the bottom of the page with undesirable demos doesn't scream "player" to most people.

Bowyer has been gone from WPTT for nearly three years, as long as you're concerned about "current events."

WJAS hasn't found an audience, it's trying to maintain what audience is left as its format slides toward obsolescence. They dumped Mike McGann for the sole reason of saving a salary. There are two people on the air there who are exclusive to WJAS within the Renda operation, and they both bring in clients on their own. When Bogut and Cardille leave, so does live/local programming on WJAS. WEAE has carved out one small corner of the market, while proving there isn't room for a second station in that format. Of course community radio can work. But it works in Dubois and Coudersport, not Pittsburgh.

KQV would cease to exist as a news operation tomorrow if Scaife didn't prop it up. Their billings can't match the expense of doing that format, even with the station on auto-pilot for 12 hours a day.

Right after you conclude that lecture on all the upgrades coming to the AM band, do some research on how Internet radio signals will soon be coming to people in their cars. But I'm sure people will ignore those and keep trying to pull stations above 1200 in through the crackle. I also believe music downloads will soon be replaced by a return to 78s.

Radio Realist? Don't speak ill of the dead.

 

[Pratte4Life]

First, I'd like to apologize to the rest of the board for letting this guy get the best of me.

Next, again, way to change the arguement. You say I consistently mention WURP- I tell you I haven't listened to them in two years.

I will let the rest of the board decide if the rest of your message was relevant or rather a desperate attempt to save face with-

A- A reference to how WPTT had significantly higher ratings when they had three, rather than one, regular hosts- including one from outside the box in Bowyer.

B- A dismissal of the eighth rated station in the market.

C- The tired old "Scaife only runs KQV/The Tribune-Review/NewsMax.com to support his own agenda and doesn't make any money from it" line.

D- Dismissal of new technology.

E- A crack at a former poster.

 

[Parttimer]

Look, I've been a big AM fan over the years but the technology is in an irreversible decline. And that's too bad because HD radio makes AM sound like FM, but HD has generated absolutely zero consumer buzz in two years. Contrast that with satellite, which adds new listeners daily.

And Boss is right, when you can get internet radio in the car it's a completely new game. CBS, for instance, just partnered with AOL to stream their stations... if you could listen to 100 GREAT stations anytime you want to in digital sound quality, why would anyone listen to a bad local station on conventional AM? (And yes, there might be 6 people who would, but no one can make a profit broadcasting to audiences that small).

So the currently viable AMs like KDKA and 1250 will still have some shelf life, but 90% of the properties will be useless in 10 years or less.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Here's a good question for someone out there who is way smarter than I am.

Talk resurfaced this week about a proposed City of Pittsburgh/Allegheny County merger.
Basically this would lead to all of Allegheny County becoming "Metro Pittsburgh" in the
same way that Louisville, KY and Jacksonville, FL have done this. (having grown up here,
I am under no illusions that such a thing would ever happen....but let's say for the sake of
arguement that it does).

One of 1360's major problems is the very poor 1K nighttime signal that they throw into much of
populated Allegheny County, due to the stick being located way down at the southern tip.
I understand the reason for this is that their City of License is McKeesport, and therefore they
are required to throw a city-grade signal over McKeesport 24/7, and their daytime site in the
city would fail to meet this standard.

Now, if such a proposed city-county merger were to happen, and all of Allegheny County were in essence to become Pittsburgh, then I presume all of the other existing townships and boroughs in Allegheny County would cease to exist, including McKeesport. And once a City of License ceases to exist (or becomes more broadly defined as Pittsburgh), would that not then permit WPTT to move that nighttime stick into the Hazlewood site and allow them to reach a wider audience? Since they would still be throwing city grade signal over their "new" City of License, I presume they would be able to do this? Has it ever happened in
Louisville or anyplace else that merged the city with the county?

 

[PGHsalesguy]

I seriously doubt local city or town designations will be eliminated in such a plan. Such a merger should have no effect on what a station is already licensed to serve even if town boundaries did get wiped away. It should go by population as one person told me before. I seriously doubt the merger will happen anyway since there are too many little towns with money that despise the city and how they operate. You really think Mt/ Lebanon would want to pay for McKeesport's roads? No way.

 

[Snafu]

The plan that is setting sail appears to be more like those in Indianapolis and Philadelphia where all the towns and townships stay in place but the county government swallows up most of the city. There would still be places like McKeesport its just that they would interact with the new municipal government (called Pittsburgh but different from what you presently understand Pittsburgh to be). This won't change anyone's city of license or anything like that. The pie stays the same, it just gets cut differently.

 

[Pratte4Life]

No, I don't buy that the internet would wipe out AM any more than I think the internet would wipe out FM.

And let's face it, if you listen to Froggy on the FM dial, you know all about the signal coming in and out as you drive. It's essentially the same problem an AM station has.

And I'm not a tech guy, but would I be so naive to believe internet radio in a car would fade in and out to where the wireless signal is strongest?

If anything, it is my belief that AM is kept alive by people in their cars. Who hasn't made a long car trip and picked up the signals from a 50,000 watt blowtorch out of town at night, listening along to the ball game, talk show, or country music show?

A closer look at Boss' statement sees that it is little more than the "TV will wipe out radio" argument of 60 years ago in a different package.

If anything, I would think internet radio in a car would make a station's programming much more important than its signal. If I have the internet in my car, then why would I worry if a station had a 100,000 watt signal or a four watt one? Point Park's carrier current station might be a choice to listen to- even if I'm cruising through downtown Little America, Antartica.

Like I do all the time.

 

[dtube1]

if you could listen to 100 GREAT stations anytime you want to in digital sound quality,

Going off topic here for a moment, "digital" sound quality when applied to streaming radio means "gawd-awful fidelity tolerated merely for the sake of variety". I'll take NRSC-2 AM over anything below 320kbps mp3 everytime. But, the point is moot as there are no radios currently mfg'd that demod AM per that spec (and thanks to comments from a certain industry big-wig with the last name of Littlejohn, the future for AM transmission looks like 6khz might be a luxury). Anyway, my point in this: lets not confuse (most) streaming audio with fidelity.
-D

 

[Parttimer]

And I'm not a tech guy, but would I be so naive to believe internet radio in a car would fade in and out to where the wireless signal is strongest?

I am a tech guy. Digital does not fade in and out, either it's perfect or you don't get it at all. (That's why over-the-air HDTV works and analog didn't, creating the need for cable. Go grab a $15 set of rabbit ears sometime and try it).

 

[Snafu]

Who drives cross country anymore trying to listen to what is left of the 50kw blowtorches dying into the hiss of side channel splatter?? Yeah I've listed to Pirate and Penguin games on car radios in as far flung places as Yellowstone National Park, Salt Lake City and Orlando but now?? I have a better car radio than I ever have and I can't get KD east of Blairsville most nights. Long trips are what satellite radios excell at.

The technology is coming and changing this business for good whether we like it or not. You can jump on board the train or get crushed under its wheels. Your choice.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Nobody is disagreeing.

But why then, if the internet is coming around the bend, thus making it possible to listen to KDKA east of Blairsville, would that mean the death of a band?

 

[Parttimer]

10% of the AM facilities will remain viable for another 10 years.

The rest, if they have programming that is worth listening to in any way (and that's a big if), will find better ways to distribute that content than AM radio.

 

[Snafu]

Because whatever KDKA might put out there on the net is not only competing with everything local, but everything from around the planet. Third string network talk shows aren't going to cut it when your options literally span the globe.

 

[FreddyE1977]

the one counter arguement to all of this is that you can buy an analog AM/FM receiver new off the shelf for as little as five bucks. In terms of potential audience, that is going to keep them ahead of pricey HD and PC equipment for some time to come. Plus the fact that there are no subscription fees. Economists have books full of charts and graphs to prove this.

 

[Parttimer]

They may be cheap but that doesn't mean people are buying them in any great numbers. When there's no demand it doesn't matter what the price is. That would be in those same economics books.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Are people buying HD or PC equipment in great numbers?

Satellite radio is going so well XM and Sirus want to merge because they can't make it on their own.

Look, I'm not at all saying that people want to stick with lesser equipment. There is a reason why you can't buy a black and white TV with a dial tuner anymore.

But when HD and PC equipment will be made affordable for all, doesn't that mean that the over-the-air signal becomes meaningless and the programming is the thing?

If you're of a "Pre-Cable TV age" you may know what it was like to have to watch Channel 11 or 2 and not 4 because WTAE-TV often didn't come into your home well on rabbit ears- whereas Channel 11's signal was so strong that it would sometimes invade down to 9 on the dial. Nowadays the over-the-air signal is largely irrelevant, so the programming is the thing.

That's what I'm saying COULD happen if the performance quality is made equal. If the broadcast quality suddenly becomes equal due to technology- then what is preventing WPTT- or any station- from succeeding if they have quality programming?

 

[Parttimer]

Satellite radio is going so well XM and Sirus want to merge because they can't make it on their own.

Absolutely completely incorrect. They are merging because of Wall Street. The big investors want a faster return on their investment.

 

[Pratte4Life]

If the investors weren't getting a return, then how were XM and Sirus making it individually?

 

[garnet]

I also understand that an XM or Sirius bill is the last bill in a home to be paid, which means that, sure, they may have subscribers, but if a quarter of them are 28 year old drunk guys making $12.00 an hour, and you're short at the end of the month...guess who isn't getting paid. XM and Sirius do want to merge because they can't make it...seems to me they wanted to make it so bad they were trying to put each other out of business by overspending on big name talent...didn't really work...they've tapped their market, and nobody else cares...Big investers don't want a fast return at this point, they want ANY return. Maybe, if the big investers of Coke and Pepsi wanted a fast return 100 years ago, one of those companys would be successful today...?