On my last couple of trips to Florida, I have noticed that the little AM station on 1550 in Vienna is not broadcasting. I recall visiting the station, 30 or so years ago, when it was WWWN. What's the story on this one? A lot of stations in middle and south Georgia seem to be disappearing.
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1550 Vienna
- Thread starter 96StereoLane
- Start date
Vienna is where I started my career and it's my hometown. The station was built with the latest Harris gear from 1979...stereo from the ground up. It was a very nice facility. Yes, it's sad to see the smaller ones disappear, the economic state of the area has changed considerably since the station signed on. That and poor management decisions have about done this little station in.
I wonder how long it will be before the only AM's left will be the legacy 50-kw stations. History will have come full circle. I remember reading about 15 years ago that AM would have already been history were it not for all of the AM radios in all of the homes and cars in America. I'm not certain I buy this contention, but there is no doubt that AM is slowly disappearing.
We are all offering our speculations here... and it is very hard to sort out the predictions.
But I want to poke at you on the "50 kw full circle" business. A number of them did not start out as 50 kw if that is the "circle" you are describing. After they came on the air with a bit more modest facilities, those that were successful... (or in some cases, simply owned by folks/companies with deep pockets) upgraded to higher power as it became available. A 50 kw sitting on modestly priced/located real estate today with a simple non-directional single tower site indeed is a candidate to stay on the air. But so is a simple 1,000 watt "grave-yard channel" AM if in a smaller, rural market where that amount of power will cover the critical audience.
Stations like Vienna, GA are in really tough, rural markets that have been treated un-kindly by the economy, particularly in a lot of Southern markets. Interstate highways, big-box chain-stores and on-line sales of merchandise have left some of these markets with about as much chance of survival as deer that has already been field-dressed!
Did you pick up on the small detail in the story about STAPLES closing 200 of their big-box office supply store? Half of the company's sales volume is now done on line!!!! Even the big-box boys and cannibalizing each other... and themselves.
Not only are the mom-and-pop stores that have been the lifeblood of a lot of AM radio stations (in the city or in the rural area) been hit by The Big-Box folks.... they've been field-dressed by the Internet!
There is a lot more detail to this discussion than just the ins-and-outs of AM technology.
Not to pick on Vienna, GA but markets of that size and type may not be able to support a station financially even if it is FM rather than AM. You will note that Vienna is the 'city of license' for an FM "god-caster" that has been able to assemble about five stations in that area that overlap each other.
To discuss radio in Vienna, GA and other very similar markets probably is about a lot of more critical issues than the viability of the AM band.
1550 Vienna was owned, I believe, by a Boston area businessman for a few years. I believe this station was part of some dreaded "upgrade" scheme. If I recall, the Boston guy sold the station to a Spanish broadcaster out of Orlando, and was left carrying some heavy paper on the deal. Perhaps someone here can fill in the details.
GRC, thanks for the history lesson! We may be witnessing a sea change in the way every business operates. These small-town AM stations, which were built by local businessmen and investors are an anachronism of a time in which I think we all wish still existed. Sometimes, when a station's founder dies, his heirs look at the raw economics when evaluating their options; but they do not consider things which do not have a line on the financial statements. Stations are sold to settle estates, and everything changes. We nostalgia junkies hate the change part, especially when we see an era we loved rapidly coming to an end.
Radio Shack is also closing something like 1,100 stores. Like Staples, their walk-in trade is steadily falling off. On-line commerce is steadily becoming the predominant retail model in this new era. Even Wal-mart is offering more and more of its merchandise "on-line only." When companies as iconic as they start positioning themselves for the day when walk-in retailing is past history, the change is coming more rapidly than many realize. We did not begin to see the demise of Mom-&-Pop stores until they were nearly all gone. Same with the local radio stations. Our loss - in both cases.
Radio Shack is also closing something like 1,100 stores. Like Staples, their walk-in trade is steadily falling off. On-line commerce is steadily becoming the predominant retail model in this new era. Even Wal-mart is offering more and more of its merchandise "on-line only." When companies as iconic as they start positioning themselves for the day when walk-in retailing is past history, the change is coming more rapidly than many realize. We did not begin to see the demise of Mom-&-Pop stores until they were nearly all gone. Same with the local radio stations. Our loss - in both cases.
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