1560 KNZR Clear Channel Status

[ajaynejr]

There was a time when both WQEW and KNZR (not sure which call letters they were using at that time) were 10 KW non-directionals, on 1560. They were licensed at about the same time (as W2XR and W6XAI respectively), shared 1550 for awhile, and reassigned to 1560 at the same time (ca. 1941). Not sure when each became 10 KW.

Both were intended to be "high fidelity AM" stations which to me means simply using more than a +-5KHz bandwidth, but I have not been able to find any more information about the audio specifications.

 

[davideduardo]

There was a time when both WQEW and KNZR (not sure which call letters they were using at that time) were 10 KW non-directionals, on 1560. They were licensed at about the same time (as W2XR and W6XAI respectively), shared 1550 for awhile, and reassigned to 1560 at the same time (ca. 1941). Not sure when each became 10 KW.

Around 1938 both stations appeared with 1 kw on 1550. By Fall of 1940, WQXR went to 5 kw. Both were non directional. On March 29, 1941 WQXR was moved by NARBA to 1560 and KPMC to 1600 where they remained till the fall of 42 when the Bakersfield station moved to 1560 with 1 kw. In early 1955, KPMC increased to 10 kw and WQXR to 50 kw, both directional. The 1955 issue of Broadcasting Yearbook has a full page WQXR ad announcing the new power level.

Both were intended to be "high fidelity AM" stations which to me means simply using more than a +-5KHz bandwidth, but I have not been able to find any more information about the audio specifications.

The War and the development of FM disrupted the HiFi band, which was intended to give 15 kHz response to AM instead of the 10 kHz of below-1500 stations. If you check out the '46 and '47 issues of Broadcasting, they are filled with ads for FM gear, and there is little mention of the HiFi AM band.

 

[ki6bkj]

I am curious, what formats has 1560 KPMC had? I know it has been News/Talk since it has been KNZR. I thought someone told me it was MoR, back in the day.

I remember Back in the day, At night they had a country music Format, Bill Albert and the Valley Jamboree

 

[multiplex]

Hi David,
I respect your knowledge and insight, (and I wasn't conceived then), but I'd always read and heard that KPMC signed on in 1932, the same year KERN signed on, making both the earliest continuously broadcasting stations in Bakersfield.
I believe KERN signed on before KPMC.
By the way, the KPMC callsign stood for the "Pioneer Mercantile Company", which owned the station until 1977.
The KNZR call makes some sense, since the station aired CNN Headline News for a time, hence KNZR "News Radio."

 

[davideduardo]

Hi David,
I respect your knowledge and insight, (and I wasn't conceived then), but I'd always read and heard that KPMC signed on in 1932, the same year KERN signed on, making both the earliest continuously broadcasting stations in Bakersfield.
I believe KERN signed on before KPMC.

I did not mean to indicate that the station signed on in 1938 (the date referenced in my post), just that it was 1 kw on 1550 that year; I was just establishing a timeline for the WQXR-KPMC usage of the 1560 channel... which came later.

I see KERN on 1200, and later 1370, going back to early 1932.

I first see W6XAI in Bakersfield on 1550 in 1936. It appears that KERN preceeded what became KPMC by around 4 years.

And the earliest listings for W6XAI / KPMC do indeed say it was licensed to Pioneer Mercantile.

 

[w9wi]

There was a time when both WQEW and KNZR (not sure which call letters they were using at that time) were 10 KW non-directionals, on 1560. They were licensed at about the same time (as W2XR and W6XAI respectively), shared 1550 for awhile, and reassigned to 1560 at the same time (ca. 1941). Not sure when each became 10 KW.

The number-letter calls were experimental licenses. *All* such stations got W calls, regardless of what side of the Mississippi they were on. Basically, they were similar to ham radio calls, except that experimental stations always got "X" as the first letter of the suffix. (and hams *never* got "X")

 

[Roachley]

You guys are killing me. The technical nostalgia. Refreshing. Don't stop now!

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/

Here's a good link for research.

 

[davideduardo]

There was a time when both WQEW and KNZR (not sure which call letters they were using at that time) were 10 KW non-directionals, on 1560. They were licensed at about the same time (as W2XR and W6XAI respectively), shared 1550 for awhile, and reassigned to 1560 at the same time (ca. 1941). Not sure when each became 10 KW.

The number-letter calls were experimental licenses. *All* such stations got W calls, regardless of what side of the Mississippi they were on. Basically, they were similar to ham radio calls, except that experimental stations always got "X" as the first letter of the suffix. (and hams *never* got "X")

These were the first two stations at 1550 or above, while the band had, until shortly before, gone to 1500 in the US.

 

[davideduardo]

You guys are killing me. The technical nostalgia. Refreshing. Don't stop now!

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/

Here's a good link for research.

Thanks for the plug!

 

[Roachley]

You guys are killing me. The technical nostalgia. Refreshing. Don't stop now!

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/

Here's a good link for research.

Thanks for the plug!

You're welcome. If I would have looked closer at your posts (near the bottom) I might have realized why you were so informative. Nice site. Good to see the posts of past radio periodicals. I used to collect a few a those myself.