1580 ALL NEWS, ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT, CBS

[KFNNradioFan]

Why not?

With traffic every 10 minutes, 24/7.

CBS.

Strange signal however it is 50kW w/ some skywave propagation at times.

Just like KNX 1070.

If these big companies were not running into financial problems, this would be GREAT!

 

[radiowizard101]

maybe because DISNEY owns the 1580 frequency. I think they want to keep it that way.

 

[justthenumbers]

maybe because DISNEY owns the 1580 frequency. I think they want to keep it that way.

Even if CBS did own 1580...this subject has been brought up many times over the years on this board. Some of the arguments presented against it have included:

- All news is too expensive to produce
- The most successful all-news stations have been around for decades; start-ups are rare, if not unheard of, nowadays.
- AM does not appeal to the A25-54 demo as well as FM does
- Phoenix is not the type of market where residents care enough about local matters/political issues to support an all-news station

And, reading one of the headlines on this site, one of the head honchos at CBS Radio (Dan Mason) has expressed concern about AM as a whole:

http://www.radio-info.com/sections/...ason-worries-about-the-long-term-future-of-am

 

[Gusto]

Doesn't 1580 have the strongest AM signal in Phx? even at night, its clear and the quality is decent for a music station. I'm sure thats gotta make it quite valuable.

 

[michael hagerty]

Doesn't 1580 have the strongest AM signal in Phx? even at night, its clear and the quality is decent for a music station. I'm sure thats gotta make it quite valuable.

Gusto: Not even close to the strongest. And clarity and quality depend on where you are, especially at night. Get north of Lincoln/Glendale and it's pretty dicey.

Here's the nighttime coverage map for 1580. The area within the red line is considered to be a full-strength signal: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KMIK&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

And here's the nighttime coverage map for 620: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KTAR&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

Big difference.

And nighttime pattern matters because it's what you run on from local sunset to local sunrise...which means, at this time of the year, half of your morning drive and half of your afternoon drive is on night pattern.

 

[Gusto]

yeah i didn't know any specs, it just seems they always come in loud compared to others....what a waste with kids bop!

 

[DrAkbar]

And nighttime pattern matters because it's what you run on from local sunset to local sunrise...which means, at this time of the year, half of your morning drive and half of your afternoon drive is on night pattern.

..with the exception of KFuNN, which powers up early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Perhaps more Valley Ancient Modulation stations faced with power and pattern changes should follow the lead of the Big 15~Ten

Back to topic: for the 862nd time, all news on AM or FM will not work in Phoenix.

 

[asugeorge1]

Back to topic: for the 862nd time, all news on AM or FM will not work in Phoenix.

The thing is, no one has really given it a chance in Phoenix since the population explosion of the 1990's. Phoenix is just as big as Philly and Seattle these days and those cities have very successful all news stations. I think if someone gave it a chance, it might just surprise us with the ratings it would get. Unfortunately, I think the only realistic chance of it every happening would be if KTAR or KFYI switched since they already have a well established local news presence. None of the CBS Phoenix stations have a strong local news presence or a strong night-time signal like KNX 1070 in L.A., KCBS in San Fran, WCBS in New York City, WBBM in Chicago and KYW in Philly. Now that I think about it, aren't all the all-news stations around the country owned by CBS except for KOMO 1000 in Seattle? ???

 

[DrAkbar]

The thing is, no one has really given it a chance in Phoenix since the population explosion of the 1990's.

Take a break from cramming for your finals at the Buckeye Media Hut, ASUJorge! No one in their right mind is starting all news stations anymore. Way too expensive to run and it takes forever to get the kind of ratings that would bring in decent revenue. And why would anyone want to launch a new format on Ancient Modulation anyway? 15~Eighty has reached it's highest and best use with Radio Disney.

 

[KFNNradioFan]

15~Eighty has reached it's highest and best use with Radio Disney.

They could trade signals with 1480 and do progressive talk 8)

 

[News6397]

Now that I think about it, aren't all the all-news stations around the country owned by CBS except for KOMO 1000 in Seattle?

Don't forget Bonneville's WTOP in Washington.

 

[KFNNradioFan]

Back to topic: for the 862nd time, all news on AM or FM will not work in Phoenix.

The thing is, no one has really given it a chance in Phoenix since the population explosion of the 1990's. Phoenix is just as big as Philly and Seattle these days and those cities have very successful all news stations. I think if someone gave it a chance, it might just surprise us with the ratings it would get. Unfortunately, I think the only realistic chance of it every happening would be if KTAR or KFYI switched since they already have a well established local news presence. None of the CBS Phoenix stations have a strong local news presence or a strong night-time signal like KNX 1070 in L.A., KCBS in San Fran, WCBS in New York City, WBBM in Chicago and KYW in Philly. Now that I think about it, aren't all the all-news stations around the country owned by CBS except for KOMO 1000 in Seattle? ???

Good question - KOMO 1000 seattle is owned by Fisher, of course as you probably already know.
What will happen if Citadel has to sell all its radio disney stations? Or does disney own them? Then the 50kW 1580 could be sold to entrepreneurs from KFNN, who could turn it into a 24/7 news w/ business news station 8)

 

[KeithE4]

Good question - KOMO 1000 seattle is owned by Fisher, of course as you probably already know.
What will happen if Citadel has to sell all its radio disney stations? Or does disney own them? Then the 50kW 1580 could be sold to entrepreneurs from KFNN, who could turn it into a 24/7 news w/ business news station 8)

KMiK is owned by Disney. Despite their total lack of listeners other than in Mommy's SUV to and from school or the mall, Radio Disney isn't leaving the AM band, at least in the short-to-medium term. 1580 is just about useless for anything else. It is not a full-market signal and is at the wrong end of the dial.

 

[DrAkbar]

Then the 50kW 1580 could be sold to entrepreneurs from KFNN, who could turn it into a 24/7 news w/ business news station 8)

And how much more revenue could KFuNN generate between 6am and 6pm by being on 15~Eighty? Ummmm...how 'bout $0. And how much more expense could KFuNN generate with an all news format at 15~Eighty? Ummmmm...how 'bout a bankruptcy filing within 90 days? During business hours, the Big 15~Ten with 22kw has enough signal strength to reach their target audience without moving to 15~Eighty. And why worry about reduced power during the winter months with their "creative" interpretation of local sunrise and sunset? :

 

[KFNNradioFan]

Good question - KOMO 1000 seattle is owned by Fisher, of course as you probably already know.
What will happen if Citadel has to sell all its radio disney stations? Or does disney own them? Then the 50kW 1580 could be sold to entrepreneurs from KFNN, who could turn it into a 24/7 news w/ business news station 8)

KMiK is owned by Disney. Despite their total lack of listeners other than in Mommy's SUV to and from school or the mall, Radio Disney isn't leaving the AM band, at least in the short-to-medium term. 1580 is just about useless for anything else. It is not a full-market signal and is at the wrong end of the dial.

Fantastic! Then Disney could simulcast their Liberal KGO (San Francisco) on 1580, and give Air America 1480 a run for their money!

 

[KeithE4]

Good question - KOMO 1000 seattle is owned by Fisher, of course as you probably already know.
What will happen if Citadel has to sell all its radio disney stations? Or does disney own them? Then the 50kW 1580 could be sold to entrepreneurs from KFNN, who could turn it into a 24/7 news w/ business news station 8)

KMiK is owned by Disney. Despite their total lack of listeners other than in Mommy's SUV to and from school or the mall, Radio Disney isn't leaving the AM band, at least in the short-to-medium term. 1580 is just about useless for anything else. It is not a full-market signal and is at the wrong end of the dial.

Fantastic! Then Disney could simulcast their Liberal KGO (San Francisco) on 1580, and give Air America 1480 a run for their money!

Why in the world would they do that? Besides, KGO is owned by Citadel, not directly by Disney. Disney owns about half of Citadel, but they are technically separate companies.

And give Air America (sic) 1480 a run for what money? ???

 

[KFNNradioFan]

Good question - KOMO 1000 seattle is owned by Fisher, of course as you probably already know.
What will happen if Citadel has to sell all its radio disney stations? Or does disney own them? Then the 50kW 1580 could be sold to entrepreneurs from KFNN, who could turn it into a 24/7 news w/ business news station 8)

KMiK is owned by Disney. Despite their total lack of listeners other than in Mommy's SUV to and from school or the mall, Radio Disney isn't leaving the AM band, at least in the short-to-medium term. 1580 is just about useless for anything else. It is not a full-market signal and is at the wrong end of the dial.

Fantastic! Then Disney could simulcast their Liberal KGO (San Francisco) on 1580, and give Air America 1480 a run for their money!

Why in the world would they do that? Besides, KGO is owned by Citadel, not directly by Disney. Disney owns about half of Citadel, but they are technically separate companies.

And give Air America (sic) 1480 a run for what money? ???

Well if this was still the day of mom and pops, then Radio Disney wouldn't even exist in the first place. Many more stations like KGO would exist, with local talk 24:7
It is unfortunate that people can brainstorm changes for 50kW stations, yet nothing is feasible due to financial issues. Many stations are overvalued.

 

[davideduardo]

Why in the world would they do that? Besides, KGO is owned by Citadel, not directly by Disney. Disney owns about half of Citadel, but they are technically separate companies.

Disney does not own Citadel. They got cash, Disney shareholders got Citadel stock, which, hopefully most of them sold.

 

[michael hagerty]

Well if this was still the day of mom and pops, then Radio Disney wouldn't even exist in the first place. Many more stations like KGO would exist, with local talk 24:7
It is unfortunate that people can brainstorm changes for 50kW stations, yet nothing is feasible due to financial issues. Many stations are overvalued.

Radio Disney could have existed prior to de-regulation. It's simply a satellite service that affiliate stations carry. It was modeled on the success of Radio AAHS, another all-kids satellite service which launched in 1990...six years before de-reg.

Disney only owns 8 of the Radio Disney stations...prior to de-reg, it would have been allowed to own 7AMs and 7 FMs. It has 41 affiliates owned by other broadcasters.

As for the merits of Radio Disney, there's a current conversation about that on the "Coast To Coast" board here on Radio-Info.

Stations like KGO were made possible by the deep pockets of big (but not overextended) companies like ABC.

Mom and pops were among the first to dump local talent and take the satellite feeds. The big guys came relatively late to that...after seeing it keep the smaller guys afloat.

 

[michael hagerty]

Correction...I had it backwards. Disney owns 41 of them. 8 are held by other broadcasters. Radio Disney could have existed prior to de-reg, but it would had to have more independently-owned affiliates under the old ownership rules.