smedge2006 said:
To say that "AM radio went cold in Miami in 1978" is to totally dismiss what at least some of us consider to be a golden age of talk radio between 1978 and 1996. Shares for talk radio in Miami in the 80s were exceptionally high... particularly when compared to the later days of the diary system and today. Three English-language stations and sometimes a fourth battled with all-local programming... even at 3 in the morning. It was not just about "one person" (Neil Rogers), at least not before consolidation. It was also Al Rantel, Tom Leykis, Stan Major, Lee Fowler, Randi Rhodes, Phil Hendrie and many others. I think many would like to downplay this golden age, because it teaches some lessons about what could work in Miami that doesn't fit in with the current cookie-cutter model of syndication.
You make a good point, although the ratings success is exaggerated in overall importance vis-à-vis the success of FM.
I looked at Spring 1985, and WINZ was 8th in 12+, with WIOD and WNWS being 10th and 11th. None made it into the sales-generating 25-54 demo above the 15th to 20th range.
By 1990, WINZ was 12th, WIOD was 14th and WNWS was 17th. There were all somewhere around 20th or below in 25-54.
What hurt AM talk in Miami most was the joining in 1981 of Dade and Broward counties as a single radio market. This was done by vote of the subscribers. I recall WIOD manager Bill Viands stating that consolidating the markets would be the end of the competitiveness of AM radio because the market would become larger than even WIOD's useful and interference free signal.
But what also hurt going into the late 80's and early 90's was the fact that all those 70's and early to mid 80's FM listeners were not becoming AM listeners as they moved into the demos more suitable for talk, so the band aged.
Finally, Miami / Ft. Lauderdale's center of population moved slowly north and to the west as well. While some Miami directionals got a good signal east of the turnpike in much of South Broward, the population redistribution placed more and more people outside the coverage areas of the AMs, particularly WNWS and WINZ.
As far as signal issues, yes 790 and 940 had and have issues and it would have been nice if the FCC had given Miami a Class A signal.
Miami, like late-growth cities such as Houston and Phoenix and Las Vegas, did not get any 1 A clear channels or even a 1 B. There was not really enough population to justify such a big station in the early 30's. And the earliest stations were either standard regional signals like WQAM and WIOD, 5 kw day and 1 kw night, or shoe-ins that came later... like WINZ and WQBA and WGBS/WAQI. Or they were upgrades, like a daytimer on 800 becoming a fulltimer on 790 with very directional signals.
At one time, in the late 60's, WFUN actually beat WQAM in the top 40 battle, with Dick Starr programming the directional down at, IIRC, 72 and Sunset, well enough to beat the bigger WQAM signal... but that was when the mall at Kendall market the southern end of Miami, and the turnpike was well to the west of most of the population
But before the 90's Cuban interference was not a problem for 610, which could be heard almost to Palm Beach without significant interference at night.
Cuban interference was indeed a problem for WIOD dating back to the 60's when Castro put large signals on the whole AM band below about 900 kHz. WIOD was granted an STA to increase to 10 kw early on, but not finally licensed until it finally became "legal" to operate above 5 kw on a regional channel towards the end of the 80's (again, IIRC). Still, there were interference issues on 610, just as there was jamming on 710, 1140, 1550 and others over the years.
Basically, if you can get a site in the everglades and beam everything east, you can cover the populated areas, which are just a thin strip between the glades and the ocean. South Florida doesn't sprawl as much as other parts of Florida or the country.
The problem is that most Miami stations doing that are along the Trail west of Krome, and while they shoot good signals over Metro Dade, they don't do so well at covering Broward. WAQI and WINZ are at the northern end of Dade, but they were designed to shoot SE over Miami, and do inadequate jobs to the Broward side and they are hemmed in were they to wish to move farther north.
