I had a chance to do some critcal listening while driving around DFW a few nights ago and I concluded that there are still just a handful of stations that even come close to full metroplex coverage at night. What's more, it isn't likely to get better. Here's a rundown of the AM dial at night with my observations:
KDFT 540----with a highly directional site near Ferris in southeastern Dallas County it's hard to distinguish their 249 watts from the 150,000 watts of XEWA in Mexico. Awful coverage from the low end of the dial.
KLIF 570----from their site near North Lake, 15 miles NW of downtown Dallas, the station covers Dallas and Fort Worth well, but has problems to the north. Simulcasting on KKLF 1700 makes sense when it comes to covering northern Collin County and for now gives them bonus coverage of Sherman/Denison.
KMKI 620----with a transmitter site almost 35 miles NNE of downtown Dallas and a null pointing in that direction, this station has real problems despite running 4500 watts. The signal is actually better toward Tarrant County at night.
KSKY 660----their 700 watt nighttime signal from near Lewisville covers the western half of Dallas County and eastern Tarrant County, but runs into problems on the east side, not to mention the fact that there's a considerable null toward Plano.
KKDA 730----Dallas County gets a surprisingly good signal considering the station's 500 watts is no match for co-channel 100,000 watt XEX in Mexico City. Because of that and the mainly eastward pattern, the signal is unusable over much of the western side of the metroplex.
KAAM 770----has extraordinary Dallas coverage, but has a few problems to far north. Meanwhile, much of Fort Worth and Tarrant County lies outside the major lobe, which shoots due south from their site east of Plano.
WBAP 820----with its 50,000 watts, a solid signal throughout DFW, and of course well beyond.
KXEB 910----once had some of the best coverage of any 1000 watt station in the country. It actually put a listenable signal into Dallas from their original site between Sherman and Denison, but now with 500 watts at night from a site between Denton and McKinney their coverage of DFW is marginal at best.
KHVN 970----recently applied to move their city of license from Fort Worth to Bedford, with a new site in the Trinity River floodplain near Euless. But with 270 watts non-directional "Heaven 97" doesn't have a prayer.
KFCD 990----running 920 watts from a site that's over 35 miles NE of downtown Dallas, their pattern is basically running NW to SE. It makes you wonder how they hear the station at the studios.
KRLD 1080---has a great signal throughout the area, of course, with its 50,000 watts. Even if 1080 has a gentle null to the northeast at night, it's hardly noticeable until you're way east on I-30.
KMGS 1160---from their site near Lewisville, 1000 watts doesn't make it that far, especially since the pattern is highly directional. There's a deep null to the south, a very minor lobe toward Fort Worth and side-of-the beam coverage toward Plano. The coverage is similar to that of KSKY, only worse.
KFXR 1190---the signal from the legendary (or infamous) 12-tower array near Rockwall is full of holes. 5000 highly directional watts on 1190 can't serve the metroplex. As discussed a number of times here, the population grew in places where there isn't a signal, and the pattern was wrong from day one, about 35 years ago.
KFLC 1270---with a site that's still in far eastern Fort Worth next to the dam at Lake Arlington, the nighttime signal seems to have gotten a little worse over the last few years. It gets into Dallas but isn't that remarkable. Heavy nulls to the north and south really hurt their overall coverage.
KTCK 1310---has a really disappointing nighttime signal from their site in far northwest Dallas County. P1's living in Plano are in the swath of a major null, and the signal in Tarrant County leaves a lot to be desired.
KMNY 1360---it's a shame that money couldn't buy a better nighttime signal for them, especially if Biz Radio wants to expand their hours. With 890 watts from the Trinity River Bottoms south of Irving KMNY makes it to downtown Dallas but has no chance in Far North Dallas, Richardson or Plano. Most of Fort Worth is out of luck, too.
KTNO 1440---with all of 350 watts and a pattern that resembles a mutant cloverleaf, this station does well to make it from Hawn Freeway and Jim Miller to their city of license, University Park.
KTFW 1460---the 700 watt Burleson station that covers just that, along with the western part of Tarrant County.
KNIT 1480---has a four-tower nighttime array and a pattern that looks like they've got 14 towers. Hideous to look at, and even worse when it comes to coverage, which seems to have become much worse recently.
KZMP 1540---has a great location in western Dallas County, but with a mere 750 watts and hideous nulls to the north, northeast and due west its nighttime signal is atrocious.
KRVA 1600---another of Mortenson's Pleasant Grove site stations, this one covers far less than 20% of the metroplex at night. Considering their 930 watts and the high noise level on a frequency like 1600, it's surprising that you can hear them 10 miles away.
KKGM 1630---is moving to a new site near Euless but that won't help their anemic 1000 watt signal, which doesn't cover the Metroplex that well, especially into Collin County.
KKLF 1700---is moving to a new site near Lucas, which will improve their coverage of Collin County considerably, but the majority of the metroplex will still have marginal coverage. Presently along LBJ Freeway KKLF sometimes can be heard fighting it out at night with KVNS from Brownsville, almost 500 miles away.
KDFT 540----with a highly directional site near Ferris in southeastern Dallas County it's hard to distinguish their 249 watts from the 150,000 watts of XEWA in Mexico. Awful coverage from the low end of the dial.
KLIF 570----from their site near North Lake, 15 miles NW of downtown Dallas, the station covers Dallas and Fort Worth well, but has problems to the north. Simulcasting on KKLF 1700 makes sense when it comes to covering northern Collin County and for now gives them bonus coverage of Sherman/Denison.
KMKI 620----with a transmitter site almost 35 miles NNE of downtown Dallas and a null pointing in that direction, this station has real problems despite running 4500 watts. The signal is actually better toward Tarrant County at night.
KSKY 660----their 700 watt nighttime signal from near Lewisville covers the western half of Dallas County and eastern Tarrant County, but runs into problems on the east side, not to mention the fact that there's a considerable null toward Plano.
KKDA 730----Dallas County gets a surprisingly good signal considering the station's 500 watts is no match for co-channel 100,000 watt XEX in Mexico City. Because of that and the mainly eastward pattern, the signal is unusable over much of the western side of the metroplex.
KAAM 770----has extraordinary Dallas coverage, but has a few problems to far north. Meanwhile, much of Fort Worth and Tarrant County lies outside the major lobe, which shoots due south from their site east of Plano.
WBAP 820----with its 50,000 watts, a solid signal throughout DFW, and of course well beyond.
KXEB 910----once had some of the best coverage of any 1000 watt station in the country. It actually put a listenable signal into Dallas from their original site between Sherman and Denison, but now with 500 watts at night from a site between Denton and McKinney their coverage of DFW is marginal at best.
KHVN 970----recently applied to move their city of license from Fort Worth to Bedford, with a new site in the Trinity River floodplain near Euless. But with 270 watts non-directional "Heaven 97" doesn't have a prayer.
KFCD 990----running 920 watts from a site that's over 35 miles NE of downtown Dallas, their pattern is basically running NW to SE. It makes you wonder how they hear the station at the studios.
KRLD 1080---has a great signal throughout the area, of course, with its 50,000 watts. Even if 1080 has a gentle null to the northeast at night, it's hardly noticeable until you're way east on I-30.
KMGS 1160---from their site near Lewisville, 1000 watts doesn't make it that far, especially since the pattern is highly directional. There's a deep null to the south, a very minor lobe toward Fort Worth and side-of-the beam coverage toward Plano. The coverage is similar to that of KSKY, only worse.
KFXR 1190---the signal from the legendary (or infamous) 12-tower array near Rockwall is full of holes. 5000 highly directional watts on 1190 can't serve the metroplex. As discussed a number of times here, the population grew in places where there isn't a signal, and the pattern was wrong from day one, about 35 years ago.
KFLC 1270---with a site that's still in far eastern Fort Worth next to the dam at Lake Arlington, the nighttime signal seems to have gotten a little worse over the last few years. It gets into Dallas but isn't that remarkable. Heavy nulls to the north and south really hurt their overall coverage.
KTCK 1310---has a really disappointing nighttime signal from their site in far northwest Dallas County. P1's living in Plano are in the swath of a major null, and the signal in Tarrant County leaves a lot to be desired.
KMNY 1360---it's a shame that money couldn't buy a better nighttime signal for them, especially if Biz Radio wants to expand their hours. With 890 watts from the Trinity River Bottoms south of Irving KMNY makes it to downtown Dallas but has no chance in Far North Dallas, Richardson or Plano. Most of Fort Worth is out of luck, too.
KTNO 1440---with all of 350 watts and a pattern that resembles a mutant cloverleaf, this station does well to make it from Hawn Freeway and Jim Miller to their city of license, University Park.
KTFW 1460---the 700 watt Burleson station that covers just that, along with the western part of Tarrant County.
KNIT 1480---has a four-tower nighttime array and a pattern that looks like they've got 14 towers. Hideous to look at, and even worse when it comes to coverage, which seems to have become much worse recently.
KZMP 1540---has a great location in western Dallas County, but with a mere 750 watts and hideous nulls to the north, northeast and due west its nighttime signal is atrocious.
KRVA 1600---another of Mortenson's Pleasant Grove site stations, this one covers far less than 20% of the metroplex at night. Considering their 930 watts and the high noise level on a frequency like 1600, it's surprising that you can hear them 10 miles away.
KKGM 1630---is moving to a new site near Euless but that won't help their anemic 1000 watt signal, which doesn't cover the Metroplex that well, especially into Collin County.
KKLF 1700---is moving to a new site near Lucas, which will improve their coverage of Collin County considerably, but the majority of the metroplex will still have marginal coverage. Presently along LBJ Freeway KKLF sometimes can be heard fighting it out at night with KVNS from Brownsville, almost 500 miles away.
