American stations that market to Canada

[Kent]

None of the US signals that reach Montreal do so very cleanly, there is a good deal of shadowing that keeps any of them from reaching all of the Montreal metro with a usable signal. The largest share for any of the US rimshots was a 2.2 (among English language speakers) by WYUL/Chateagay, NY (now K-Love WQLR) in the early 2000s.

The Martz signals that tried to target Montreal were going after fringe coverage to say the least. That might’ve been more viable in Canada because even the larger markets used to have fewer stations, and fewer opportunities for interference, than similar sized markets here have had. Problem is, who would strain to listen to a fringe station today? English speakers in Montreal might’ve been interested in the concept 30 years ago, but no reason to put up an outdoor antenna or even buy a dipole today. The target audience can get what it wants via smartphone without any additional effort and without attempting to bend the laws of physics.

Canada's Tim Martz and his company, Martz Communications, ran a bunch of American-based border blaster stations that targeted Brockville, Cornwall, Ottawa and Montreal. I think he also tried to target Windsor with a couple of Detroit translators fed by WGPR's HD subchannels, but if I recall correctly, the effort failed miserably.

I don’t remember him targeting Windsor with those Detroit area translators and the WGPR multicast channels, but Martz did indeed run a translator network in the area that failed miserably. Seemed like he had a rock station and a smooth jazz station. The smooth jazz station interfered with WIOT, which had an audience in some of the Detroit suburbs. I can’t remember if the rock station got similar complaints, but WIOT's gripe was the end of the smooth jazz station. Martz actually had plans to sandwich translators into multiple markets and originate programming using HD multicast channels, but he gave up the effort after Detroit failed. Can’t remember all the markets he was planning to target, but Memphis was one of them.

 

[Delete My Account]

As I recall, Martz's rock station imaged bashing Cancon and also tried to import Bubba the Love Sponge for mornings. Not a success, to put it mildly.

 

[Ian March]

As I recall, Martz's rock station imaged bashing Cancon and also tried to import Bubba the Love Sponge for mornings. Not a success, to put it mildly.

Don't think it was Bubba. I remember it as Bob & Tom, but I could be wrong.

 

[Radionys]

There is an AM station on 770kHz in Youngstown, NY near Lake Ontario WTOR (daytime only to protect WABC NYC) that beams ethnic programming into Toronto which is across the lake. They have no American listeners that I know of.

 

[lanceventa]

Don't think it was Bubba. I remember it as Bob & Tom, but I could be wrong.

Was never Bob & Tom. They added Bubba towards the end of their brief run.

Both translators were not audible in Windsor because of co-channel signals and sharp directional patterns. The attacks were targeted against 89X competitively for having to play Cancon.

Two New Translators Debut In Detroit

Update 4/20: Martz has launched the programming on its two Detroit translators exactly as we reported last month. 94.3 W232CA

radioinsight.com

 

[RF101]

There is an AM station on 770kHz in Youngstown, NY near Lake Ontario WTOR (daytime only to protect WABC NYC) that beams ethnic programming into Toronto which is across the lake...

WTOR is Birach's 13 kw, three-tower wonder. It mainly carries Punjabi but also some Urdu.

The signal is highly directional to Toronto and Hamilton. Despite the water path, I thought the urban RF noise made reception tough in those cities when I traveled there.

Live Radio - Eawaz - 770AM Radio, TV, Media

nn

eawaz.com

 

[Theater of My Mind]

WTOR is Birach's 13 kw, three-tower wonder. It mainly carries Punjabi but also some Urdu.

The signal is highly directional to Toronto and Hamilton.

This seems like an obvious question but I've never seen it addressed before. Is there nothing in the international broadcasting agreements that's supposed to discourage a U.S. AM/FM broadcaster from deliberately aiming its signal at Canada (or Mexico), or vice versa?

Obviously there are plenty of instances where signals are have been designed to target their home markets but spill over into the adjacent country due to either their close proximity to the border or via nighttime AM skywave. That's a classic border blaster scenario, where the operator takes advantage of the natural signal propagation over the border and monetizes it. But WTOR appears to have been purpose built to serve Canada with a signal tightly aimed away from the United States, pointing like a laser beam into the neighboring country. Just curious if there are supposedly rules on that at all.

 

[davideduardo]

This seems like an obvious question but I've never seen it addressed before. Is there nothing in the international broadcasting agreements that's supposed to discourage a U.S. AM/FM broadcaster from deliberately aiming its signal at Canada (or Mexico), or vice versa?

Obviously there are plenty of instances where signals are have been designed to target their home markets but spill over into the adjacent country due to either their close proximity to the border or via nighttime AM skywave. That's a classic border blaster scenario, where the operator takes advantage of the natural signal propagation over the border and monetizes it. But WTOR appears to have been purpose built to serve Canada with a signal tightly aimed away from the United States, pointing like a laser beam into the neighboring country. Just curious if there are supposedly rules on that at all.

Historically, there are multiple examples in Europe of stations targeting outside of their own home country. For decades radio Luxembourg targeted France m in the daytime and England at night on both long wave and medium wave. Radio Monte Carlo, which ran 600kw aimed at much of southern France. The two high power AM stations in Andorra targeted either south western France or the Basque country of Spain.

In South America, for many decades, a station on a low on the dial AM frequency in Uruguay programmed for the Buenos Aires market, which was across the saltwater River Plate delta. In the Caribbean we have had since the 1960s Trans World Radio with around 500 KW on AM targeting the Caribbean basin in Spanish and northern Brazil in Portuguese. There have been many stations in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean that have targeted adjacent islands before some of them are allowed commercial radio; a good example was Radio Jumbo targeting Martinique from an adjacent island.

 

[Kent]

This seems like an obvious question but I've never seen it addressed before. Is there nothing in the international broadcasting agreements that's supposed to discourage a U.S. AM/FM broadcaster from deliberately aiming its signal at Canada (or Mexico), or vice versa?

In terms of discouraging, I'm pretty sure there's not anything in international broadcasting agreements or treaties to do so. US stations are supposed to get concurrence from Mexico or Canada if they're within a certain distance from either border (the same applies to Mexican and Canadian stations close to the US border), and certain AM channels are designated as clear channels in each country. I believe, also, that US, Mexican and Canadian stations are only protected within their respective borders. So, Canada is under no obligation to make WTOR available to anyone residing there, though I'm not sure jamming it would be possible without causing prohibited interference in the US.

Obviously there are plenty of instances where signals are have been designed to target their home markets but spill over into the adjacent country due to either their close proximity to the border or via nighttime AM skywave. That's a classic border blaster scenario, where the operator takes advantage of the natural signal propagation over the border and monetizes it. But WTOR appears to have been purpose built to serve Canada with a signal tightly aimed away from the United States, pointing like a laser beam into the neighboring country. Just curious if there are supposedly rules on that at all.

It's certainly a weird case, but I don't think anything prohibits it, and one can only assume it got Canadian concurrence. So, Canada was almost certainly aware of the station and what its intended signal pattern would be before it ever signed on. WTOR can't do much else with its signal because sending it in any other direction would cause impermissible interference with WABC. That's also why it's a daytimer.

As David mentions, stations targeting audiences outside their borders has never been rare. One example that's not exactly a border blaster scenario was about 35 years ago when XEMU 580 tried to market in San Antonio. San Antonio is about a 3 hour drive from the station, which only operated at about 5,000 watts as 580 is a Canadian clear, but it was hoping the low dial signal would make it marketable there as being a low share station in San Antonio would've been better than being a top-rated one in Piedras Negras and Eagle Pass. Between operating and programming the station in Mexico (only a sales office was in San Antonio) and the weak signal, the effort was a failure, and it gave it up after a year or two

 

[Goldilocks94941]

I've always wondered how well the Northwest Public network does in the Western part of the state. With KUOW, KNKX and KING, their KVTI doesn't do much in the ratings. It and some of their other stations seem a bit "redundant" in the current picture of public radio. Nothing against them, but those other stations have much better signals and resources.

Martz also tried the same thing targeting Sarnia, ON:

WBTI - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And tried to get into Thunder Bay from the Minnesota north shore, before ultimately abandoning the project after legal troubles.

Don't forget KNKX also includes Victoria BC in its ID for its Port Angeles repeater, too. No idea how far north of the city their signal makes it across the water.

By the way - to run a tangent here: KVTI Tacoma, which I try to listen to from North Seattle (especially for some weekend specialty music shows), puts out a severely multi-pathed signal over what I'd guess is at least 80% of its coverage area.. I even heard serious signal challenges on 90.9 driving thru the heart of Tacoma along the waterfront. And in the Pierce County suburbs, too. It's been like this for years.

For a mostly classical format, the strings in the orchestra can sound like fingernails on a blackboard on such a "twisted" sounding signal. I think it just has a jinxed transmitter set up - even worse than KUOW's overblown wattage in Capitol Hill, that starts to sputter nearly as soon as you get outside the Seattle city limits.
For KVTI, they never show up well in the ratings. It's not the programming - it's the signal that's the issue.

When 91.7 in Tacoma was sold to a religious outfit from North Carolina a few years back, their signal improved markedly over what I had heard there previously. Don't know how the folks at NWPB can find the funds to do a major revision to its signal there - which I believe they're only leasing from Clover Park Technical College - but it they ever hope to have more than a handful of listeners in the largest population cluster in the state, then they really need to do something about the technical limitation of their 90.9 signal.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

WMJQ garnered as much as a 2.1 share in the Toronto BBM ratings in Spring 1990, placing it 16th overall, but it typically averaged in the mid 1 shares and had fallen into the tenths of shares by the mid 90s.

The largest share for any US station in the Toronto ratings was a 2.7 for WKSE in Fall 2004.

KPWZ has been as high as a 3.2 share in the Vancouver ratings - and that was recently, in 2021.

It's interesting how things change though.
Let's not forget that in 1990 it was illegal for all hit radio to exist on the FM band in Canada, as there was
a 49% non hit rule (for FM) in place, making it impossible for stations like Kiss 92 to exist.
This rule was eliminated in the early 90's.
I think WKSE in 2004 was a protest audience around the time 92.5 switched from hit music to Jack FM, throwing out their hit music audience.
(just to bring it back shortly after, lol)
999 Virgin radio was still Mix 999 at the time and Zee 103five was a weaker signal than WKSE at the time.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

I think it was VERY funny back in the day when Martz communications tried to stretch an American signal into the Ottawa market, even though they would have had a stronger signal into Cornwall Ontario.
They even flew a plane around Ottawa with a banner that read "GO LEAFS GO!! Listen to Chez 106!!!" Too funny!!
(Ottawa is supposed to be cheering for their own Senators, not the Toronto Maple Leafs)
Too bad the Fox FM signal was just too weak to effectively compete with Chez 106.

Right now, WYRK has the benefit of reaching Toronto, Ontario, since Aboriginal radio is no more on 106.5.
For how much longer? I'm guessing a year or two, possibly 3, since it takes time for a new radio station to sign on and
a decision on what to currently place on 106.5 Toronto has not even been decided yet.

 

[RF101]

KVOS-TV Bellingham, Washington during the Analog days used to market their TV station to British Columbia at that time. This was way before they had to pivot as the Univision Affiliate for the Seattle TV Market.

The Salish Current has a nice story today about the glory days of KVOS-TV:

Local television station broadcast news, views, community

One of the earliest cable networks in the country was built — neighborhood-by-neighborhood — by a Bellingham television pioneer.

salish-current.org

Author : "Rich Donnelly has worked in local radio and publishing since the 1970s, and is the announcer for the Chuckanut Radio Hour" (on KMRE).

 

[fordranger797]

On the topic of KVTI (since it was brought up): I believe the issue there is that the tower is short and the ERP is high. It comes in ridiculously strong near the transmitter site, but it’s not a great setup for putting out a steady signal over a greater distance. I’m not an engineer (so a real engineer should chime in), but that’s a personal observation.

As for radio in northwest Washington, KISM also mentions a few Canadian cities in their legal ID. KISM has decent listenership across the lower mainland. KAFE also has listener, albeit not as many as they might have had a few years ago. They tweaked their signal to make room for 104.3 when it moved in, and now coverage is a bit spotty north of the border. I hear them loud and clear at my place in Richmond, but it’s not as strong as KISM.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

CKLW Windsor, Ontario at one point aimed for Detroit when RKO General managed the station.

Classic CKLW Television Shows - Detroit, Michigan: 1950s-1960s

Channel 9 reception was awful at times, but kids tolerated it to see their favorite shows on CKLW...Here are details and photos!

99wfmk.com

 

[K.M. Richards]

Unfortunately, the radio station apparently let their Worthpoint account lapse and none of the classic CKLW programming images are available now.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

CKLW Windsor, Ontario at one point aimed for Detroit when RKO General managed the station.

Classic CKLW Television Shows - Detroit, Michigan: 1950s-1960s

Channel 9 reception was awful at times, but kids tolerated it to see their favorite shows on CKLW...Here are details and photos!

99wfmk.com

That article reads like it was written by artificial intelligence, cobbled from social media posts. And I suppose from Flint, viewing channel 9 was a fuzzy signal. But for those of us raised in the Detroit area, it was always considered a local station, and CKLW-TV didn't try to disguise that they were in Canada (unlike their radio division). Heck, their transmitter and studio site on Riverside Drive was directly on the Detroit River, and I grew up about two miles downstream in a Detroit suburb. The rest of the Detroit transmitters were further away in Southfield.
It really was a lively station with lots of local shows mixed in with CBC programming, except for anything CBC used to run nationally that was from the US commercial networks. Every weekday morning, two fifteen minutes shows, The Friendly Giant and Chez Helene were my daily ritual as a little kid before mother put me to bed for a nap while she got some housework done. That affinity for Canada remains a part of me, many decades later. And I guess I owe a lot of that to channel 9!

 

[CCBInMI]

I've always wondered how well the Northwest Public network does in the Western part of the state. With KUOW, KNKX and KING, their KVTI doesn't do much in the ratings. It and some of their other stations seem a bit "redundant" in the current picture of public radio. Nothing against them, but those other stations have much better signals and resources.

Martz also tried the same thing targeting Sarnia, ON:

WBTI - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And tried to get into Thunder Bay from the Minnesota north shore, before ultimately abandoning the project after legal troubles.

I have heard about B96.9 sponsoring what was perhaps Alanis Morissette's first concert on U.S. soil, back when she was signed to MCA Canada and didn't have a U.S. record deal. She played a high school dance in Port Huron. If that's true, I have to wonder if any of the kids who went to that dance realized how big Alanis would be in less than five years.
IIRC Martz were also the ones who changed 99.5 WLXX (nee WSMM) in Sault Ste. Marie into WYSS/Yes FM in 1985. That station virtually single-handedly ended the dominance of AM radio in the Ontario Sault, culminating in its closest rival, 920 CKCY, leaving the air for good in 1992. The Sault situation is similar to Sarnia/Port Huron in being the reverse of Detroit/Windsor, where the Canadian side is more populous and likely the source of more ad dollars. Interestingly, with Country 104's change to a classic rock format not long ago, the only terrestrial country music station in the immediate area (105.5 WMKD) airs from the U.S. side.
Many U.S. PBS stations are also very dependent on Canadian viewers for donations. WPBS/WNPI in northern NY has long been carried on cable in Ottawa/Gatineau (an attempt to replace them with Detroit's WTVS actually led to viewer protests and was reversed) and would likely have shut down long ago if not for the support of Eastern Ontario viewers. I would imagine Plattsburgh NY's WCFE is in a similar situation with regard to viewers in Quebec.

 

[CCBInMI]

That article reads like it was written by artificial intelligence, cobbled from social media posts. And I suppose from Flint, viewing channel 9 was a fuzzy signal. But for those of us raised in the Detroit area, it was always considered a local station, and CKLW-TV didn't try to disguise that they were in Canada (unlike their radio division). Heck, their transmitter and studio site on Riverside Drive was directly on the Detroit River, and I grew up about two miles downstream in a Detroit suburb. The rest of the Detroit transmitters were further away in Southfield.
It really was a lively station with lots of local shows mixed in with CBC programming, except for anything CBC used to run nationally that was from the US commercial networks. Every weekday morning, two fifteen minutes shows, The Friendly Giant and Chez Helene were my daily ritual as a little kid before mother put me to bed for a nap while she got some housework done. That affinity for Canada remains a part of me, many decades later. And I guess I owe a lot of that to channel 9!

I wasn't born until well after CKLW-TV became CBET, but it also helped me develop an affinity for Canada as well. I always enjoyed the Canadian version of Sesame Street they aired weekday mornings at 11, with its Canadian content (including French lessons) that set it apart from the US version. TV Ontario (UHF 32 in Windsor) also aired reruns of the CBC version at 5pm daily, though where I lived it wasn't available on cable and one could only watch it with an outdoor antenna.
Ironically, Chez Helene was a casualty of CBC's Sesame Street in the early '70s. Despite its popularity, CBC decided to cancel Chez Helene in 1973 and introduce more French-language content into its version of Sesame Street instead.
I also thought it was cool when U.S. stations played both SSB and O Canada at sign off. A lot of those that did seemed to be public stations. WTVS 56 Detroit in the early '90s used the "With Glowing Hearts" film from 1979. So, I believe, did the aforementioned WPBS (nee WNPE)/WNPI. WQLN 54 Erie PA, which serves the London, ON market, I believe used its own with a montage of local scenes.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Thing is, right up until the early 90's, American stations that could, would deliberately target Canadian listeners because
Canada had a 49% NON HIT rule for FM radio.
This made it very difficult to compete with an American FM station playing hit music.
The CRTC did allow a brand new song to be counted as a non hit for it's first year, but that wasn't enough.
AM stations playing hit music in Canada were forced to stay on AM.
They tried suggesting Cable radio for an FM sound, but it trapped people to their homes.
There was no internet back then. There was AM stereo, but that seemed to just be for cars, and it never really caught on.

Another issue was that Canadian stations were forced to play 30% Canadian content.
(meaning 3 out of ten songs had to be Canadian while the American station didn't have to do this)

Today, there is no 49% non hit regulation, but now it's 35-40% Can Con that is applied as current CRTC regulation.
This means (to simplify things) that now 4 out of ten songs must be Canadian in Canada.

Therefore, if better music is coming out of the United States, or heck, even the UK, the American FM stations still have the advantage of targeting Canadian listeners with a slightly different sound. Is it better? All a matter of opinion, but the advantages that be are the advantages that be...