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Another one gone from Clear Channel Sarasota?

WWPR is using the former WBRD stick in the Samoset swamp. Last I heard, they were able to go back to 800 watts, but will probably never get 1KW again due to ratcheting and the adjacent channel up in Tarpon Springs on 1500.
Anyone remember WKLV with the slogan "Grab our Balls" on 1490 in Bradenton?
 
Yep... worked there with Big Ed Edwards, Derrick Decker, David Belmondo, Doug (oh crap, a senior moment & I forgot his last name) <who also used to be @ WISP fm..>and others... Tony Lupo was owner or part owner... big give away of seeing Bon Jovi in Japan...was still on the pier downtown Bradenton... Think I still have one of those old tee shirts and a bumper sticker from then...(somewhere). Jeff Lawrence did their sweepers and promos...

Basically a free form format... within reason... I enjoyed working it part time...

walt
 
The Doug guy..... was he balding with obvious teeth problems? If that was the guy, he had nice pipes, and what I remember of him was he always had the most beautiful babes hanging off him. He must have had a gift only a woman would appreciate. Sorry, but that's what I remember, if that was the guy...
 
AND........IF MR. RADIO GUY IS WORTH A DAMN AT SELLING ,HE GETS HIS MONEY BACK FROM GETTING SPONSORS TO "BE ON THE RADIO WITH HIM" AND EVEN TAKES IN MORE THAN HE PAYS WWPR,THUS MAKING MONEY FOR HIMSELF....
Click to expand...

Let's see... 1490 can't sustain a single full time position selling ALL of its spots 24/7, yet somehow someone is supposed to make a living selling spots in a single hour or two, five days a week or less. Like I said, subsistence radio.

If 1490 is such a poor proposition that it needs to broker, why not...!... turn in the license and let some other 1490 somewhere else have a better signal. Ditto 1340. Or move 1490 to some community that is really AM talk radio-deprived at the next FCC window. If all the marginal brokered and preacher stations did that, the other AM's might have a shot at survival.
 
Wow Smedge..you're a hard nut..but you always make a good point. Are ALL of the brokered stations losing money? How many can stay on at all much longer? Hey..I just got a lead on a little 3 tower directional at 1570khz..500 w DA daytime, 12 watts ND night..small community, but it could work. They only want 25 thousand in cash, and a promisary note for 90 thousand payable over 5 years. And rental of the transmitter, site and towers is only 1000.00 per month not including utilities as real estate is not included in the transaction. So let's see I would be in the hole for 115,000 dollars..plus 12,000 per year for the sticks for five years (providing I could hang on that long) thats 175,000 I am in debt before even turning on the power or hiring een ONE person at minimum wage to answer the phone. Sounded like a good deal at 115 thousand for a station.."but holy mackrel Andy" over 200 thousand bucks to have the pleasure and pride of owning a station. You're saying that turning them all off is an answer? Hmm enough of these bargain stations and you may be right..and 115k is cheap.

Oh wait..I would have to have a contraact engineer Hey SBE1, what's the going rate for such a position at a station, and how many hours would be typical to keep this beast floating technically? Tack that figure onto the 200 thousand and the bleeding ulcer is roaring!

God bless you Ed!
 
HELLO AGAIN......DOUGS NAME ON THE AIR AT WKLV WAS "DOUG FREE" ,HIS REAL NAME IS DOUG LINDBERGH AND HE WAS A GREAT GUY TO WORK WITH......AND I DO HAVE A QUESTION ??? WHATS THE BIG SECRET???? WHY DOES MOST EVERYONE USE CODE NAMES???YES,MY PARENTS DID NOT NAME ME ED EDWARDS (LOL) BUT YOU KNOW WHO I AM.........DO I HAVE TO GET OUT MY SPY DETECTOR RING I GOT FROM A WABC CONTEST IN 1968 FROM COUSIN BRUCIE (LOL)....OK GUYS, IT WOULD BE GREAT TO KNOW WHO EACH OF YOU ARE AS WE ALL MOST LIKELY WORKED TOGETHER....CALL ME AT THE STATION MON/FRI 9 TO 3 AT 761-8843 AND PROMISE I WONT REVEAL YOUR "SECRET IDENTITY" IF YOU DONT WANT ME TO! .......and by the way LUPO and the ad agency that he blew thousands of dollars with came up with the BON JOVI TRIP and GRAP OUR BALLS SLOGAN.......I had suggested a billboard with a push button car radio with a guys hand being pushed in to 1490 am on the dial and the slogan "GIVE US THE FINGER"...but LUPO liked the ad agencys better...so,it goes........AND SMEDGE ....are you one of the democrats in the office next door thats never satisfied with anything,(LOL)...GEEZ....YEAH, maybe I should close the door and give up..BAD ANSWER..instead I will continue to hammer people including myself to do it the old fashion way...HUSTLE MY ASS OFF AND DONT STOP UNTIL THE JOB IS DONE SUCCESSFULLY ,NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES...(I believe a good answer for eveyone, pertaining to everywhere)....although I do find you kind of interesting in a way...call me I would like to discuss your thoughts one day.....ed
 
ED: Thanks for the brain jolt regarding Doug... Knew it as soon as I read it...

I think you know who I am also... despite using a "code name" ...


later...

walt
 
Greetings and salutations, Big Ed Edwards, from s.e. St. Petersburg.

I guess I'm picky on AM reception. My indoor radio for a.m. listening is the GE Superadio III and it used to be that 1490 came in crystal clear day and night; although at night I had to turn the radio just right now to have all the night time interference that is part of the territory on the graveyard channels.

Also I have to concede that AM reception anymore is all the more challenging indoors especially with the new energy efficient light bulbs buzzing, computers etc and most radios seem to have AM bands added as an afterthought. Also IBOC isn't hurting your reception, but the buzz on the sidebands is cutting the reception range of some AM stations.

WWPR is still listenable, just not as good as it was before the tower was moved a mile or two further from my location as well as the power reduction from 1,000 watts; at night is the major difference.

Last night I was checking out the reception of WWPR-1490 as I went to Rutland Plaza (intersection of MLK/9th ST N and 62nd Ave N) and the daytime reception was good all the way up (even though I was hearing WSIR-Winter Haven's 1490 in the background north of 22nd Ave N. My return trip home was around 8pm and in the car there was just too much interference to listen until I got south of 17Th Ave N and MLK/Ninth St N, south of 17th Ave N, the night time signal was listenable and of course keep getting better the further south and slight east toward the bay I went.

I know at TIA (Tampa Intl)I have received both 1450 out of Sarasota and 1490 fine during the day, as TIA is practically on Tampa Bay and the skip over the water helps.

DRT
St Petersburg
 
Don't forget too... 1490 WWPR was on the Manatee river for decades, with their grounding system IN the river bed... While the old WBRD/WDUV site is in somewhat of a swamp.. it's nothing like on the river...

Also: 1450 is also right on the water between the Gulf of Mexico and the Intersoactal Waterway / Sarasota Bay... you always get a lot of bounce or skip from being so close to the water or having your ground system in it...

Could be another reason for the differences in reception...

FYI...

later...

walt
 
Maybe now that the CC sale was approved today, some of those people can get back on board but most models are the same since consolidation, so who knows what the new CC or whatever they name it, will do..

Its a rather transitional time we are living in when few people seem to possess common sense.
TV shows are all about reality (ha) while life is virtual. Expect no truth except that which you bring with you.
 
Thanks Walt, for including that additional info, that I should have mentioned in my posts. For anyone reading this outside of this area, 1450 gets a lot of bang for their buck, with their tower location on Ken ???? Parkway, adjacent to St. Armonds Circle and 1490 with it tower on the Pier on the Manatee River used to be the same way.

When I saw the CP to move the tower more inland and reduce the power, I knew it wouldn't be good news for many areas, reception wise.I'm sure though that the reception in the fast growing Lakewood Ranch area is improved or at least as good as it was before, but for St. Petersburg the move and reduction in power was not good news.

As far as WWPR ever returning to 1000 watts, I'm surprised that the FCC would even consider the 1500 in Tarpon
Springs, which is 35 miles north of here, so it has to be somewhere around 50 - 55 miles from Bradenton. Speaking of 1500 in
Tarpon
Springs, I believe they are supposed to be a daytime operation and yet my last trip to that area after dark about 2 years ago, they were on the air about 2 hours after sunset.

To the north in Clearwater, Infomercial Radio- WTAN-1340 used to have better coverage with the tower right on the intracoastal as well, now the studios and tower have moved to a more inland location and they also are futher away from my location.

Many years ago, 970-
WFLA has their towers in or practically in the water in the marshy area on the Courtney Campbelll Parkway connecting Tampa and Clearwater; I believe they had a better signal then even though they were 5,000 watts, than they do now with a more inland tower and high power.

I believe the reason WDAE-620 has such good coverage is partly due to the fact that their towers are nearly in the water as well on the causeway connecting Gandy Blvd in Tampa and Gandy Blvd in St. Petersburg; of course the 620 frequency is hard to beat as well.
 
AND.. the old WBRD tower IS 30 foot shorter than the old free standing one on the pier too... (120' vs 150')...

walt
 
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