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Brokered Talk Radio Time Slot Wars

I think a Spanish format would fill a void in Manatee County that is obvious if you just drive around and look at the people on the sidewalk. The station is already devoting a large block of airtime to that format.
Another alternative would be to develop a local format with news and other elements heavily focused on Manatee County, but I don't see that happening. Progressive talk radio (minus Jerry Springer) is a possibility.
Then the two leftie shows on 1490 would at least get their money's worth. Another conservative format with the shows that were dumped in Sarasota when WLSS was sold to Salem (Imus, O' Reilly, Boortz) is a third alternative if market overlap doesn't come into play. That would be good news for the Captain and his America.

I also think there are far too many small, unviable signals between Tampa and Fort Myers on the AM band that should go away. 1490 in particular seems to market itself to potential clients in a way that IMO is not professional. Their website used to quote year-old Arbitron numbers even though they weren't subscribers. Its clients quote outrageous figures for listening audience ("300,000"), probably obtained from the station itself, that seem to be ungrounded in any sort of reality.

It claims substantial coverage of Tampa Bay, when the only area where it had a half-way competitive signal would be the south end of St. Petersburg, and that was before the station moved off the pier. Overstating the reach seems to be a plague of brokered formats.

1490 would be a much more viable signal in a growing area that has relatively few AM stations and talk formats, such as western Citrus County.
 
"I think a Spanish format would fill a void in Manatee County that is obvious if you just drive around and look at the people on the sidewalk. The station is already devoting a large block of airtime to that format.
Another alternative would be to develop a local format with news and other elements heavily focused on Manatee County, but I don't see that happening. Progressive talk radio (minus Jerry Springer) is a possibility.
Then the two leftie shows on 1490 would at least get their money's worth. Another conservative format with the shows that were dumped in Sarasota when WLSS was sold to Salem (Imus, O' Reilly, Boortz) is a third alternative if market overlap doesn't come into play. That would be good news for the Captain and his America."

Can't speak for Spanish, but the rest would be huge revenue dogs. Springer's ratings are abyssmal on 1450, just like the rest of the programs. How are you going to sell spots on a 200-watt station? Selling time for whatever you can get is the only way to go, and since the station isn't owner-operated, apparently it's working.

The only other option is turning in the license. Sure, it never should have been issued, but since it is, why throw away $300 or $400k?
 
Well... WWPR 1490 isn't the lowest powered AM in the market... They DID reduce their 1,000 watts when they moved off the Pier to the old WBRD 1420 Transmitter location to 800 watts... WTMY 1280 I think has the lowest power around... 500 watt 2 tower directional daytime signal, and I think around 140 watts @ night... The new CP for WIBQ 1220 is something like 13 watts @ night....Try selling THAT...

I think that ANY AM with a real local presence would do better than the whole group of them in the Manatee / Sarasota market.....of course, al long as they have enough of a signal to cover the area....
 
Actually WWPR has a pretty good signal as compared to other AM in the area. Only WLSS has a better signal. 1220 is legally only a daytimer a class D station. It has some nite authorization, but has no protection like a class B station would have. It is hard to figure out because the FCC records show it to be a 1KW directional station, but the DA went bye bye years ago. Last I heard 1220 is operating on temporary authority with 250 watts daytime 169 watts nite. BTW there is a newer Construction permit in the system for 1220 for 2KW days and 170 or so nite watts. By the coordinates shown, it looks like they are going to share towers and site with WLSS 930. WTMY 1280 nite signal really sucks too, but they at least dont have quite the interference that 1220 has. The original owner of 1220 made his money when he also had 102.5 FM. At the time was called WSAR FM then WQSR, Quad Stereo. Now everyone knows them as the Tampa rimshot the Bone.
 
Yeah, but WLSS has more power than most in the area...too bad it's wasted on the garbage they put on the air...

In the 60's, 1220 was WSAF - The Surrounding Sound... Kind of a pre origional WDUV FM type format...
Ted Rogers owned the two when it was WQSA AM and WQSR FM...back in the early 70's...The AM was a big band / MOR type format...The original 2 tower Directional location was also the studio site of both stations @ Beneva and Bahia Vista in the Mennonite section of Sarasota... most recently they have been using a cell tower in the same area for their antenna... and yes, they are supposed to be using the WLSS towers for their upgrade...

If you go way back... It was Harold Bische who was part owner the origional 102.5... WYAK FM... A country station with studio and tower site somewhere in the area between Orange Ave. and US 41 around the 7 to 10 hundred block... somewhere by a junk yard I think, but that was way back in the early to mid 60's... That same tower is currently used for WSRQ and used to be used for Oldies 106.3 WSRZ (also WSPB FM, WMLO the best beachin' station,and Z106),out on City Island...before all their upgrades and format and call letter swaps a few years ago...


Ok, history lesson is over...

Walt
 
More history.... You are right Walt, 1220 was WSAF not WSAR, my typo. Speaking of daytimers, WBRD was a daytimer when they broadcast from those Samoset towers. They didnt go 24 hrs till they moved the transmitter to Palmetto. WDUV 103 was also broadcast from studios and transmitter in the Samoset swamp. When did the Fernandez family move WKXY now WLSS from 1540 to 930?
 
HX. lesson part 2

According to one source I checked... the 1540 freq. was silent by 1941...and the 930 frequency was in use... don't know the actual date when they switched though... The call letters WKXY are also currently in use for an FM in Clarksdale, MS (92.1)...

The current WSPB/WSRQ tower on City Island shows a CP dated 07/70 to install the newer 280 tower with an FM antenna also on it...Assumingly for the then WSPB-FM , 3,000 watt 106.3... It replaced the original 178 foot 1939 tower that was due east of the building right on the water of Sarasota Bay....probably ran the ground system in the bay like 1490 did in the Manatee River in Bradenton.. That's why they had such a decent signal in St. Pete....

Yes WBRD (1420) was a daytimer as was WYND (1280) back in the early to mid 70's when I worked @ both... Both stations had an early sign on of 6AM, with WBRD only @ 300 watts until legal sunrise, then they went to 1,000 watts directional...I don't remember if WYND had any early AM power restrictions... I doubt it, because I only had a 3rd class FCC license, and WBRD's Bobby Nelson installed equipment to automatically change power / direction, no actual fine tuning ( he always liked getting new toys for us...) ...which allowed me to be the first non 1st class operator there... Yeah, the swamp was a challenge... but hell... it was LIVE, LOCAL radio !!! Something we sure don't have here anymore...

I do know that in the 60's they (YND) was known to detune their directional pattern to cover Siesta Beach better... I don't know if they ever got caught or not...


*** Anyone else interested in, or have stories about Sarasota / Manatee Radio... ?????**** Would be interested in sharing ... I started in 1970 and worked mostly part time after 1975 through 1998.....****


later...

walt
 
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