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Citadel Sell I-100, WKRT to Saga

lash said:
Right place, right time. Heck, I would have taken WKRT for free too.

Shoot, missed out again ::)
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's one of those shoulda, coulda, woulda, things with me. I never thought Citadel would sell first of all and certainly not to the company that owns most of the market! I didn't think it could be done.

Those two stations (WKRT & WIII) belong together. Sigh....... :-[
 
Pickle and Sherlock! Do I know you? Did any of you work in Cortland?
 
The landscape changes again! I was in Cortland in the mid 90's but actually in Homer on WXHC where Sonny King is now. It was more of a Hot AC but never had a signal to compete against the long standing stations there.
 
I certainly remember Sonny King on WKRT.

Pickle? But how did you know my real name?
 
lash said:
I certainly remember Sonny King on WKRT.

Pickle? But how did you know my real name?
Click to expand...

Sonny is working crosstown on 101.5 WXHC.

I knew your real name from a former radio colleague who worked in Pennsylvania and somehow knew you or knew of you. I think maybe also from that 440.com website.
 
I appreciate that Pickle. Those certainly were not my best radio years. Although OK 100 was fun to work at. I even got promoted to Assistant PD near the end. Some bad personal decisions led me out of Cortland and back to Erie, PA.
 
I've had a little experience at WKRT and am quite interested in the discussion. Back in the 70's I knew the ground radials of the AM towers needed replaceing. (they have been in place since the station was originally build, was it 1947?) It was a very expensive job back then and it probably is needed more and will be much more costly now!

In many markets the AM stations are being sold for the price of the real estate. WKRT's saving grace in recent years was the FM license. Of course, a few years back "talk radio" saved the remaining AM stations. If the "Christian Station" adopts a slightly secular programming, they might survive. But one thing they must consider (and probably haven't) is the tens of thousands of dollars they will have to spend replacing the ground radials if they are ever to comply with FCC specs.

And we haven't even discussed emergeing digital technology. I perceive the "gift" is merely a "tax write-off" balanced with a VERY VERY expensive rebuild. This is a "White Elephant" by definition!!!

Good luck, Folks!
We will see if God will provide?
 
There's probably a lot of copper to be replaced and it's not cheap.

I've seen this movie before, while working at a two-tower directional AM. It's messy, time intensive and requires a CP and FCC inspections, as well as probably two or three proofs done by certified engineering consultants. Add the labor costs and the tuning networks, which likely need to be replaced, and you could be talking 200 Large.

"White elephant?" You hit the nail on the head!

Then again, these "pray-for-pay" operations usually have lots of listeners' donations to fund stuff like this and if they don't, they could always run the technical operation as-is.
 
Someone mentioned Rob Pondiscio?! I did not remember him being at OK100/WKRT. I know he worked at WDOS, or was it WZOZ in Oneonta...Then came to work at TKO News in January 1984. Lasted exactly one month. Quit by leaving a letter to the ND.
He would up being the P.R. spokesman for Time Magazine, last I knew, and that was around 2000.

I think of OK100 and the years when poeple like Aki Peterson, Joey Gates, Kevin English and "Smoky Burns" (wasn't he a.k.a. Dave Smith?) worked there..."OK-100, Ithaca 108!" And WKRT gave the seven-valley forecast; the news person was Peter Inglinski (now the ND at WXXI radio in Rochester...)Also a news person at that time was Karen Huxtable,who went on to great things at WKTV in Utica...
 
Does anyone know why the Ithaca translator was moved from 107.7 down to 100,3? The 100.3 frequency makes more sense, being just up the dial from the actual station. But was that the only reason for the move? Or did another station, such as 107.9 in Syracuse, complain about interference?
 
It was moved to 100.3 in 1993 because of two reasons:

1) It is closer to 99.9.

2) 107.7 I think was only a couple of watts and 100.3 is like 50 watts. Much better signal!
 
oldschooler1 said:
I think of OK100 and the years when poeple like Aki Peterson, Joey Gates, Kevin English and "Smoky Burns" (wasn't he a.k.a. Dave Smith?) worked there..."OK-100, Ithaca 108!"
Click to expand...

That's a good start. Those guys were around beginning 1985-1987. Someday I'll have to compile a list of people who moved on from there.

I wish I had airchecks from the time prior to OK-100; WNOZ and WKRT-FM.
 
"I am Joey Gates". is what he used to say. Scott Reynolds, Doug Nevel, and Greg Hunter. Worked with all of these guys.
 
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