It was completed in July as Gray revealed plans to move WOIO-WUAB-WTCL to Independence from Reserve Square.
Physically it’s on WTAM’s Carl Smith tower that WZAK is also on and is within a few miles to the west of WCRF’s tower (remember, the IP originated on 104.9 Lorain prior to 2001, so the move to 96.5 was a major upgrade). It’s more credible than WARF, which has operated from the same Cuyahoga Falls site since the late 1930s.
The directional pattern for 1350 is actually strong up the I-77 corridor into Cleveland itself. Avon and in much of the western suburbs is affected by a null that results in very weak signal strength or drowned out by noise altogether, and it disappears completely after sunset.
Fybush Site of the Week article on the former iHeart Independence studios...
Surprised @fybush didn’t get a pic of “Chuck Collier Blvd.” at the intersection of Oaktree and Rockside (although to be fair, I did take this on a Saturday afternoon with minimal traffic to deal with).Fybush Site of the Week article on the former iHeart Independence studios...
Site of the Week 10/28/2022: iHeart’s Former Cleveland Home
Text and photos by SCOTT FYBUSH A quick getaway to the shores of Lake Erie last September was a chancewww.fybush.com
Top 40 / CHR (the same thing with different names) targets 18-39 and 25-44 women. It does not target teens.
Ever since radio had "Your Hit Parade" on radio in the 40's and TV in the 50's we have had mostly broad national hits. Now, with fewer independent "local" record labels than ever, songs are often released not just nationally but internationally the same day. So in Bismak, ND or LA or NYC stations get the same songs. We watch MediaBase and see who is or is not adding them and the reaction is pretty instant. And the ongoing research to "score" currents fairly quickly distinguishes the hits from the stiffs.
Actually, they have as much power as they did 50 or 60 years ago when stations had outside consultants like Ron Jacobs or Mike Joseph or Kent Burkhart or.... And we we all looked at Hamilton or Gavin or FMQB or R&R and jumped on the breaking hits just the way we do today with MediaBase.
There is no evidence of this. Just further proof that we get instantaneous almost world-wide hits in much shorter periods of time.
When was there ever a plethora of local hits?
Mid-50's till the early 70's. Lots of difference between songs between different stations. Just look at the charts from each station at ARSA | The Radio Surveys / Record Charts Site
I can remember back in the 70s many local bands having songs played on the radio, specifically Michael Stanley Band. Several more come to mind but, off hand, I can't remember many of them right now. Nowadays, not so much.
One of the major reasons why stations are "afraid" of locally produced "personal" label songs is that they are concerned about litigation and regulation/enforcement of copyrights. We are in a vastly more litigious society now when compared to the 60's and 70's.
Go back to the "golden" days of WMMS when they played all kinds of local acts. Wild Horses "Funky Poodle" among many others which became local hits and, of course, The Michael Stanley Band. The station was also the first in the USA to play Heart and Rush when they were just Canadian imports and their play got them American contracts. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Suzi Quatro and a number of other acts and performers were uncovered by the WMMS jocks, Music Director and Program Director. But even if you want to go back to WIXY, they played local singles from The Baskerville Hounds, The Choir and Circus. When was the last time that you heard a local single or album on the radio? When was the last time that a local Cleveland station took a chance on an artist that nobody heard of and was not yet played by anyone else or listed in the trades? As far as Music Directors having the same power that they always had, that is just plain not true. If the PD of WAKS or MMS today tried to play a local single or album track, I guarantee you that they would hear from their regional Program executive.
I can attest to 1350 becoming a memory pretty much once you cross the Lorain County line...in my travels the other day, I was listening to Colin Cowherd on the Gambler, it was fine until right after I got into Lorain County, then it went from fine to iffy to zip in quick fashion just a few miles in.
Isn't the WTAM tower east of WCRF?
It IS, I keep confusing myself where Barr Road is, which is doubly embarrassing as I’ve ridden my bicycle in that area many times lol
I always wonder what exactly caused that move-in to be scrapped. Given 1170 is the only class A in that entire region (although a white elephant for iHeart into the present day), it wouldn’t surprise me if both WV senators Byrd and Rockerfeller muscled in and said to Clear Channel and the FCC, “uhm, no, you aren’t going to do that”.
Yes, thank God for the public and college stations which keep the spirit of adventurous music discovery and local bands/performers alive.
