• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Elvis format

When and what station did the all Elvis format happen? How long did it last? I understand it did good 6+. Wasn't it was a AM daytimer.
 
Way off in Texas just 30 miles northwest of San Antonio, KBRN in Boerne, an AM daytimer that didn't make it to San Antonio did an all Elvis format. As I recall, it lasted about 2 years. The 250 watt AM at 1500, never really made any money although the current owners have managed to keep the lights on for several years. For the record, I left the area in mid-1993. KBRN was billing about $5,000 a month and was the best they'd ever done.
 
WCVG-AM 1320 back around 1988. Not a daytimer, but might as well be. It had been a daytimer with 500 watts day, but went with 430 watts night around 1987 with most of that signal directed west and south. The patterns are still visible at Radio-Locator, even though their towers have been torn down to build a warehouse and they are using a longwire at 50 watts now.
 
Could WCVG get in trouble with the FCC for using less than their assigned wattage now?
Only if they do not hold Special Temporary Authority for the reduced power level. They do presently hold such authority, but it has to be renewed on a regular basis (that's the "temporary" bit).
 
An AM station on the outskirts of Portland, OR did an all-Elvis format back in the early 90s. After they went bankrupt and liquidated, I picked up their low hour Continental 5kW 315R-1 'Power Rock' for $500 in storage fees. After retuning it, that became the main transmitter at KJR-AM, moving a Collins 828 E-1 as the TX2. To be fair, I used to alternate the 'Rock Brothers' each quarter, so it wasn't like the Collins saw any less service.
That allowed me to retire the original old RCA BTA-5H Ampliphase which after a lot of TLC, had been the backup. So, thanks failed Elvis station! Their ineptness was my gain.
 
WCVG did all-Elvis in the late 80's, and WAOL 99.5 ran an all-Elvis format at some point either in the 90's or early 2000's. Not sure about WCVG, but WAOL did not do any covers of Elvis songs. So, you wouldn't hear Cheap Trick's version of "Don't Be Cruel" or anything else of the like. It also didn't limit Elvis tunes to one particular genre. Elvis had quite a catalog of gospel songs (and I seem to remember his gospel albums are the only ones that ever won Grammy awards), and those were fair game as were his country songs. So, it had at least double the library of WGRR.

As Kelly mentions, Portland, OR also had an all-Elvis station, KLVS, which I believe was at 1290. Memphis had WLVS AM/FM in the early 80's, though it only did all-Elvis as a stunt when it launched and for occasional weekend programming and during big events at Graceland that attracted large numbers of tourists. It ran a country format during most of its existence and picked up WEZI's easy listening format and calls when it became WGKX "Kix 106" in the early 80's.
 
Way off in Texas just 30 miles northwest of San Antonio, KBRN in Boerne, an AM daytimer that didn't make it to San Antonio did an all Elvis format. As I recall, it lasted about 2 years. The 250 watt AM at 1500, never really made any money although the current owners have managed to keep the lights on for several years. For the record, I left the area in mid-1993. KBRN was billing about $5,000 a month and was the best they'd ever done.
So I've been the owner of Boerne Radio KBRN for the last 4 years...got a repeater at 103.9FM...we play Elvis...we're hyper local - we play everything - and we did almost $50K last December. It's working. Hope you check it out... www.boerneradio.com
 
That is wonderful KBRN is in the hands of people that know understand radio. I think KBRN had too many years with operators that chose very niche formats or just lacked experience running a radio station. In 1993 Boerne was a much smaller place as well. Will check out the website.

By the way, I sell for the station owned by the Solid Gold Oldies host
 
An AM station on the outskirts of Portland, OR did an all-Elvis format back in the early 90s. After they went bankrupt and liquidated, I picked up their low hour Continental 5kW 315R-1 'Power Rock' for $500 in storage fees. After retuning it, that became the main transmitter at KJR-AM, moving a Collins 828 E-1 as the TX2. To be fair, I used to alternate the 'Rock Brothers' each quarter, so it wasn't like the Collins saw any less service.
That allowed me to retire the original old RCA BTA-5H Ampliphase which after a lot of TLC, had been the backup. So, thanks failed Elvis station! Their ineptness was my gain.
I see that I'm a little late getting to this but am intrigued by you referring to a 5KW station, once licensed to Portland and more or less in the middle of the city, as one on the outskirts!
 
I doubt it's worth the money to rebuild it at this point.
Either could be considered a great technical plant but the FM translator covers a lot of people for a less than 40 foot high above average terrain antenna. I bet some engineer somewhere could figure out a high dollar directional antenna and double the population in their 60 dm coverage.
 
When and what station did the all Elvis format happen? How long did it last? I understand it did good 6+. Wasn't it was a AM daytimer.
Aug. 5, 1988... the format lasted until a flip to Business News a year later. WCVG did not register in the ratings while it was Elvis-formatted.
1747834920668.png1747835275744.png
 
With their string of failed formats starting in 1987, I bet they were sorry they ditched top 40.

How long was it before they ever showed in the ratings after that?
 
No matter what format they could have ran, your sales folks would have to "get results" for local non agency customers. It use to be called "beat the streets". Difficult and expensive to start but doable if you have the financial strength.

In 1987 there were still some cars on the road with AM only radios. I believe WLW was AM only still so the AM band locally wasn't a "wasteland". I wasn't in the market back then but I do not recall any one doing classic country (1970's) in the early 1990's. Of course it's been 30 + years and you can't turn back the hands of time.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom