Passing through the great state of Kentucky today & heard WKYX 570 Paducah (a fine little news talk station by the way) having a hard time keeping their transmitter on during Glenn Beck and dead air for an extended time around 2PM on WLOU 1350 Louisville.
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KY AM Problems
- Thread starter BobOnTheJob
- Start date
BobOnTheJob said:Passing through the great state of Kentucky today & heard WKYX 570 Paducah (a fine little news talk station by the way) having a hard time keeping their transmitter on during Glenn Beck and dead air for an extended time around 2PM on WLOU 1350 Louisville.
I remember listening to to WKYX back when I was in college in Southern Illinois. It was one was tight Top 40, with signal processing so heavy, I'll bet the needle on the mod monitor never moved.
The problem you run into with many AM stations is the same: too many statione being overseen by too few people, who either can't or won't pay enough attention to them. The sad fact is, from a purely business point of view, some AM stations being off the air is simply not a big deal. There's just no money at stake.
WildcatGuy said:BobOnTheJob said:Passing through the great state of Kentucky today & heard WKYX 570 Paducah (a fine little news talk station by the way) having a hard time keeping their transmitter on during Glenn Beck and dead air for an extended time around 2PM on WLOU 1350 Louisville.
I remember listening to to WKYX back when I was in college in Southern Illinois. It was one was tight Top 40, with signal processing so heavy, I'll bet the needle on the mod monitor never moved.
The problem you run into with many AM stations is the same: too many statione being overseen by too few people, who either can't or won't pay enough attention to them. The sad fact is, from a purely business point of view, some AM stations being off the air is simply not a big deal. There's just no money at stake.
WKYX now simulcasts on FM so chances are they are not monitoring the AM as they should. As for WLOU, dead air isn't anything new.
WildcatGuy said:The sad fact is, from a purely business point of view, some AM stations being off the air is simply not a big deal. There's just no money at stake.
Ran into that this past week. The owner "inheirited" the 25kW FM and 1kW AM daytimer when her husband passed away. She knows very little about the business. The AM was a SX1 with a fried PA card (and I do mean fried). It's more important that the FM remain at full power since it makes what little money comes into the operation. The AM is not a priority.
I suspect they do keep an ear on WKYX since every time it dumped, it was restarted within a few seconds. That station just has the sound of an operation that cares & may actually be making money. This is the first time I've ever heard WKYX have any kind of issues.radiorob2.0 said:WildcatGuy said:BobOnTheJob said:Passing through the great state of Kentucky today & heard WKYX 570 Paducah (a fine little news talk station by the way) having a hard time keeping their transmitter on during Glenn Beck and dead air for an extended time around 2PM on WLOU 1350 Louisville.
I remember listening to to WKYX back when I was in college in Southern Illinois. It was one was tight Top 40, with signal processing so heavy, I'll bet the needle on the mod monitor never moved.
The problem you run into with many AM stations is the same: too many statione being overseen by too few people, who either can't or won't pay enough attention to them. The sad fact is, from a purely business point of view, some AM stations being off the air is simply not a big deal. There's just no money at stake.
WKYX now simulcasts on FM so chances are they are not monitoring the AM as they should. As for WLOU, dead air isn't anything new.
Nostatic1 said:Does anyone know if the 810 or 730 AM stations in Breathitt County are still on the air? I think they were both 5 kw daytime only.
They should be. 730 had a CP for a power upgrade and has had night time authority for a few hundred watts.
Nostatic1 said:Does anyone know if the 810 or 730 AM stations in Breathitt County are still on the air? I think they were both 5 kw daytime only.
From SW Lexington, I think 730 is on, but NOT with their power increase CP which I think has expired. I have NOT heard 810 out of Jackson for years. They should be putting in a "listenable" signal into Lexington. Even when I'm in Richmond on my car radio, I can not hear them. Maybe they are on LOW POWER or something, but certainly not getting out.
Another AM Problem to note: WVLK-590 here in Lexington has been on LOW power (I think night pattern and power) Since at least last Thursday. I live in their sharp null toward the south and find them to be extremely week. If I drive east a couple of blocks, it comes back, clearly indicating they are on the night pattern during the day...
KR4BD said:Another AM Problem to note: WVLK-590 here in Lexington has been on LOW power (I think night pattern and power) Since at least last Thursday.
Has Cumulus found a CE for that cluster yet?
Bengalsfan said:KR4BD said:Another AM Problem to note: WVLK-590 here in Lexington has been on LOW power (I think night pattern and power) Since at least last Thursday.
Has Cumulus found a CE for that cluster yet?
That was going to be my question. I knew they were without for awhile but assumed the position was filled. As KR4BD points out the night pattern doesn't cover the market very well.
Not sure if Cumulus Lexington has a full-time engineer. I know that they were still looking for a PD for 92.9 on their local website a few days ago. They've had several good engineers there in the past. One I met was Tom Devine (long retired). He once came to the rescue of WCGW one early Sunday morning (mid-1990's) when I could not get the 770 transmitter to come on at sunrise from the studio. Our engineer was on vacation and Tom was our #1 "go to" guy if we had serious problems we could not figure out...
Bengalsfan said:KR4BD said:Another AM Problem to note: WVLK-590 here in Lexington has been on LOW power (I think night pattern and power) Since at least last Thursday.
Has Cumulus found a CE for that cluster yet?
Referring to Cumulus Lexington as a 'cluster' is appropriate on more than one level.
KR4BD said:Not sure if Cumulus Lexington has a full-time engineer. I know that they were still looking for a PD for 92.9 on their local website a few days ago. They've had several good engineers there in the past. One I met was Tom Devine (long retired). He once came to the rescue of WCGW one early Sunday morning (mid-1990's) when I could not get the 770 transmitter to come on at sunrise from the studio. Our engineer was on vacation and Tom was our #1 "go to" guy if we had serious problems we could not figure out...
While at WVLK I worked with Devine, a nice guy with a wicked sense of humor and great engineer. Towards the end of his time he was spinning plates keeping all those signals on the air.
You're right, WVLK had some great engineers. Paul Dunbar (P.D) built the place in 1947 and remained CE until his 1987 retirement and still showed up just for the heck of it. The transmitter building was named after him. I wonder if he is still alive? Plus there was Jim Yeager, he died of cancer back in '92. The cool thing about P.D and Yeager was they were hams so they created miracles from simple technology.
timespentnotlistening said:Bengalsfan said:KR4BD said:Another AM Problem to note: WVLK-590 here in Lexington has been on LOW power (I think night pattern and power) Since at least last Thursday.
Has Cumulus found a CE for that cluster yet?
Referring to Cumulus Lexington as a 'cluster' is appropriate on more than one level.
Ha! Was hoping someone would catch that. They approached a contractor I know to get him to take care of the stations. Their final offer was about 1/4th of what he normally charged...and his rates wasn't that high to begin with. He declined. He saw the shape the place was in and decided not to enter that trap.
Bengalsfan said:Ha! Was hoping someone would catch that. They approached a contractor I know to get him to take care of the stations. Their final offer was about 1/4th of what he normally charged...and his rates wasn't that high to begin with. He declined. He saw the shape the place was in and decided not to enter that trap.
It seems like they're constantly advertising to hire Program Directors and Market Managers. How many Market Managers have they had in the last 10 years?
Bengalsfan said:timespentnotlistening said:Bengalsfan said:KR4BD said:Another AM Problem to note: WVLK-590 here in Lexington has been on LOW power (I think night pattern and power) Since at least last Thursday.
Has Cumulus found a CE for that cluster yet?
Referring to Cumulus Lexington as a 'cluster' is appropriate on more than one level.
Ha! Was hoping someone would catch that. They approached a contractor I know to get him to take care of the stations. Their final offer was about 1/4th of what he normally charged...and his rates wasn't that high to begin with. He declined. He saw the shape the place was in and decided not to enter that trap.
I hate hearing the place is falling apart as it was an amazing facility. The salary issue blows my mind considering they had a stable of engineers, mostly at the transmitter, that kept the place moving. Back then if either station was off the air it was a catastrophic issue since there was back up upon back up.
radiorob2.0 said:Bengalsfan said:timespentnotlistening said:Bengalsfan said:KR4BD said:Another AM Problem to note: WVLK-590 here in Lexington has been on LOW power (I think night pattern and power) Since at least last Thursday.
Has Cumulus found a CE for that cluster yet?
Referring to Cumulus Lexington as a 'cluster' is appropriate on more than one level.
Ha! Was hoping someone would catch that. They approached a contractor I know to get him to take care of the stations. Their final offer was about 1/4th of what he normally charged...and his rates wasn't that high to begin with. He declined. He saw the shape the place was in and decided not to enter that trap.
I hate hearing the place is falling apart as it was an amazing facility. The salary issue blows my mind considering they had a stable of engineers, mostly at the transmitter, that kept the place moving. Back then if either station was off the air it was a catastrophic issue since there was back up upon back up.
I totally agree. Tom was the CE while I was there back around 2000-2003 and he was a hoot! Loved working with him because he would keep you laughing and having a good time around the place. Plus him and Robert Lindsey had a cool relationship and one would bring out the best of the other from time to time. I can remember Tom peering through the window into the WVLK studio while Robert was running Sue Wylie one morning. Sue could see Tom from her seat as he flipped the bird to Robert (out of pure fun). Her eyes went from being half open to almost falling out of her head! Good times!!
I hate to hear about the shape those studios are in now because even around 2003 they were quite nice. The automation software was maxed out (Audiovault), but all in all it was a tight operation. I have to believe that Cumulus' cost cutting and staff nixing is catching up with them. As much as some people might complain about Robert Lindsey, while he was the PD at WVLK that ship never took on any water. He ran it tight and I learned quite a bit from him in the process.
As for WKYX, it's a Bristol property and is likely on autopilot. I would assume they have a light system setup where if it goes off the air, an operator in one of the other studios is alerted and can go fix the issue. WDDJ had some automation issues back after Christmas that took them off the air for extended periods of time. If I'm not mistaken they are running Maestro Automation Software at their stations. I work down the road from them and we run the same software and I heard they run it as well.
C
Captain Klutz
Guest
WKYX is on auto-pilot after Greg Dunker's 6-9am show.
WDDJ, as well as all Bristol stations, are on Scott System. I know, I've been inside their studios. WDDJ is also live and local and was not off the air for considerable amounts of time over the holidays.
WDDJ, as well as all Bristol stations, are on Scott System. I know, I've been inside their studios. WDDJ is also live and local and was not off the air for considerable amounts of time over the holidays.
Greg Dunker's not a bad sounding talk show host for a market that size.Captain Klutz said:WKYX is on auto-pilot after Greg Dunker's 6-9am show.
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