KZTK 99.3 Tyler-Longview goes all sports?

[jd]

Yep, I've been following it and listening when I'm in Tyler. Sounds great!

 

[C414B]

For what it's worth, I still haven't forgiven Gleiser for killing KDOK!

JD, in case you've not heard, KDOK lives again! My friend Chuck Conrad has purchased, taken possession of and flipped AM1240 KDOK to "All Hit Radio -- The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s & 80s". It can be heard in Kilgore on AM1240 and FM101.9 and at 105.3 in Longview. ;D ;D ;D

www.kdokradio.com

I sit corrected. The Longview freq is 101.9 and Kilgore is at 105.3FM. Mea culpa.

 

[C414B]

Yep, I've been following it and listening when I'm in Tyler. Sounds great!

You actually get to hear it. I'm jealous.

 

[billyg]

I guess I can upload another aircheck for you out of towners.

KDOK's audio is broadcast on Kilgore cable channels 2 and 23, but the audio is distorted. I dont know what they're using as a source but its lousy.

BTW please dump those soft Adult Contemporary songs like Anne Murray's "I Just Fall In Love Again" and Linda Ronstadt's "Somewhere Out There"...which segued right into The Rolling Stones "The Last Time". ??? They really dont sound good on Classic Hits.

 

[billyg]

Oops! Sorry about that last post. I thought I was in the KDOK thread.. :-X

 

[jd]

You actually get to hear it. I'm jealous.

Well, yes, but daytime only and the signal isn't that great at the house since the tower is roughly 40 miles away.

 

[gbranch]

Well, yes, but daytime only and the signal isn't that great at the house since the tower is roughly 40 miles away.

The 105.3 translator is 250 watts at 58 meters. In theory, with a good outdoor antenna and no co- or adjacent channel interference, you might be able pick it up at 40 miles. It's signal is better than the FCC contour maps indicate, and in parts of Longview matches the quality of the 101.9 translator.

 

[billyg]

The 105.3 translator is 250 watts at 58 meters. In theory, with a good outdoor antenna and no co- or adjacent channel interference, you might be able pick it up at 40 miles. It's signal is better than the FCC contour maps indicate, and in parts of Longview matches the quality of the 101.9 translator.

I've picked up the 105.3 translator on my Jeep Grand Cherokee's car stereo on I-20 around Marshall, it gets out very well. Too bad whoever constructed the 101.9 translator couldn't get 250w for it too.

 

[Chuck]

I've picked up the 105.3 translator on my Jeep Grand Cherokee's car stereo on I-20 around Marshall, it gets out very well. Too bad whoever constructed the 101.9 translator couldn't get 250w for it too.

Well, I constructed both of them many years ago. I01.9 is limited to what the FCC would allow. If I had my way, it would have the same coverage as 105.3, but the rules are the rules...

 

[Chuck]

Incidentally AM 1240, KDOK is not a daytime only station. It is 1000 watts 24 hours. Unfortunately, the skywave interference rolls in around dark and makes the AM band more or less a sewer. I live about 14 air miles from the AM transmitter site and can get it on a decent radio (Sangean WR-2) in my house, but at night it is noisy. It's OK in the daytime. I'm sure that most people are listening to the FM translators, but I am beginning to actually like the way some music sounds on AM. I guess it's because I'm old enough that it's how I originally heard a lot of this stuff.

 

[billyg]

Incidentally AM 1240, KDOK is not a daytime only station. It is 1000 watts 24 hours. Unfortunately, the skywave interference rolls in around dark and makes the AM band more or less a sewer. I live about 14 air miles from the AM transmitter site and can get it on a decent radio (Sangean WR-2) in my house, but at night it is noisy. It's OK in the daytime. I'm sure that most people are listening to the FM translators, but I am beginning to actually like the way some music sounds on AM. I guess it's because I'm old enough that it's how I originally heard a lot of this stuff.

At night 1240 is good for around 8-10 miles at night before it starts fading.I guess its the poor ground conductivity of East Texas to blame. The old KLUE probably had the best tower site of all stations in Longview next to the Sabine.

You're right about some songs sounding better on AM. It's a very nostalgic sound for me. Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly" sounds so weak in stereo, but sounds so much better on AM with the extra compression and limited frequency range. That's why I stream my Live365 station at 32 kbps to emulate that AM radio sound.

 

[fairchild]

At this point this thread is drawing far more comments about KDOK than about KZTK, so I have to draw two conclusions.

1) Everyone loves the concept of KDOK and wants to know more about it.
2) No one has even noticed KTZK in months.

 

[Chuck]

At this point this thread is drawing far more comments about KDOK than about KZTK, so I have to draw two conclusions.

1) Everyone loves the concept of KDOK and wants to know more about it.
2) No one has even noticed KTZK in months.

Maybe we should start a new thread....

 

[billyg]

Sorry for helping out on the KDOK threadjacking, lets take that talk back to the "KDOK 1240 is going to be sold" thread. :-X

Unless there's a surprise flip soon, looks like KZTK is sticking with talk, cheapest format you can run.

 

[Chuck]

Actually, I think talk radio is one of the most expensive formats you can run.

 

[billyg]

Actually, I think talk radio is one of the most expensive formats you can run.

Strange, I've read right here on RadioDiscussions that network talk was cheapest to run because you didn't have to pay royalties for music. That was one of Gleiser's reasons for flipping 92.1 to talk.

 

[Kent]

Strange, I've read right here on RadioDiscussions that network talk was cheapest to run because you didn't have to pay royalties for music. That was one of Gleiser's reasons for flipping 92.1 to talk.

Depends on how you run it. If you're going to run local shows, news and talk are the most expensive formats, bar none. Talk hosts costs more than jocks, and you often have to give them solid supporting cast. You can have a local host mop the floor with Limbaugh and Hannity only to still lose your shirt because of support costs. News is even worse because there are more high-profile on-air people and an even larger supporting cast.

If you're going to run third-rate talkers, it's cheap. All of those talkers run on barter, and there are no music royalties. Usually, the result is more of a wash. The first-rate talkers use a cash plus barter model that can be every bit as costly as your music royalties. Running a series of first-rate talk programs is usually pretty much of wash in terms of expenses.

 

[bturner]

There are music royalties paid by stations taking syndicated talk. It's pretty cheap...you pay for all the bumper music

I've often wondered why these syndicated shows don't use custom bumps. Certainly they could get a company to do that.

 

[Chuck]

Strange, I've read right here on RadioDiscussions that network talk was cheapest to run because you didn't have to pay royalties for music. That was one of Gleiser's reasons for flipping 92.1 to talk.

Maybe, "Don't believe everything you see in the Internet?"

 

[billyg]

I've often wondered why these syndicated shows don't use custom bumps. Certainly they could get a company to do that.

True, and there's plenty of "Creative Commons" music available to download for free for use in videos for YouTube. http://freemusicarchive.org/ But I'm not sure about for use on radio.

Maybe, "Don't believe everything you see in the Internet?"

True, I bet Gleiser believed what he read too, or thought record corporations were going to win their battle to get more royalties from radio. I haven't checked up to see whats going on with that recently.