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Legendary KDKA and WBZ

Mike Sheridan

Mike Sheridan

Both off these giants were doing infomercials last last night. Does anybody really listen to that crud? I was messing with an HD radio trying to get an out of market HD signal.

The company should be renamed CB$ Profit is one thing but do they really need to resort to this? :mad:
 
Mike Sheridan said:
Both off these giants were doing infomercials last last night. Does anybody really listen to that crud? I was messing with an HD radio trying to get an out of market HD signal.

The company should be renamed CB$ Profit is one thing but do they really need to resort to this? :mad:
Click to expand...

A better question might be "does anyone still listen to KDKA late on Saturday night"? Aren't most senior citizens in bed then? It's not like weekdays when there are more people working late shift. Think about it. How many people in the demographic that listen to KDKA at all are even awake after midnight Saturday night? I mean, there are probably a few, but hardly enough to warrant putting anything on the air other than an audio test pattern or an infomercial.
 
OldSchoolWoman said:
How does KDKA compare to WSM in Nashville that still plays heritage country?
Click to expand...

KDKA broadcasts talk while WSM broadcasts country music.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
Both off these giants were doing infomercials last last night. Does anybody really listen to that crud?
Click to expand...

No one listens and they don't care.

I can't believe that big signals like that can't come up with SOMETHING that would attract a little bit of an audience rather than just taking the easy way out.
 
Parttimer said:
I can't believe that big signals like that can't come up with SOMETHING that would attract a little bit of an audience rather than just taking the easy way out.
Click to expand...

Not to belabor a point, but how could a station "attract an audience" unless they could wake the people up first, and get them to turn their radios on second. Aside from insomniacs, people staggering home from partying, and people who don't have enough job seniority to avoid getting stuck on the night shift, who's awake at that hour to listen to the radio?
 
Think about it. How many people in the demographic that listen to KDKA at all are even awake after midnight Saturday night?

Sigh. First of all, "the demographic that listen(s) to KDKA" is not the issue here. It's the people who could be listening to KDKA. And, regardless, the station currently is still a contender in 25-54 morning drive. In any event, that demographic (as well as others) include nurses, doctors, postal workers, drivers, musicians, bakers, waiters, construction workers, and, er, just about a few hundred thousand or so other people within range of KDKA's nighttime signal that might actually prefer appropriate use of the station's license to serve the public interest as opposed to serving up hype on the latest colon cleansing technique.
 
The question is really how well does WSM do as they are still serving their core demos for decades. KDKA and WBZ are no longer Top40/MOR hybrids and haven't been for several eons. WSM still carries the Opry. That would be like "night flight" still being on WBZ.
 
MsMusicRadio said:
The question is really how well does WSM do as they are still serving their core demos for decades. KDKA and WBZ are no longer Top40/MOR hybrids and haven't been for several eons. WSM still carries the Opry. That would be like "night flight" still being on WBZ.
Click to expand...

WSM is located in Nashville, Tennessee. Its audience is mostly made up of people who are living in or near Nashville. KDKA is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its audience is mostly made up of people who are living in or near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Are you aware of the differences in population between the two markets? Are you aware of how much population, especially younger population Pittsburgh has lost in the past few decades? Are you aware of how little population Nashville has lost? Are you aware that country musicians from around the world move to Nashville on a regular basis because it is the #1 production center in the world for country music, giving Nashville a higher than usual skew towards people who are fans of country music? Do any of those differences between Pittsburgh and Nashville give you any insight or understanding into why the main AM radio station in the one city is different from the main AM radio station in the other city?
 
OldSchoolWoman said:
That about answers that
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The answers to some questions should be so glaringly obvious that it makes you wonder why anyone would bother to ask them.
 
WSM is at least a good sounding station, and I enjoy listening.

WBZ and KDKA have been whizzing all over their own shoes, their neighbor's shoes, and THEIR neighbor's shoes with
iboc now for a good long time. It doesn't matter what they do anymore. They disqualify themselves from
serious consideration as a listening choice. To the devil with them!

If I want to hear hiss I can open up this air valve right here..... sssssssssssssssss.
 
Hollywood is a music capital. Could KMPC and KFI still be playing music successfully? Lighten up guys
 
Biz Listener said:
...KDKA is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its audience is mostly made up of people who are living in or near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Are you aware...
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?? Has KDKA [The Blowtorch] cut its signal strength?

Ask Mr Knowledge. Not a bad program for an infomercial leadin...
 
pfa said:
?? Has KDKA [The Blowtorch] cut its signal strength?
Click to expand...

According to many posts made in this very forum (I've been reading the archives) KDKA has had some unresolved technical difficulties with their antenna system that has resulted in less long range reach than back in the days when the only thing to do after midnight on Saturday was to scroll through the AM dial looking for distant stations. But whether they have or not, even with some of their potential listernership in the wee hours of Sunday morning being insomniac DX'ers from out of town, I'll stand by my assertion that "Its audience is mostly made up of people who are living in or near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."

Didn't you notice the "mostly" in there? Do you understand the difference between "mostly" and "exclusively"?
 
KD has been at 35Kw for most of the last year waiting for CBS to hand them the cash to fix a transmitter problem that they've known about for 10 years but has only been magnified by the horror that is IBOC. They need a new stick and transmitter and need it yesterday. Then again there is nothing on their nighttime signal worth listening to anyway. Not like I am trying to listen to The Gunner call a home run in the 10th inning.
 
Does anyone who used to listen to KDKA back in the 1990's during their graveyard shift broadcasts remember what kinds of businesss bought spots? Was it Pittsburgh region stores, auto dealers, and other retailers? Or was it national brand products looking to reach a broad geographic market?

What I'm asking is if back in the days when KDKA's "blowtorch" signal carried beyond Ohio and down into the Carolinas and Kentucky, did many advertisers take advantage of that reach to try to sell things to people who lived far from Pittsburgh?
 
Don't remember specifically, didn't really listen that much.

However...overnights are not rated (the ratings run from 6A-12mid). Thus national buyers have no way to know what they'd be getting.

Probably most of the local stuff wasn't even specifically buying that time slot, it was likely more a case of the station giving "bonus" spots to advertisers to bring down their rate (x dollars divided by a higher number of spots equals a lower price per spot). Also advertisers looking to buy at the lowest possible rate get "bumped" if others are wiling to pay more, so overnights were just overflow availability.

Logue went out and recruited some local advertisers as well, to my knowledge.
 
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