rickradio said:
1670 in Redding causes probs for you, too, huh? It really pisses me off that it seems you can do anything you want if you have deep enough pockets.
The night "problem" with 1670 is that it is nearly a shortwave frequency, and can easily be heard for several thousand miles, even at 1 kw. Before the US put stations on the X Bands, I could hear Argentine X-banders regularly from my previous DX post in San Juan, PR.
As to KNRO, keep in mind that it is owned by Mapleton, a decent smaller broadcaster who has, to their credit, bought and left alone KPIG, a unique format, and even kept classics in Monterey-Salinas. The whole company, 40 stations, bills (gross revenue) less than any single one of the top 25 stations in LA so you can see the perspective... they are smaller station operators and they seem to be pretty good ones, too.
As I'm sure you know, Steve, 1670's just a satellite relay box for Bristol, CT.
Do you really think that Redding, where 14 local stations split only $6 million in revenue, could support a live and local sports station? At least Mapleton is provinding a good national service on a signal and in a market where most would sell block religious shows and the like.
1500 here is right in between a Disneyland satellite relay box at 1470 and KFBK.
My counterpoint on Disney is that, when nobody else is programming for kids, Disney is. They obviously make no money on it, but get a certain marketing value. Good for them for providing the service.
Are you near San Diego, or somewhere along the Mexican border?
I have several locations, one in LA, one in the desert, and one in the AZ mountains.
I guess 1500 is dark in LA?
It's been silent for decades. There are multiple applications for it, from new COLs, but NIMBY has kept it off.
When it was KBLA and KBBQ, et al., the signal barely made it across Burbank from all accounts I've heard and read.
At night it was strictly for the San Fernando Valley. Daytime, it covered down as far as downtown, across to Santa Monica. One of the PDs I work with did mid-days when it was Spanish, and she noted lots of calls from the McArthur Park and East LA areas. Studios were on Riverside in Toluca Lake, a really nice neighborhood.
Are you in the Southland somewhere, David? For some reason, I had the impression you're in LA.
I can see the old KROQ AM site from the road as I leave home, and the Flint Peak towers are pretty near spittin' distance.
Yeah, the AM dial could use some serious cleaning up, to be sure.
Hindsight is pretty good, and we are all skilled Monday Morning Quarterbacks. ;D There was one thing the FCC could never anticipate when most of the choice regional stations were licensed, and that is the urban sprawl of US cities or metro areas after W.W. II. Nearly all the cities grew beyond the day and night coverage of the local stations.
Of course, there was little ambient noise then, so they thought 50 kw could cover a whole state by day, and 5 kw a big city area. In fact, 50 kw today is challenged to cover many metros, and many 5kw stations are not viable for even day coverage. And forget the daytimers... when FM became viable, the daytimers and low power stations began a hasty decline.
There are far to many stations, but no owner thinks they can't make it work, and there is nearly always another person to buy when they fail... and they do.
