• 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

On 1390AM - with WPLM AM silent - WFBL Syracuse is a DX listen

Heard WFBL pretty clearly Saturday after midnight on the Cape playing oldies as "The Dinosaur". Like a lot of these AMs in simulcasts they only mention the FMs except in the top of the hour ID, not the AMs (which is dumb). It looks like they have 5 stations simulcasting, 3 FMs and one other AM. I've listened to this while driving through upstate NY so when I heard "The Dinosaur" I knew what it was.

With the expansion of AM translators there is an increasing amount of music on the AM band to DX. Unfortunately most of it is just a computer with no one on the air but such is radio in 2018.
 
Unfortunately most of it is just a computer with no one on the air but such is radio in 2018.


BTW the station is owned by local Syracuse radio engineer and entrepreneur Craig Fox. WFBL isn't actually the originating station. It simulcasts co-owned WSEN-FM, and then there are the other simulcasts you mentioned.
 
WFBL was often the station dominating the nighttime pileup on 1390 when I'd listen from the North Shore in the '70s. I was going to SU at the time, and WFBL was the only Syracuse station I could hear during trips home.
 
WFBL was often the station dominating the nighttime pileup on 1390 when I'd listen from the North Shore in the '70s. I was going to SU at the time, and WFBL was the only Syracuse station I could hear during trips home.

From what I can see, the station was one of the first stations in Syracuse, going back to 1922. Like a lot of AMs, it got stuck with a weak signal and bad dial position, probably due to complacency of ownership in the early days. They probably could have moved up the dial for a better spot, like WSYR, which is still a viable station in the market. But they didn't, so Fox is using it to simulcast his Dinosaur format.
 
From what I can see, the station was one of the first stations in Syracuse, going back to 1922. Like a lot of AMs, it got stuck with a weak signal and bad dial position, probably due to complacency of ownership in the early days. They probably could have moved up the dial for a better spot, like WSYR, which is still a viable station in the market. But they didn't, so Fox is using it to simulcast his Dinosaur format.

WSYR 570 and WHEN 620 were the best signals in the market when AM still mattered. WSYR transitioned from traditional MOR to news/talk, while WHEN, which was a great-sounding uptempo AC in the '70s and much of the '80s, has floundered around, currently running music again (urban) after years of sports and talk.
 
Craig Fox also bought 1490 WOLF, which was once a hard driving Top 40 station. It's powered at 1kw (compared to FBL's 5K), and runs Fox Sports. Of course, it came online a lot later than FBL.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom