shared AM frequencies in NYC

[alok]

I know earlier in radio many stations shared frequncies,but in the late 50's / early 60's I recall 2 of the last to do so in the NYC area.. 1330 WEVD and 1330 WPOW. Also 1380 WBNX and 1380 WAWZ ( Zarephath,NJ ). If I recall correctly 1380 WAMS in Wilmington,DE was affected by WAWZ and had to alter their DA pattern when WAWZ went on the air.
1330 had separate transmitter sites in the NYC area ,1380 did too , mainly because Zarephath is down near New Brunswick,NJ, not real close to NYC.
I don't recall when these shared agreements ended ,since I left the area in the 70's.

WAWZ-AM was owned by Pillar Of Fire International, the FM ( WAWZ-FM 99.1 ) they have today is still owned by the group.

 

[Marcos_C]

Yes, I remember those two shared frequency pairs. However, by the time I discovered the stations on 1330, WEVD had already been sold to Salem Communications (now Salem Media) and had its call sign changed to WNYM. From my home in Lower Manhattan, reception of WAWZ was weak.

Both shared frequency arrangements ended in 1984. WBNX changed its call sign to WKDM and bought WAWZ, enabling WKDM to broadcast full-time. Salem bought WPOW, enabling the original WNYM to broacast full-time.

In 1989, Salem bought WMCA (570) and sold the original WNYM to Radio Visión Cristiana, a Spanish-language Christian broadcaster, which changed that station's call sign to WWRV.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

As well, Marcos, the two share time frequencies are remembered here, too, from the DXing days near JFK Airport. But now I'm curious as to which of the four involved stations showed up best in the ratings back then, in the Sixties.
The guess here is WEVD. Of the four, I'd venture that WAWZ was last.

Either WEVD or WQXR was the tower array closest to where we hung out. Both formations were on Newtown Creek. The WBNX towers were in the Meadowlands LONG before the area was re-imaged The Meadowlands by developers (the region had been known to many as the Secaucus Pig Farms).
WPOW 1330 had their three towers in southern Staten Island. The devil-knows-where the WAWZ 1380 sticks were ; I never saw them. Because of the two stations' distances from us (and the different directional patterns plus the erratic scheduling) DXing on those 'New York Market' frequencies, DXing on 1330 and 1380 was abnormally great. I was the worst of the four DXers near JFK and somehow heard a total of 36 other stations on those two frequencies.
Naturally, the overnight dial, especially on Monday mornings, was infinitely less jammed with stations back then.

WBNX 1380 and WEVD 1330 blazed through the important Five Boroughs, while WPOW 1330 and WBNX 1380 did not. That's why I ask about the ratings.

* * * * * * *

True about WAMS, alok! They might even've had more power / directional gyrations to go through because they dropped power at sunset from 5000 watts to 1000. An old logbook lists them as being U-4, which I believe meant directional day and night but with different patterns. Maybe the logbook had couldn't find enough stations to justify affixing a 'U-7' licensee, hi.
I did hear WAMS from near JFK Airport.
ONCE! For about :10 seconds, really gurgly and faint and directional.
That was one 6AM, when they signed on -- owned by 'Rollins Communications'. WBNX then signed on -- no anthem -- and that was it for any more 1380 DX that morning.
Along with anything on 1360, 1370, 1390 and 1400.

 

[Marcos_C]

But now I'm curious as to which of the four involved stations showed up best in the ratings back then, in the Sixties.

Let's see, WBNX was a Spanish-language music station, WEVD was an ethnic station, WPOW was a Christian station, and WAWZ was a Christian station whose signal could barely reach parts of New York City. I know that in 1983, WADO (1280) was the highest rated Spanish-language station, and it was near the bottom of the ratings table. So, based on the formats and their limited schedules, I would guess that the four stations had low ratings, if any, during the 1960s.

 

[BarryATL]

I wonder if there are any stations left in the USA that share frequencies?

 

[Mr Tony]

I wonder if there are any stations left in the USA that share frequencies?

yup
91.9 in Wausau, WI

91.9 WLBL-FM Wisconsin Educational Communications Board 54W/255m (A)
***Shares time with WXPW; WLBL-FM broadcasts weekdays 3a-6p and Sundays from 5p-Midnight***
News/Talk NPR “Ideas 91.9”

91.9 WXPW White Pine Community Broadcasting 54W/255m (A)
***Shares time with WLBL-FM; WXPW broadcasts weekdays from 6p-3a, all day Saturdays, and Sundays until 5p***
Adult Alternative (rebroadcast of WXPR Rhinelander)

WLBL-FM - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Omaha has 2 low powered stations on 101.3
101.3 KJSO-LP North Omaha Loves Jazz Cultural Arts and Humanities Complex 11W (LP)
Classic Hip-Hop/R&B/Jazz, Talk “Mind and Soul 101.3” (shares time with KXNB-LP)

101.3 KXNB-LP Malcolm X Memorial Foundation 11W (LP)
Classic Hip-Hop/R&B/Jazz, Talk “Mind and Soul 101.3” (shares time with KJSO-LP)

KJSO-LP - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Marcos_C]

Now that FM has been mentioned, I am reminded of two college FM stations in the New York/New Jersey area that still share one frequency: 89.1 MHz. The stations are New York University's WNYU and Fairleigh Dickinson University's WFDU. WNYU broadcasts on 89.1 weekdays from 4:00 pm to 1:00 am from its transmitter in the Bronx, and WFDU broadcasts on 89.1 during the remaining hours from its transmitter near the northeastern corner of New Jersey.

There is one pair of shared-time AM stations in the Chicago area that has been mentioned elsewhere in this forum. They are WCEV and WRLL, both licensed to Cicero, IL. However, ethnic station WCEV, which used to broadcast weekdays from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm, was shut down by its owner on January 20, 2020. Despite WCEV going silent, Spanish-language station WRLL still goes off the air between 1:00 pm and 10:00 pm as if WCEV were still operating.

Below is a link to information regarding the shutdown of WCEV. It is the second item in the article.

Robservations: WGN to expand newscasts on Saturdays and Sundays | Robert Feder

www.robertfeder.com

 

[RadioGuy1864]

Wouldn't it make sense for WRLL to buy out WCEV? From CEV's standpoint, anything is better than just handing in the license, and WRLL gets to broadcast the entire day. Seems like a no brainier to me, unless there's something I'm missing.

 

[Marcos_C]

I have no idea why the owner of WCEV still hasn't either sold its license to WRLL or surrendered its license. Below is a link to the thread about the shut down of WCEV.

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/wcev-am-1450-to-close-down.722549/

The thread includes further information on the various shared-time arrangements, including the two that are the subject of this thread. I will now share one of the quotes, followed by additional information.

In the NYC area, as I was growing up, WEVD and WPOW shared 1330 kHz. WEVD had mostly Jewish programming with some other ethnic broadcasts. It was owned by the Jewish Daily Forward. WPOW was a Christian station. I happened to listen to WEVD because comedian Joey Adams had a weekday morning show at 7:30 a.m. for just 30 minutes. At 8 o'clock, the stations would switch. I remember occasionally WPOW would step on WEVD if Adams didn't get off the air on time. WEVD also had a fulltime FM station with different ethnic programming, at 97.9 MHz.

What Gregg did not mention is that The Forward sold WEVD (AM) to Salem Communications in 1981. The format of that station was then changed to Christian, and its call sign was changed to WNYM. From then until 1989, WEVD broadcast on 97.9 FM only. It was on the FM dial that I listened to WEVD, both for Art Raymond's Jewish music show and for the foreign-language programming.

In February 1989, WEVD swapped frequencies with Spanish Broadcasting System. As a result, WEVD moved to 1050 AM, and the station on 97.9 FM became WSKQ-FM, New York City's first full-time Spanish-language FM station. In 2001, WEVD, which had spent several years as a liberal talk station, started running ESPN Radio full-time. In 2003, The Forward sold WEVD to ABC/Disney, and the new owner changed the station's call sign to WEPN.

 

[Alex Browne]

I wonder if there are any stations left in the USA that share frequencies?

Another shared FM frequency is in the New Paltz, NY, area where 88.7 is shared by the SUNY-New Paltz student station WFNP/Rosendale with WRHV/Poughkeepsie, a simulcast of classical public radio station WMHT-FM in Schenectady. In the late 80's, both the college and WMHT's licensee, WMHT Educational Telecommunications, sought the frequency and agreed to share time. WRHV is on the air from 5 am-7 pm weekdays; 5 am-9 pm Saturdays; and 5 am-10 pm Sundays. WFNP broadcasts during the late evenings and overnight. When school is out of session, WRHV broadcasts around-the-clock.

 

[davideduardo]

What Gregg did not mention is that The Forward sold WEVD (AM) to Salem Communications in 1981. The format of that station was then changed to Christian, and its call sign was changed to WNYM. From then until 1989, WEVD broadcast on 97.9 FM only. It was on the FM dial that I listened to WEVD, both for Art Raymond's Jewish music show and for the foreign-language programming.

In February 1989, WEVD swapped frequencies with Spanish Broadcasting System. As a result, WEVD moved to 1050 AM, and the station on 97.9 FM became WSKQ-FM, New York City's first full-time Spanish-language FM station. In 2001, WEVD, which had spent several years as a liberal talk station, started running ESPN Radio full-time. In 2003, The Forward sold WEVD to ABC/Disney, and the new owner changed the station's call sign to WEPN.

In 1988 Emmis sold WFAN 1050 to SBS, allowing them to then trade with Forward for the FM. WFAN moved to 660, of course. This deal was chess, not checkers.

 

[Marcos_C]

In 1988 Emmis sold WFAN 1050 to SBS, allowing them to then trade with Forward for the FM. WFAN moved to 660, of course. This deal was chess, not checkers.

In those days, no one was permitted to own two AM stations in the same market. So, SBS, which already had the 5,000-watt WSKQ on 620 AM, got temporary permission from the FCC to run the 50,000-watt station on 1050 AM as a noncommercial station (with the call sign WUKQ) until the trade with The Forward for 97.9 FM.

 

[kevtronics]

The devil-knows-where the WAWZ 1380 sticks were ; I never saw them.

They were off of Weston Canal Road in Zarephath, NJ in what is now a soccer field.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Was that a slight dogleg array, or does it just look like that on the USGS Map?