STATIONS THAT SERVE OTHER MARKETS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO

[1L6E6VHF]

WKNR 850/Cleveland serves Columbus, Detroit, and Toledo during the day. WTAM 1100 does pretty much the same day (except when too close to WCAR 1090 near Detroit) and of course serves much more at night.
Any of the 50 kW clears serve many other markets at night.

As for FM: CIDR 93.9/Windsor serves the Sandusky, OH and lakeshore north-central Ohio areas like a local.
WQIO 93.7 serves parts of Columbus even though they are really a Mansfield/Mt. Vernon area station.

You can get WKNR and WTAM here daytime, and WTAM at night of course, but it's probably a stretch to say either station serves Columbus. WKNR does have some listeners down here, but WTAM is a tough pickup even on the best car radio. It's certainly no WLW around here.


WQIO has a lot of listeners here, too, and they're a good alternative to some of our local FMs. I have noticed a weaker signal from 93.7 the past month or two, however.

I can't help but think that WTAM is an "underperformer", even taking its higher 1100 frequency and the soil conductivity ratings into account. Its daytime signal compares poorly to a typical class B FM

 

[schmave]

They really are. Back in WOWO's 50K days, it performed better from higher on the dial than WTAM does now. I know it sounded better 60-80 miles out of Fort Wayne than WTAM does that far from Cleveland.

 

[cyberdad]

Cyberdad--how is WWKB's signal in Toronto?

I an not Cyberdad, but I can answer the question. WWKB puts a listenable signal in Toronto while listening on a car radio, but is degraded when going under power lines and other sources of noise. Their signal falls far short of other Buffalo stations such as WGR and WBEN. WKBW is highly direction and is cheated on their daytime signal. Buffalo sits between 2 contrasting areas of ground conductivity which is fairly good to the west, but poor to the east. WWKB's signal is shunted to the west, meaning they cannot take advantage of the good conductivity. Most of their signal is directed toward the east, in the area of poor conductivity.
OTOH, their nighttime signal is legendary, and is probably one of the most reliable US signals in Europe. Although most of their signal is shunted to the west, they put a listenable signal into Chicago at night, and I heard them in Nevada in the early 80's.

I AM Cyberdad, and I thank Geographer for nailing it exactly with his answer.

WWKB is indeed listenable in Toronto on a good radio (meaning basically in a car), but the signal is nowhere near as good as WGR or WBEN. My experience listening to WWKB in the car between business appointments is that it's rather tough duty in most parts of town because the signal frequently gets overhwelmed by noise. The result is pretty much an "in and out" proposition. In downtown Toronto with all the tall buildings, reception is pretty much impossible. In-town reception is best on the freeways. Outside of town, reception doesn't last very long going west or north....it's a little better to the east.
t

 

[mimo]

When I lived in Toronto back in 96/97 I found kb 1520's signal to be decent and listenable. On every radio I owned. I lived 10 minutes west of downtown (towards Buffalo) and had no problem getting it in my apartment. I never tried for it much driving around downtown, although the radio's seek would stop on it. That was when it was country, which was not my choice of music.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

The Chicago 50kw stations all put a city grade (or close) into Milwaukee and frequently show up in Milwaukee ratings. WIND at 5kw on 560 has shown up as well...but not recently. Conversely, WTMJ from Milwaukee has been known to crack the bottom of Chicago book. This would seem to be most likely during Packers or University of Wisconsin football seasons.

Chicago stations also show up...or have shown up...in ratings in places like Peoria and the Quad Cities (Davenport, Rock Island, Moline, East Moline).

Same with KMOX St. Louis in downstate Illinois (Springfield, Quincy, even in Peoria, etc.) and much of Missouri and "mid-America"--even with the vast network of local Cardinals radio affiliates in the Mississippi Valley.

IMO KTRS 550 has the second-best local signal of a St. Louis AM here in the Springfield area.

 

[charlestondxman]

WKXW 101.5 serves several different markets with its local talk/oldies format. It is meant as a Trenton station, but its reach goes well into the Philadelphia area. They are powerful in Somerset County, along with Monmouth and Ocean Counties, and the signal is listenable up to Newark before it starts getting interference.

When 97.3 simulcasted, it served a large part of Delaware and even parts of Maryland.

WFAN is still easy to hear into Delaware on I-95 daytime.

 

[ftballfan]

WKXW 101.5 serves several different markets with its local talk/oldies format. It is meant as a Trenton station, but its reach goes well into the Philadelphia area. They are powerful in Somerset County, along with Monmouth and Ocean Counties, and the signal is listenable up to Newark before it starts getting interference.

When 97.3 simulcasted, it served a large part of Delaware and even parts of Maryland.

WFAN is still easy to hear into Delaware on I-95 daytime.

Being second adjacent to NY and Philly stations helps with New Jersey 101.5's range.

 

[DrC]

On a trip from Dallas to Wichita Falls last month, I listened to 105.7 KRNB for the entire two-hour drive. Was great to a) listen to an FM station with great reception the entire 120-mile drive, and b) having it play a format I enjoy.

105.7 doesn't make a single mention of Wichita Falls, but covers pretty much the entire area reliably on car radios (I was also able to pick it up on my Tecsun in my hotel room, which was facing the exact wrong direction for it). Met a couple people in the area who were listening to 105.7 in their cars and it was cool to see that the station seemed to have a listenership in an area it doesn't make any real effort to advertise or program to.

 

[Lewtheprof]

WLW 700 is the station which comes to mind for me. At around 70 miles distant from my home town of New Castle, IN, it was THE "go to" station for the Cincinnati Reds games, from at least as far back as I can remember in the early 1960's. It was, and still is a powerhouse station all throughout the SE Indiana area to at least 100 miles out, and had a signal that rivaled even our own 250 W local station, WCTW at the time, whose tower was on the opposite side of town, only about 3 miles away. I recall them playing ads from a large number of national advertising clients, whose advertisements played quite a lot, mostly during the games they carried.

WLS 890 could also be heard in homes and cars, even though being 180 miles out they were received as a much weaker station that most one would bother listening to. In spite of that, WLS was worth listening to in those days (60's and 70's), as it was a truly great station with an all popular music format. I still recall fondly how they played a really wide range of popular music, everything from soul to hard rock, a unique mix that I just couldn't seem to hear anywhere else. It was like an eye opening music lesson experience for a small town boy, whenever I tuned in...

 

[Geographer]

WLS 890 could also be heard in homes and cars, even though being 180 miles out they were received as a much weaker station that most one would bother listening to. In spite of that, WLS was worth listening to in those days (60's and 70's), as it was a truly great station with an all popular music format. I still recall fondly how they played a really wide range of popular music, everything from soul to hard rock, a unique mix that I just couldn't seem to hear anywhere else. It was like an eye opening music lesson experience for a small town boy, whenever I tuned in...

There has been much discussion about the poor quality of WLS's compared to the 70's and 80's. I don't think the problem is with WLS, but with co-channel interference from Cuba or Mexico. I have traveled extensively since the 70's and their daytime signal seems just as good now as it was back then. They still put a listenable daytime signal into Cincinnati, Toledo, St. Louis and the Quad Cities. At night however, they are hammered by co-channel interference as close as Champagne. I have fond memories of WLS and KFI. When growing up in Upstate New York, I tuned around on my radio and stopped at a popular song. To my amazement, my radio boomed out: "The Big 89, WLS Chicago". That experience got me hooked on DXing. My best catch from Upstate NY was KFI. Can someone from Southern CA tell me how their signal performs at full power? While I was in the area, they were running at reduced power because their transmitter got hit by a small plane. I am curious on how far they be heard during the day, where their cancellation zone is located, whether they get out better in certain directions, and how they compare to the Midwest giants such as the Chicago clears, WLW, WJR, etc.? Thanks.

 

[HudsonValley1967]

I recall KOMA Oklahoma City, OK running ads for Safeway stores here in Colorado. Their target listeners were OK hunters visiting Colorado . KOMA at night was "no fade" reception here in Colorado most of the Fall season.

My station with "no interest but great signal" was WTIC Hartford, CT. It had a great signal in the Hudson Valley and as I recall no ads from sponsors other than metro Hartford.

A little side note: 1:35 PM Eastern Time, my 8th grade English class, 22 November 1963. The radio connected to our school's (in Newburgh, NY) PA system announced the Kennedy shooting via WTIC.

 

[radiodog2]

Corpus Christi station KCTA 1030 would probably be passable as a Houston rim shot, if it had a format that was relevant.

It can also be heard down in the RGV during the day as a local.

 

[HudsonValley1967]

Oh forgot one. The night time signal of 60's rocker WKBW. Heard in the Hudson Valley on my National NC-183 with the 10" speaker. WKBW sounded like they were next door and not over 400 miles away. Also, FM blaster CKFM in Toronto coming across the lake in to Geneseo, NY. Reception on that signal was an under the dash FM converter strapped to my 1973 Nova.

 

[charlestondxman]

WBMQ 630 Savannah during the daytime in Charleston. Can be picked up with a Walkman 15-20 miles inland daytime, and at the beach actually causes interference on first-adjacents.

Carried Georgia football with Larry Munson for decades, and had listeners all over the area for that.

 

[Raider57]

100.7 WHUD is meant to serve Westchester and the Hudson Valley, but can be heard clear into Northern New Jersey and Western Connecticut, listeners often call in from those areas as well.

 

[Natheodan]

Growing up near Stockton, my car radio's 2nd FM preset band was strictly for Bay Area stations. Ones like KMEL, KXXX (99.7), KITS, and KIOI always came in clear in the valley. I even listened to KNBR for the Giants as opposed to a local AM simply for the clarity. I haven't looked at Stockton's books lately but KMEL used to show up regularly.