The highway stations

[nd2023]

The Highway Stations targeted the audience driving between Vegas and LA. Even though few people live in the desert, they made a killing on advertisements. They could say that they were the only station listenable between Barstow and Primm, so there’s a captive audience that has money to spend and is very receptive to knowing where to spend their money.

 

[MVB13]

In February, I drove from Orlando to Tennessee to Ohio. Once north of Jacksonville, well into Georgia....nothing listenable to me. Well, there were a few AM bible thumping stations, a few smallish country FMs but for the most part nothing. I put the radio on scan, both AM & FM and it just cycled through repeatedly not picking up crap. Most of I-26 was the same way until I got near Asheville and then nearer to Johnson City/Kingsport. On the way to Ohio, I stayed off the Interstate, mainly to avoid West Virginia's outrageous tolls on I-77 and heard one interesting station in Logan, WV. and that was it until I got closer to Charlestown. As much as I hate SiriusXM, I would have killed to have it in the truck for that trip. Since I had started in the early morning, I listened to WCBS until daylight caused it to fade away.

It's kind of like the trip from West Milford, New Jersey to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Only 2 hours. Yet you get the NYC stations then once you enter NY state you get Hudson Valley Stations. Once you enter Northeast PA you get nothing for about a half an hour but a sad excuse for a Hot A/C, classic hits, talk, and country. Then you start to get the Wilkes-Barre stations. Even worse if you go through Sussex County, NJ just a radio wasteland. Constantly having signals dropping in and out fast and having to change the station as you drive. Only locals are classic rock, a/c, and country. My best bet would be the a/c, 102.3 WSUS.

 

[michael hagerty]

The Highway Stations targeted the audience driving between Vegas and LA. Even though few people live in the desert, they made a killing on advertisements. They could say that they were the only station listenable between Barstow and Primm, so there’s a captive audience that has money to spend and is very receptive to knowing where to spend their money.

Those stations were in no small part responsible for the growth of Primm, Nevada, which around the same time as the Highway Stations went on the air, began building lodging, gaming and other amusements and advertised heavily to weary travelers that they could take a break before that final hour-plus into Las Vegas.

This town on Calif. border once bustled. Now, it’s quiet and quirky.

Outside of Las Vegas on the California-Nevada border, Primm once drew travelers from all over for the world's tallest roller coaster and other attractions.

www.sfgate.com

 

[johndavis]

Those stations were in no small part responsible for the growth of Primm, Nevada, which around the same time as the Highway Stations went on the air, began building lodging, gaming and other amusements and advertised heavily to weary travelers that they could take a break before that final hour-plus into Las Vegas.

This town on Calif. border once bustled. Now, it’s quiet and quirky.

Outside of Las Vegas on the California-Nevada border, Primm once drew travelers from all over for the world's tallest roller coaster and other attractions.

www.sfgate.com

I'm surprised that Stateline (okay, Primm... I've always known it as Stateline) would have been that viable in the 1990s. I would have thought that cheap Southwest fares from the Southland would have already taken a bite out of I-15's traffic.
[I have a friend who refers to the Friday afternoon flights out of Burbank as the "hooker shuttle." Lots of attractive, well made up women heading to Vegas without luggage.]

 

[michael hagerty]

I'm surprised that Stateline (okay, Primm... I've always known it as Stateline) would have been that viable in the 1990s. I would have thought that cheap Southwest fares from the Southland would have already taken a bite out of I-15's traffic.
[I have a friend who refers to the Friday afternoon flights out of Burbank as the "hooker shuttle." Lots of attractive, well made up women heading to Vegas without luggage.]

John, I drove I-15 between Vegas and L.A. a couple of times, and there was always traffic.

My girlfriend at the time and I had a bet as to which was quicker. Her parents lived on Balboa Island. I took her to the airport, then drove down and she flew. By the time she went showing up an hour early (recommended at the time) through check-in (you had to do it at the ticket counter in those days), baggage pick-up and all the rest, I think she'd only been waiting at John Wayne for 30-ish minutes when I rolled up.

And that was when the limit was 55 (I may have been doing 60). When that got ditched in the mid-90s, it was a four-hour drive with no major traffic issues between Vegas and L.A. A ton cheaper and you already have a car when you get there.

 

[radiocph]

John, I drove I-15 between Vegas and L.A. a couple of times, and there was always traffic.

My girlfriend at the time and I had a bet as to which was quicker. Her parents lived on Balboa Island. I took her to the airport, then drove down and she flew. By the time she went showing up an hour early (recommended at the time) through check-in (you had to do it at the ticket counter in those days), baggage pick-up and all the rest, I think she'd only been waiting at John Wayne for 30-ish minutes when I rolled up.

And that was when the limit was 55 (I may have been doing 60). When that got ditched in the mid-90s, it was a four-hour drive with no major traffic issues between Vegas and L.A. A ton cheaper and you already have a car when you get there.

I live near I-15 in Rancho Cucamonga, so I usually drive to Vegas. Takes about 3-3.5 hours, allowing for a 30 min stretch/snack/restroom break in Baker....

One year I decided to fly. My nearest airport is Ontario, which is about a 15 minute drive plus
* searching and finding parking (about 10 min)
* walking through the terminal, security (20 min)
* waiting at the gate (let's say about 20 min)
* boarding the airplane (about 30 min to get everyone onboard, luggage stowed, etc)
* the actual flight, including taxi, takeoff, and landing (about 45 min)
* deboarding (about 30 min if the flight is full)
* walk to either the rental cars or the taxis (about 20 minutes, plus however long it takes to actually get a car or cab)

Total, 175 minutes, about 2.91 hours or 2 hours 54 minutes. A wash, except that I-15 traffic is much worse on Sunday or holiday Monday evenings, turning a 3-hour trip into a 5- or 6- hour trip.

That time I flew, I looked down at the crowded freeway below, and thought, "What a relief...."

 

[fybush]

It takes even longer now to get a rental car at the Vegas airport. There's an off-site rental car center that's a bus ride away, and not only does that add 15 minutes or so for the bus ride but often half an hour or longer waiting for the next bus with room.

 

[speer360]

I don’t know how much confidence it gives listeners ti the stations when they have advertisements giving business owners a week of free advertising.

 

[michael hagerty]

I don’t know how much confidence it gives listeners ti the stations when they have advertisements giving business owners a week of free advertising.

It's a station you listen to for 90 minutes on your way to or from Las Vegas. How much confidence does that require and what makes you think it would matter to a listener?

 

[johndavis]

It's a station you listen to for 90 minutes on your way to or from Las Vegas. How much confidence does that require and what makes you think it would matter to a listener?

Yeah, the only reason The Highway Stations ever mattered to me (or my parents behind the wheel) was because back then there was nothing else you could listen to in the car for those 90 minutes.

 

[RMarino]

In February, I drove from Orlando to Tennessee to Ohio. Once north of Jacksonville, well into Georgia....nothing listenable to me. Well, there were a few AM bible thumping stations, a few smallish country FMs but for the most part nothing.

Since it sounds like you were on I-95, I’ll add that it’s just as bad in southern GA on I-75. That stretch between Macon and Valdosta is brutal. There used to be some good small stations (I remember one in Tifton), but they’ve all gone country or Christian.