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Translator wars!

N

nuffsaid

It seems like every day there is another AM station signing on a translator and feel when they broadcast their AM signal on FM they will be successful! Will the addition of a translator save an AM station in many of these local communities? Is the FM Translator the salvation for AM radio.
 
Will the addition of a translator save an AM station in many of these local communities? Is the FM Translator the salvation for AM radio.
Click to expand...

In many communities, it is working out well.
 
Yes and no. Translators come in all sorts of power levels and coverages. The best case scenario for translators in our area is a coverage approaching that of a class A FM, but to do that requires being on a 1000' (or higher) tower at the full 250W. Most translators have significantly less coverage, so "your mileage may vary". Building penetration is also a concern with translators, far more so than with most regular FM signals. So, the question is: can a sub-class A signal effectively compete in any given location? If it can, the the translator will be a help. If the typical coverage radius of 5-10km from many translators isn't enough, then the AM may not gain as much from having the translator.
 
No 1250 I was not necessarily meaning the AM's in St. Augustine that put translators on the air but I have heard both and neither one of them are worth the paper to blow them to hell. Kevin Geddings seems like a fairly nice guy but he has no broadcast savy and Kris Phillips is not playing with a full deck. Has anyone met her "manager"? From what I hear he has zero broadcast experience and a Hitler complex. I know of a number of AM stations with translators and most are doing OK but it has taken them a lot of work to make the transistion from AM to "FM". Often AM broadcaster's feels that just putting their signal on a translator is an instant ticket to success.
 
#1: AM's, especially small AM's, continually have to fight the "nobody listens to AM radio" arguement. I usually use the "do you ever listen to NASCAR on the radio"? When they usually say yes (at least in our area) then I tell them they have listened to AM, specifically our AM, since we are the only NASCAR station within earshot. So far we have never heard "nobody listens to FM radio", at least yet! A translator magically makes that arguement dissapear!

#2 We have a pretty good signal (low dial, 1000 watts, tall tower) during the day, but at night our 18 watts barely gets to the city limits. Even our other station with 1000 watts fulltime, but high on the dial, gets eaten up at night anywhere outside of town. Any AM, and again mostly small AM's serving rural areas where we still can eke out an existance, who must reduce power or go directional, or both, looses a lot of audience. Consider Dec-Jan when sunset falls at 5:30pm! A translator just keeps on putting out that nice, round contour day and night, and in beautiful strereo.

So is a translator a magic bullet for AM's, I say YES!
 
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