Anyone noticed that WAMZ does not go as for down I-65 south as it used to? I used to be able to listen to WAMZ very well at my house in Cave City, Now It's gone at the Hart\Larue country line......I seriously doubt they are still running 100kw even though they are licensed to.
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WAMZ
- Thread starter jwhite6069
- Start date
KR4BD said:
The FCC site indicates no STA and they are at the same location along the Jefferson/Bullitt County line. There was a construction permit to move WAMZ to WHAS' tower but it was allowed to expire.
KR4BD said:
Or more FM stations on the dial. You used to be able to take DJX all the way to Bowling Green, until the 99.7 licensed to Manchester moved their stick closer to Nashville and then was allowed to change their city of license to Hendersonville.
I might buy this argument in most cases but there are no strong signals on 97.1, 97.3, 97.7 or 97.9 in the Lexington area. WAMZ should be in-the-clear here on 97.5, but the fact is....they just do not have the signal they once did.
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I agree 100% with you. There isn't anything strong enough to mess with WAMZ in the Cave City, Ky area either. But still, WAMZ just isn't here anymore. If you go down I-65 It's gone at the Bonnieville exit.....even 100.5 makes it farther than that and 100.5 has less power, shorter stick and it's father away.
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I agree 100% with you. There isn't anything strong enough to mess with WAMZ in the Cave City, Ky area either. But still, WAMZ just isn't here anymore. If you go down I-65 It's gone at the Bonnieville exit.....even 100.5 makes it farther than that and 100.5 has less power, shorter stick and it's father away.
KR4BD said:
That's true, power must be maintained at at least 90% of licensed power. Those rules have not changed.
I'm not buying the "weathered transmission line" argument either. That transmitter is sending 23.8 KW up the line, and if it's getting lost in the line someplace, it doesn't take long before there's a fire in it. And then it's off the air. So that's not it.
However.... their license was modified in 2009. And their current license show them using an ERI Lynx Antenna That's a new antenna designed for combining an HD transmitter with analog. So that was probably the license mod in 2009.
When the new antenna went up, they probably paid the extra $5 grand and did a pattern study. They would have maximized their radiation to the north, to help out downtown and with that crappy multipath area they always had along 64 between Story Avenue and the tunnel.
That would have taken power that used to go south and west and maybe even east, and directed it north toward Louisville. Which was the smart thing to do.
But that would have made it seem like WAMZ doesn't do as well as it used to in those other places. because, in fact, it doesn't. Their radiation pattern has been redirected to areas that count in the ratings.
That's my guess. They're not dumb enough to "save money" on their cash cow, especially now that they actually have to fight for their ratings. If something was broken, they'd fix it.
But it's not broken. It's "re-engineered".
greg.hahn said:
Fight for there ratings? I wouldn't say Q103 is giving them a fight.
I think WAMZ's downfall started when they started firing announcers and dumped the live programming. In the 1990's, I worked with a guy at WCGW/WJMM here in the Lexington area who did overnights on weekends on WAMZ. I forget his name (Tom something???). Anyway, he was cut loose about 1999 or so when they started hooking up computers and taking satellite downloads... I know I am old fashioned, but I think listeners like LIVE RADIO and NO ONE will ever convince me that a station in a major market like WAMZ with shares of 17, etc., could not afford to keep live people there 24/7. I know for a fact the guy I worked with was not making much above minimum wage for his overnight weekend shifts in the mid-late 1990's at WAMZ.
AND................ It remains a fact, they do not have the signal over Lexington way that they once did.
AND................ It remains a fact, they do not have the signal over Lexington way that they once did.
greg.hahn said:
Agreed.
PROjammer said:
It's easy to be number 1 when you are a class C and the only game in town. Going all the way back to 2004 and the abortion that was Eagle Country 104, the ratings show that given a choice, WAMZ might not be as great a station as you'd want to believe.
WAMZ carries north of Louisville as well as ever. There's a 97.5 translator about 13 miles north of me at Franklin,IN and on the Bose Wave Radio, WAMZ at 90 air miles often demolishes the translator. My money's on greg.hahn's school of thought that the 'wasted' energy that was serving cattle is now being focused on the population center.
I still miss the top 10 at 10 live local countdown from 10 years ago on WAMZ. Any ole computer can play jukebox but to have the listener be able to call the jock & make their case for a special dedication/etc is what connects the station with the community & gets people bragging about radio. Radio (not just WAMZ) has dropped the ball by making a conscious decision to disconnect with the community. Ask anyone who's ever sat in the air chair at a top rated station in Louisville at 9PM...When you have hundreds upon hundreds of people interested enough to be calling you on the phone, it seems like a slap in their collective faces to no longer be there for them.
I still miss the top 10 at 10 live local countdown from 10 years ago on WAMZ. Any ole computer can play jukebox but to have the listener be able to call the jock & make their case for a special dedication/etc is what connects the station with the community & gets people bragging about radio. Radio (not just WAMZ) has dropped the ball by making a conscious decision to disconnect with the community. Ask anyone who's ever sat in the air chair at a top rated station in Louisville at 9PM...When you have hundreds upon hundreds of people interested enough to be calling you on the phone, it seems like a slap in their collective faces to no longer be there for them.
Bengalsfan said:
Easy? Really? Well WAMZ now has 2 stations to compete against. Who's still number 1? WAMZ is.
radioville said:
How many listeners have they lost in the last 6 years? Half of them. And the numbers keep going down.
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