Wasted 50 kw AM signals

[MediaBoy4Radio]

I am interested in your nominations for wasted 50 kw signals on AM for anywhere in the USA.........................

I'll start with two...........WCBM Baltimore and WWKB Buffalo.................

 

[mbatchelor]

KAAY in Little Rock, and KDWN in Las Vegas.

 

[KOL]

WCKY in Cincinnati.

 

[smedge2006]

WTRU Kernersville (Greensboro) NC. 50 kW days. The night signal is less but still can be heard throughout the Carolinas and the South Atlantic region.

You are so right about WCBM. The station's in a time warp. If I ever walked into that place, I wouldn't be surprised to see rotary phones, speakerphones to interface with callers, homemade cart delay systems, and leisure suits. What a comedown for Rush to end up there.

It's too early to declare KB a waste. Certainly their track record of format changes over the past 20 years isn't good. At least they have a quasi-local talent (Leslie Marshall) in one daypart.

 

[MarcB]

WALE 990 Greenville (Providene) Rhode Island. (They have much less power at night). Most of the 50KW signal goes into the Atlantic Ocean. I guess the fish like Spanish Adult Contemporary Music.

 

[Jul]

WPHT 1210 AM and KYW 1060 AM both in Philly.

 

[OldGringo]

WPHT 1210 AM and KYW 1060 AM both in Philly.

Why would you say Philly's top billing and second highest rated rated station is wasted?

And while it has been slow, WPHT has been growing consistently in revenues for the last 8 years. In fact, it is billing about 8 times what it did in 1998.

 

[Jul]

Why would you say Philly's top billing and second highest rated rated station is wasted?

And while it has been slow, WPHT has been growing consistently in revenues for the last 8 years. In fact, it is billing about 8 times what it did in 1998.

In terms of programming and the way the persons run the formats, the 2 stations to me are not good as they once were. WCAU used to be a better station than today's 1210 AM, the same goes with with KYW.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

XEPRS in San Diego. Remember when Wolfman Jack made that station famous under the XERB calls? Sports talk is usually the format chosen by the once famous AM music station that couldn't keep up with FM.

 

[MarcB]

WNTP NewsTalk 990 in Philly, a talk station owned by SALEM.

 

[OldGringo]

XEPRS in San Diego. Remember when Wolfman Jack made that station famous under the XERB calls? Sports talk is usually the format chosen by the once famous AM music station that couldn't keep up with FM.

XEPRS... and this is a technicality... is in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico. Not San Diego.

As Radio Express, it was a Mexican music station for several decades... until all Spanish language music migrated to FM and the station could not get any audience because of that.

Sports talk tends to have the highest power ratio of any format, and ratings concentrated in the very valuable 25-44 and 25-54 male demos.

Despite not having a full-market signal for San Diego, XEPRS is the 4th highest billing station in the market, and only a tiny bit away from #1. Now that they have an FM to fill the coverage holes, they may become the top biller there.

Compared to the zero-ratings, low billing hisotry of this staiton in the 80's and 90's, XEPRS as a sports station is probably the best or second best uitilized AM in San Diego.

XEPRS beats all but two of the San Diego Music FMs in revenue. Hardly "what you do when you can not compete with FM."

 

[zumahans]

I though XEPRS tried some english formats in the 1970s? Remember the 1090 Soul Express, circa 1973? Huggy Boy?

Too bad David Eduardo's not here anymore, he would set us straight.

Slight technicality: Rosarito = San Diego market.

 

[OldGringo]

I though XEPRS tried some english formats in the 1970s? Remember the 1090 Soul Express, circa 1973? Huggy Boy?

Too bad David Eduardo's not here anymore, he would set us straight.

Slight technicality: Rosarito = San Diego market.

Soul Express was on at night, while Radio Express was on daytime. Teddy Fregoso began Radio Express as XEPRS in about 1974 or 1975 (one of their talents works with me now) and it had English in "sky wave hours" until the daytime format started billing, and then the brokers were cancelled.

The San Diego radio market is San Diego County, as you could find out at the Arbitron website. So far, there are no CMSA's that include both sides of the border, but this will be coming in the near future.

 

[zumahans]

I see, then your earlier statement that "as Radio Express, it was a Mexican music station for several decades" is factually incorrect, and that's more than a mere technicality.

And since XEPRS does not transmit from San Diego County, it is not in the San Diego market. Interesting.

If it's not in the San Diego market, as you said, how come it sells ads in the San Diego market, and is in fact in the top five billing stations in the San Diego market?

Hmmm. I guess your "technical correction" has two major errors of fact.

 

[OldGringo]

I see, then your earlier statement that "as Radio Express, it was a Mexican music station for several decades" is factually incorrect, and that's more than a mere technicality.

And since XEPRS does not transmit from San Diego County, it is not in the San Diego market. Interesting.

If it's not in the San Diego market, as you said, how come it sells ads in the San Diego market, and is in fact in the top five billing stations in the San Diego market?

Hmmm. I guess your "technical correction" has two major errors of fact.

In its first few years, Radio Express was the name for the daytime Spanish programming, and "Soul X-press" for the post-sunset English programming. Once established, Teddy Fregoso, the LMA holder, cancelled the night programming brokerage deals, and went 24/7 with the Spanish programming, which continued for several decades. In fact, it continued until John Lynch LMAed the facility from Teófilo Bichara about 3 years ago. At various times, the XEPRS studios were in the El Capitan Theatre building in Hollywood, at Sunset and Vine and at Hollywood and Vine.

Rosarito is not in the San Diego market. XEPRS, technically, is an out of market signal which has chosen to serve not its own market but an adjacent one. While in Spanish, it ignored both Tijuana and San Diego, selling only in the LA and Orange County areas.

A comparable, but not international, example is KLYY, licensed to the Riverside / San Bernardino market but which has chosen to serve the LA market and does not even have a presence in Riverside. The studios are in Santa Monica. Out of market signal, serving an adjacent... and more profitable... market.

 

[zumahans]

So, XPRS was a mexican-music format station. Except it played soul music.

And XPRS is the 4th-highest billing station in the San Diego market. Except it's not in the San Diego market.

Check.

 

[OldGringo]

So, XPRS was a mexican-music format station. Except it played soul music.

And XPRS is the 4th-highest billing station in the San Diego market. Except it's not in the San Diego market.

Check.

XEPRS, for a couple of years foillowing it's changing from XERB was Mexican music daytime, and brokered out the evening skywave hours for an English program. In other words, it was in Spanish in all the prime listeening hours, and sold time to a broker at night after sunset.

And XEPRS is not in the San Diego market. It is home to a separately rated market, Tijuana. However, it sells in San Diego.

From the 70's to the 90's, it was home to Tijuana, and sold mostly in LA.

For 40 or 50 years, Radio Luxembourg 1439 kHz was home to the principality of Luxembourg, but sold in Great Britain. Radio Monte Carlo 1466 was home to Monaco, but served and sold along the French Mediterranean coast.

 

[zumahans]

----->In other words, it was in Spanish in all the prime listeening hours, and sold time to a broker at night after sunset.

In other words, it was not a mexican music station.

----->And XEPRS is not in the San Diego market. It is home to a separately rated market, Tijuana. However, it sells in San Diego.

In other words, XEPRS is the fourther-highest biller in the San Diego market, but is not in the San Diego market.

-----For 40 or 50 years, Radio Luxembourg 1439 kHz was home to the principality of Luxembourg, but sold in Great Britain. Radio Monte Carlo 1466 was home to Monaco, but served and sold along the French Mediterranean coast.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

[OldGringo]

----->In other words, it was in Spanish in all the prime listeening hours, and sold time to a broker at night after sunset.

In other words, it was not a mexican music station.

----->And XEPRS is not in the San Diego market. It is home to a separately rated market, Tijuana. However, it sells in San Diego.

In other words, XEPRS is the fourther-highest biller in the San Diego market, but is not in the San Diego market.

-----For 40 or 50 years, Radio Luxembourg 1439 kHz was home to the principality of Luxembourg, but sold in Great Britain. Radio Monte Carlo 1466 was home to Monaco, but served and sold along the French Mediterranean coast.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Since 80% of listening is 6 AM to 7 PM, I would say the naswer to question one is obvious.

And XEPRS is not in the San Diego market. The "X" at the beginning of the calls should be the first clue. The transmitter 20 miles south of Tijuana should also be a dead giveaway.

There are plenty of out-of market and even out of country stations and there have been for decades, as boring as reality is (ZZZZZZzzzzz) to you.

 

[zumahans]

XEPRS is not in the San Diego market, but is the fourth-highest biller in the San Diego market, but is not in the market, even though its studios are at 3655 Nobel Dr # 470, San Diego, 92122, which is not in the San Diego market.

Check.

"Mexican music format" includes brokered soul music at night.

Check.

"Technical" correction makes two major errors of fact.

Check. Mate. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.