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Wasted 50KW AM signals

M

MediaBoy4Radio

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

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

WCBM, I can't comment on one way or the other--it's way too directional to get north to Western NY. Its channel (680) is blocked here by a Toronto-based all news station, CFTR, which is actually pretty good although it covers mostly Canadian news and therefore doesn't get much cross-border audience.

'KB is another story. It was a GREAT full-service personality-driven contemporary radio station from 1958 to 1989, always in the top 3 in the market. Then the company that bought it from CapCities/ABC went bust, it floundered through a whole bunch of satellite formats, and had a bit of an indian summer from 2003 to 2005 as a personality oldies station before being killed a second time and turned into what it is now. It's a station that needs a new owner willing to try to compete for listeners by offering something high-quality and local once again.
 
I agree with what you say about WWKB....I grew up with KB 1520 and I remember
Business Radio 1520 and the all too brief resurection of music........and now
all the talk.....the signal is dynamite and the station is legendary....it does need
someone with an understanding of the market and the vision to program it back into
respectability.
 
"'KB is another story. It was a GREAT full-service personality-driven contemporary radio station from 1958 to 1989, always in the top 3 in the market".

Bob, can't disagree with 'KB once being a great radio station. I could be wrong, but I think if you'll check the ARBITRONs from about '85 on, you'll find that 'KB was nowhere near the top 3 stations in the market. As the 80s wore on, 'KB was in a free fall when it came to ratings.
 
I have to join the chorus and say that KB is the biggest waste of a 50kw station I know of.

Sure would be nice if someone with broadcasting experience, and the funding needed, would come in and buy the station.

What is really sad is that at one time KB was "The Station" to listen too. Today it's a damn joke.
 
I vote (as well as KB)for WPTR 1540 in Albany and whatever is on the old WMEX 1530 in Boston.
 
WQEW or WWKB. I'm not sure which is more pathetic, Radio Disney or Air America. WWKB is probably worse, since broadcasting fifth-rate American political talk on a signal that covers more of Canada than it does the US is ultradumb.
 
WQEW or WWKB. I'm not sure which is more pathetic, Radio Disney or Air America. WWKB is probably worse, since broadcasting fifth-rate American political talk on a signal that covers more of Canada than it does the US is ultradumb.
Click to expand...

No, no - Stephanie MIller and Ed Schultz are 1st rate political talk - unless maybe you're apolitical or a Bush/Cheney regime denialist. But I like WROC AM950 better here in Rochester. They have the best of Air America and Steph and Ed. But KB should have stayed Oldies. The guy who runs Entercom(like our odious president, a fortunate son) basically hates Oldies and must have been talked into it by Buffalo management. Dropping Oldies just to hurt WHLD so they couldn't possibly hurt WBEN is another reason why deregulation sucks(much like our corrupt greed based government).
 
raymond_shaw said:
WQEW or WWKB. I'm not sure which is more pathetic, Radio Disney or Air America. WWKB is probably worse, since broadcasting fifth-rate American political talk on a signal that covers more of Canada than it does the US is ultradumb.
Click to expand...

No, no - Stephanie MIller and Ed Schultz are 1st rate political talk - unless maybe you're apolitical or a Bush/Cheney regime denialist. But I like WROC AM950 better here in Rochester. They have the best of Air America and Steph and Ed. But KB should have stayed Oldies. The guy who runs Entercom(like our odious president, a fortunate son) basically hates Oldies and must have been talked into it by Buffalo management. Dropping Oldies just to hurt WHLD so they couldn't possibly hurt WBEN is another reason why deregulation sucks(much like our corrupt greed based government).
Click to expand...

They're not on when us DXers are listening. The woman they have on at sunset (Leslie something) sucks and Lionel has turned into Nancy Grace lately.
 
Ok, what the heck! What do you think it would cost to purchase KB?
 
Nice idea I'm with you in spirit....but. Just like the old RCA, Zenith, Mangavox and Sylvania companies KB is gone never to return. It wasn't only a place but also a time. Also the people made the difference.

Anyone who wanted to buy KB would have to have deep pockets so they could also buy WGR and WBEN. Why the FCC ever allowed one company to control the big 3 AM signals is beyond me.

I remember through most of KB's glory days we didn't have FM (it was there but hadn't caught on) , cassettes, iPods or CD's in the car. We only had 3 TV stations no cable stations or internet. Everyone said KB had too many commercials and the jocks talked too much.....but personally I loved every minute!

My Wasted 50KW signals

WWKB Buffalo
WTAM 1220 Cleveland
WINZ 940 Miami
WAQI 710 Miami
WCKY 1530 Cincinnati
WQEW 1560 NYC

....and the others aren't doing that much better.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
My Wasted 50KW signals

WWKB Buffalo
WTAM 1220 Cleveland
WINZ 940 Miami
WAQI 710 Miami
WCKY 1530 Cincinnati
WQEW 1560 NYC

....and the others aren't doing that much better.
Click to expand...
Isn't WTAM on 1100 and quite successful?
 
I believe the Cleveland station on 1220 is using the WKNR calls....but yeah, its a waste!

Honorable mentions for this dubious list....

KAAY Little Rock
KXEL Waterloo, Iowa
KDWN Las Vegas
WNTP Philadelphia
WHOO Orlando (or whatever the current calls are on 990)
 
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights

It may be easier to list the AM signals that aren't wasted. Forget 50KWs. How many Buffalo AMs aren't wasted? Well, let's see, there's WBEN, and WNED-AM. Otherwise, I guess WGR gets a pass when they carry a Sabres game...
 
WWKB wasn't apparently a waste running the dreary syndicated business talk format, but is now that it is running liberal talk programming? And how about stations running all syndicated anything? Do they also make the list?

Sorry, but just as shortwave listeners have had to come and realize the glory days for that medium have passed, so too has AM, particularly for all but the most popular AM station in the market. The audience isn't getting any younger, and the writing is on the wall.
 
Phillip Dampier said:
WWKB wasn't apparently a waste running the dreary syndicated business talk format, but is now that it is running liberal talk programming?
Click to expand...

Is there ANYBODY who DOESN'T think that KB was a waste while running the "dreary syndicated business talk format"? I don't know where you got that. As far as the signal being wasted running liberal talk, I think that their 1 share speaks for itself.
 
Is there ANYBODY who DOESN'T think that KB was a waste while running the "dreary syndicated business talk format"? I don't know where you got that. As far as the signal being wasted running liberal talk, I think that their 1 share speaks for itself.
Click to expand...

Business talk, liberal talk, conservative talk, sports talk - as somebody else observed on the talk board on tis website - AM turnkey formats, no matter what they are, don't attract an audience.

Entercom apparently wouldn't spend a dime to run tv spots promoting KB when they went Oldies a few years back. 10 seconds tv spots promoting that "Danny's back on KB in the morning" would have gotten the word out. Now they're playing it safe, using 'KB for the purpose of neutralizing WHLD.

Radio, like the government, shouldn't be controlled by big corporations.
 
Entercom apparently wouldn't spend a dime to run tv spots promoting KB when they went Oldies a few years back. 10 seconds tv spots promoting that "Danny's back on KB in the morning" would have gotten the word out. Now they're playing it safe, using 'KB for the purpose of neutralizing WHLD.
Click to expand...
Given the nature of KB's Oldies, it's arguable as to whether 10 second TV commercials would've helped. Don't you think the Neaverth brand would've attracted greater than a 2 share by itself? Not that TV would've hurt, but, honestly...

As to WHLD, it appears they're doing a good job of neutralizing themselves. KB, WHLD and WJJL are "curiousity" formats... you know, "I wonder what's going on these days at ****, I haven't listened in a few weeks..."
 
Radknowski said:
As to WHLD, it appears they're doing a good job of neutralizing themselves. KB, WHLD and WJJL are "curiousity" formats... you know, "I wonder what's going on these days at ****, I haven't listened in a few weeks..."
Click to expand...
What's wrong with being a "curiousity format?" Must every station have a ten share to satisfy the posters on this board? I know I'm as guilty as the next guy, but really, is there no room in the market for stations that are unique and appeal to a small but loyal audience? Yes, I know radio is a business, but stations that aren't top five or the darlings of those that post here seem to get the brunt of criticism and ridicule.
 
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