Wasted 50KW AM signals

[Bob1370]

When we talk about KB (and this thread seems to have become a KB thread, by and large) I think many of us are speaking of it from the point of view of our fond memories of what it used to be. Most of us remember it as listeners. A few of us (myself included, for purposes of full disclosure) drew a paycheck or two from the place during its golden years in the 60s and 70s. As a newsroom grunt during KB's days at the top of the Arbitrons I got a first hand look at what a radio station looked like from the inside when it was brimming with creativity and energy. And yes, I wonder why we can't bring those days of creative excitement back, if not at 1520 then at least somewhere...it'd do our business a lot of good and make some serious bucks once again if we took a strong signal and tried.

 

[lash]

Amen Brother Bob!

I'll say in again. You give me Danny, Don Berns, and any of those legends, and KB's signal or a smaller one, and I kill myself to make it successful here, Pittsburgh, Cincy or any of the legendary rust belt stations....or die trying!

It can be done! But you hit it! Lack of creativity and knowledge has hit our industry like cancer. These guys are Wall Street Execs, not broadcasters.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The TRUE Master

Keep the big egos and give me Jeff Kaye as a PD, and we'll see what he cooks up. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything that would lure him back to that daily grind.

 

[lash]

Or any PD that can create a new idea for these types of AM radio stations. I know I've wracked my brain on concepts. Even tried one, and it worked ok. Air America isn't the answer! Would love to see and hear ideas. Throw out some serious ones. I tried a format called Hits and Headlines on an AM that I owned. Again it worked ok, and might do better in a larger market.

More ideas gentlemen!

 

[Element9]

Or any PD that can create a new idea for these types of AM radio stations. I know I've wracked my brain on concepts. Even tried one, and it worked ok. Air America isn't the answer! Would love to see and hear ideas. Throw out some serious ones. I tried a format called Hits and Headlines on an AM that I owned. Again it worked ok, and might do better in a larger market. More ideas gentlemen!

Good idea, but why not create a new thread. This is turning into the KB Memorial Thread and sadly, it's reminiscent of so many "bring back KB" posts on this board. Much as we all like to think fondly of the Mighty 1520, it's never going to change anything.

Progressive talk on KB would do much better than it's present 1 (or less) 12+ share if Entercom supported it with local news and a live morning drive talk show with two or three live components: News, traffic and weather, and sports. The chances of this happening are slim to none. Leslie Marshall isn't local, nor is she good, merely cannon-fodder being fed to Rush on WBEN.

KB isn't much of a radio station. It hasn't been for years. The last time KB had any presence was when it carried Stern in the morning and Don and Mike in the afternoon. Stern cost KB a small fortune that it never recouped. Don & Mike were a barter deal, but they couldn't have been on a better AM radio station, book-ended with Stern in morning drive. There was excellent cross-cume synergy. But even then, KB was at best, half a station. When Neaverth walked out in the late 80's to go to FM, KB was on it's way to becoming a topic on a radio message board.

Successful talk radio requires manpower and money. It can't be done successfully on the cheap, whether the station is running a conservative or progressive format, whether it's on 1520 or 1270. Board-ops, producers, news writers-anchors and reporters cost a minimum of $100 grand a year. Add a talk show-host-morning man and the budget increases.

So what next? Well, as long as Entercom is going to pinch pennies with 1520 and 1400, plug the output of the 1400 processor into the 1520 STL. What becomes of 1400? Put KB's Lib-Talk format on 1400. It likely would work quite well in the Democrat heavy inner city, where 1400's Solid Gold Soul music format has been a good fit.

-9-

 

[AMonFM]

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.

Nothing wrong with curiosity formats at all, esp. on AM. Problem with KB wasn't the programming, the wrong-era jingles or Neaverth. The biggest hurdle is that Buffalo sports one the top rated oldies stations in the country, on FM. That's a big shoe to try and fill. Competition is what killed KB, nothing else. They had the loyal audience, the signal, the jocks, the jingles, and the music. It just wasn't enough. Look across the lake to Toronto, and see what 1050 CHUM is up to since reverting back to oldies. Same problem happening up there.

I agree that leftist talk wasn't the answer, and neither would Solid Gold Soul be. Instead of a major change, they should have tweaked the oldies format to more of an MOR/AS format. Not a sales leader by any stretch, but certainly better for that signal than what Entercom was & is doing with it.

My votes for wasted 50kw'ers:
1540 WPTR WDCD
1520 WWKB
1130 WBBR
990 CKGM

 

[raymond_shaw]

Instead of a major change, they should have tweaked the oldies format to more of an MOR/AS format.

Agreed. With the end of MOR on WECK just weeks before KB dropped Oldies, might it not have been a good idea to soften the music a bit and have crossover appeal for baby boomers and the slightly older than boomers crowd? Again, the son of the founder of Entercom doesn't like Oldies formats.

They never could compete with WHTT - KB's on AM afterall. I would think the best thing would have been to focus on 50s and 60s music and avoid much beyond that. But what difference does it make now?

If you haven't already, check out the KB tribute site: http://wkbwradio.com/
-- being that KB as we fondly remember it is dead forever on 1520AM, maybe the webmaster of this site might consider running a 24/7 streaming audio of music from KB's heyday with classic KB aircheck mixed in. I'm sure lots of KB alumni would be happy to contribute. Just a thought.

 

[mimo]

my list for wasted 50K signals
1090 KAAY Little Rock
1060 WLNO New Orleans

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

I have submission for wasted 50KW Signals...

WWBC-AM 1510 Cocoa, Florida
I like the owner of the station I mentioned, but I think the format could be better.....

 

[smedge2006]

WWBC needs 50 kW just to cover its home market of Brevard County, which extends approximately 60 miles north to south. It's all beamed along the coast and out over the ocean -- doesn't even reach Orlando as a fringe signal.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

WWBC is in a High RF enviroment too.

There's 5KW on 1300 just 1 mile away in one direction, along with 20KW on FM 1 mile in another direction and 1KW on 1350 2 miles away.

I just think 50kw on 1510 is a waste...

 

[JIBGUY]

Not necessarily 50kw signals here, but there are almost 1,000 wasted signals in America.... the 'Cash-For-Christ' stations. The very few sincere religious stations are the exceptions.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Hey the government pays farmers not to grow certain crops so they can regulate prices right? How about this let the goverment pay stations not to broadcast! Maybe it would rid us of "Play for Pay" stations that nobody listens to or stations that nobody has a clue how to program. Help fight on-air polution! ;D

 

[caveman-97]

The biggest wastes of 50KW AM signals aren't in Western New York. I'd nominate stations that program Radio Disney and any station that programs religion.
The Australian Broadcasting Control Board has the right idea: Religion is considered low interest, and religious stations must use low power and even low levels of modulation.

While on the subject of KB, does anyone know if the format change to liberal talk has resulted in improved ratings? Why are the Buffalo ratings not published? The numbers quoted in the R & R web site are nearly a year old.

 

[rdcuffpa1]

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.

I grew up with KB in East Aurora in the 1960s. It was THE radio station for any teen-ager; we listened to WBEN in the mornings since my parents controlled the kitchen radio.

Those in baseball cities that don't carry their teams would automatically make my list (like KMOX and WSB). Those that have distinctive programming or that maintain a strong regional all-news or locally-originated news/talk focus would be excepted in my book.

How about Cincinnati's WCKY? I know most in WNY can't get it in the shadow of 'KB. It pales vs. WLW in regional importance.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't KB's signal paltry up in Niagara County? I remember visiting my grandparents in the Falls in the 1960s, and WBEN and WEBR were the dominant Buffalo stations IIRC; KB was not nearly as strong.

Richard, ex-East Aurora, now in Allentown, PA

 

[Len14043]

I'll nominate WWKB Buffalo and WCKY Cincinnati because they broadcast Air America.

 

[eartotheradio]

I'll nominate WWKB Buffalo and WCKY Cincinnati because they broadcast Air America.

KB does NOT run Air America. They do have shows that are indys but progressive/liberal none the less. And whats wrong with that?? At least there are more choices to listen to than all the rush/beck/o'reilly idiots... Get your facts straight before running off with the fingers.

 

[Radknowski]

Wasted By Design

After reading all the posts here, including my earlier contribution, I've re-thought the question and the answers.

Things could be dramatically different for KB. Here's how and why: Add a local morning news-talk show on KB with traffic and weather every 10 minutes "on the whatever," put a local-national news presence on the station 24-7, get rid of Leslie Marshall whose act is trite and predictable, shift Ed Schultz to go up against Rush and get a live local PM drive lib-talker.

Now, obviously, this isn't going to happen because Entercom wants to protect the Mighty 930, which is the company's bread an butter on AM, yet is slowly eroding and in my opinion, has a limited shelf life (albeit measured in years.)

You could cite Bush's sagging poll ratings and national discontent with most things Republican and Conservative as well as all the other political yammering, but it's not about politics, it's really all about ENTERTAINMENT and LOCAL SERVICES. Put them on KB and they'd make the station a 5 share success story.

Sadly, only on this board could something like this happen.

 

[raymond_shaw]

I'll nominate WWKB Buffalo and WCKY Cincinnati because they broadcast Air America.

Yes, KB does not air Air America. But there certainly are a lot of Air America bashers on this and other boards on this website. If these people actually have worked in radio at one time, that certainly puts even more doubt in my mind that the media has a liberal bias.

Of course, you gotta wonder why Air America bothers so many posters on these boards, right wing bloggers, etc. - I guess some of them feel right wing talk is fine, but left wing talk is unpatriotic or morally unpure. If that's your reasoning, uh, hello, free speech - bill of rights.

Do some of you agree with Gasbag Bill O'Reilly, who once said on his nightly Fox show that the Air America's staff should be arrested for treason? Just wondering.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights

The biggest reason I don't like Air America isn't politics - it's bad radio. Randi Rhodes is the only one who knows how to do a radio show. The rest of the cast is woefully inadequate in the skills required to make a convincing case on the radio.

It's too bad that Air American didn't base their airtime decisions on talent instead of celebrity.