Wasted 50KW AM signals

[rdcuffpa1]

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.

Speaking as a shortwave enthusiast, shortwave is a bit different in that the plug seems to have been prematurely pulled. Substitute delivery methods (overnight public radio in the case of the BBC) have disenfranchised the existing audience. The BBC seems to regard a listener who caught a 5-minute newscast as having the same value as a listener who listened over a 90-minute block in the evening.

Richard in Allentown, PA

 

[alw]

Re: 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.

I think Franken does a very good job, he's smart and makes a good case. Randy Rhodes is very good as is Ed Schultz (& he sounds freakishly like Rush). Lionel at night is very entertaining and smart. Stephanie Miller is a hoot.

My nominee for waste of airtime is mornings (6-10) on WHLD. Reminds me of college radio. And not an ivy league college at that.
Air America has placed "The Young Turks" on mornings and they are smart......and young.

And please put Leslie Marshall out of my misery. "Live & Local" Pleeeese! Maybe we can get Doug Hagman to take her out.

My 2 cents....for what it's worth.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Re: Wasted Days and Wasted Nights

I think Franken does a very good job, he's smart and makes a good case. Randy Rhodes is very good as is Ed Schultz (& he sounds freakishly like Rush). Lionel at night is very entertaining and smart. Stephanie Miller is a hoot.

Ed Schultz, Lionel, and Stephanie Miller are NOT Air America staffers. Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller are syndicated by Jones Radio Network. Lionel is syndicated by WOR. Randi Rhodes and Al Franken are Air America Staffers.

Leslie Marshall is apparently syndicated independently, which indicates that the major syndicators do have some taste.

 

[alw]

I guess I combined my 1520 & 1270 lefties.
My point, it seems, is that neither of these signals is being wasted.

The problem is not bad radio, but each of the two entities have different problems.

1520- Lack of interest. The "New Voice" is merely a place holder so that there is something inexpensive going out to satisfy the FCCs rule that something is being transmitted. They will keep the format until they find something cheaper and less bother. The "New Choice" is also no threat to 930.

1270- Ineptitude in the front office. "The Voice of Reason" is a threat to nobody.

 

[dennisgorski]

As a few others have mentioned here already, the AM band is failing to attract a younger demographic. What young person do you know who's all excited about AM radio? None that I know. Satellite radio and ipods have captured the ears of the under 30 crowd. You can't live in the past. The past is gone. Yes, KB in Buffalo was a cool station back in the 60's and 70's, but those days are gone forever. Nostalgia is wonderful but this is 2006. Nobody cares about "wasted" clear channel AM flame-throwers.

 

[MediaBoy4Radio]

thanks for keeping this tread going.................................








Mediaboy4radio

 

[rdcuffpa1]

As a few others have mentioned here already, the AM band is failing to attract a younger demographic.

...

The past is gone. Yes, KB in Buffalo was a cool station back in the 60's and 70's, but those days are gone forever. Nostalgia is wonderful but this is 2006. Nobody cares about "wasted" clear channel AM flame-throwers.

From a business perspective, you're right, but...

'KB reflected a lifestyle, a sense that Buffalo was helping define youth culture...and all of us nostalgia buffs have the memories of where we lived, what we did -- that are inextricably entwined with the station. That combination is what's lamented.

I still think there oughta be a law that all MLB teams must have a (preferably) nondirectional 50kW station broadcasting their games if a 50kW station exists in their region...

Richard in Allentown, PA

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

The past is gone. Yes, KB in Buffalo was a cool station back in the 60's and 70's, but those days are gone forever. Nostalgia is wonderful but this is 2006. Nobody cares about "wasted" clear channel AM flame-throwers.

If you ever listened to a big ol' 50 kW flamethrower while driving down the 'pike hundreds of miles from home late at night and it was the only thing keeping you connected with home... to say nothing of staying awake...

If you ever stood on the property, watching six top beacons flash sequentially in the warm summer night...

If you ever sat in your living room with a Sony transister radio listening to 96 Tears while watching those lights from your living room...

If you've ever stood in the middle of the transmitter building and listened to the hum of the big ol' 50 on the air and the standby (along with the robust 5 of the station down the dial on the other side of the room)...

If you've ever heard your favorite songs and your favorite jocks work their magic... and imitated them while you were a kid, believing in your heart that some day you'd be on the radio and if you were really lucky or good enough, on that station...

And if your dream came true and you actually snapped that big ol' switch above the rotary mic pot into Program and heard the sound of your voice on that 50...

If you ever tweaked the processing to make it sound loud but clean... or listened the The Big 8 or 1050 CHUM on your car radio and thought it was the cleanest, meanest audio processing in North America and your friends said, "...those highs sound great and the low end really punches nicely without distorting... the sidebands are full and the audio just jumps out at you..."

Well, then you know why there's a certain romanticism with the 50kW flamethrowers on this board.

Yes, the days of music on AM are dwindling and what's in the past is most assuredly in the past. But you really can't help posters for being whimsical and realistic at the same time.

Whether it's music, sports or news-talk, there's something unique to hearing it transmitted on a big ol' 50.

Jim Pastrick

 

[Mike Sheridan]

The past is gone. Yes, KB in Buffalo was a cool station back in the 60's and 70's, but those days are gone forever. Nostalgia is wonderful but this is 2006. Nobody cares about "wasted" clear channel AM flame-throwers.

If you ever listened to a big ol' 50 kW flamethrower while driving down the 'pike hundreds of miles from home late at night and it was the only thing keeping you connected with home... to say nothing of staying awake...

If you ever stood on the property, watching six top beacons flash sequentially in the warm summer night...

If you ever sat in your living room with a Sony transister radio listening to 96 Tears while watching those lights from your living room...

If you've ever stood in the middle of the transmitter building and listened to the hum of the big ol' 50 on the air and the standby (along with the robust 5 of the station down the dial on the other side of the room)...

If you've ever heard your favorite songs and your favorite jocks work their magic... and imitated them while you were a kid, believing in your heart that some day you'd be on the radio and if you were really lucky or good enough, on that station...

And if your dream came true and you actually snapped that big ol' switch above the rotary mic pot into Program and heard the sound of your voice on that 50...

Jim Pastrick

Wow you just described my mis spent youth. I lived 2 miles from the 6 towers of power (the big old 50 only uses 3 of them by the way, the others are used for the 5 KW down the hall). At night you can see them for miles and the station came in just about everywhere on the dial except 550.

Sadly I never did have the chops to work there but maybe it's better that way. I did get to do an oldies show with no playlist on a certain 50KW flamethower that had listeners from Montreal to Miami. What an ego trip!

 

[alw]

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy:

Please, let me wipe a tear from my eye!
I think you've wasted your talent.....you should be writing novels for Harlequin.

Your Pal,
alw

 

[tjthedj]

Wow what a post. I have a similar experience around Chicago with WGN, WLS, WCFL WMAQ there and KMOX in St. Louis, WOWO in DFt. Wayne and others. I worked at WIND and some foreign language and
religious stations, and have great memories.

Lets enjoy them while we can.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Future Shock

As Mr. Pastrick & others wax poetic about the glory days of 'KB...

Can't you just hear the youth of today reminiscing about "Good Old KISS" in the year 2525???

Janet & "The Pickle" will be the morning show on 'JYE...

Donny Walker will be doing mid-days on WHTT...

DJ Anthony will be on 97-RAP...

 

[rdcuffpa1]

Wow what a post. I have a similar experience around Chicago with WGN, WLS, WCFL WMAQ there and KMOX in St. Louis, WOWO in DFt. Wayne and others. I worked at WIND and some foreign language and
religious stations, and have great memories.

Lets enjoy them while we can.

Heh - I grew up in WNY and enjoyed all those stations, at night at least. Don't forget WBBM in Chicago as well. Nighttime DXing brought me my first taste of all-news stations on WCBS, KYW and WBBM. The concept of distance is significantly altered nowadays due to our friend the Internet.

I can sit down here in eastern PA and wax nostalgic regarding WNY radio "back in the day..." without having to deal with WNY winters.

Richard in Allentown, PA

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Let me add that the family moved to the Miami area in '65 and I used to DX KB which is sandwitched between WLAC and WCKY. Whenever I got homesick there was Joey Reynolds or Jackson Armstrong blasting out of the "Big B". Say what you want about WNY winters but Christmas never seemed like Christmas in Miami. Also missed listening for those school closing reports!

 

[dustintv]

WWKB should do add more local news! Replace the Bill Press Show with a morning news program, and take out a couple of hour of Randi Rhodes for evening news. It works quite well for WBEN and WHAM.

Or become an all news station like WINS down in New York or what WYSL 1040 was with the AP radio news.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Wasted Time

Whew. Resurrecting a year-old thread for THAT?

WWKB is owned by the same company that owns WBEN. Why on earth would they dilute WBEN's ratings? And you want them to spend lots of $$$ on a news department for WWKB as well? Or do you want the WBEN news team - which is thin already - to do news for WWKB as well?

Ain't gonna happen. Unless Entercom is forced by some new edict to divest WWKB, it will remain a 50KW bottom-feeder protecting WBEN and/or WGR. And yes, that's a shame.

 

[dustintv]

Re: Wasted Time

Whew. Resurrecting a year-old thread for THAT?

Sorry I didn't realize most of the posts were a year old until after I posted! Blame it on the person who posted the link in Coast to Coast this morning.

But thanks for taking the time to explain the situation for me.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Dustin,

After I replied your post, I discovered the link on Coast-to-Coast. I addressed that issue there.

I should have come back here and clarified why this post had been dredged back up. Sorry.

-Rox

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

For us fans of the WOR Network's "Joey Reynolds Show" here in Market #38 (Providence RI / New Bedford MA), who have just lost our local "Joey" affiliate, WWKB is hardly a waste, since it provides a very reliable nighttime directional signal into our cozy little corner of the world.

"KB" actually has a more reliable nighttime signal here in market #38 than that of WOR.

Now......on to the "wasted 50KW signal topic. I've made my thoughts on this over on the DC / Baltimore board, but I'll repeat them here.

To me, there's no greater waste of a 50KW signal than one which isn't even on the air, which is why I nominate market #38's very own 990 WALE, Greenville (Providence) RI, which has been silent since sometime around Valentine's Day, with almost no hope of making back to the air anytime soon......(if ever).

Should this train wreck / garbage heap of a station by some miracle of miracles make it back to the air, 990 WALE would STILL be a waste, since the majority of that directional 50KW signal gets beamed right over Narragansett Bay, and on out into the Atlantic Ocean.

I haven't seen any schools of fish out in the Atlantic with Aribitron diaries, have you? ;D

 

[Ray D. Oh]

Mr. Pastrick:

You said it all and you said it well. I once worked at a 50kw top 40...up the dial from KB at 1540! It was a rush...especially the night I got the call from Greenland. I was offered a daytime shift but turned it down. Who'd want to be on a 50kw during the day when the world was with you at night? About a year ago my kids and I were riding in the car. My teenage daughter wanted to know what station i was listening to. She was amazed it was WABC out of NYC. (How does it go so far???) I then proceeded to let her hear stations out of Philly (1210), Boston (1030), Chicago (890), Buffalo (1520), Albany (1540) and a couple more. She thought that it was quite cool and didn't know that AM radio could do that.

Some people will laugh at this but maybe some light at the end of the AM tunnel lies with younger demos. We assume they won't listen to it. But how many have tried to program something to them? How much does anyone have to lose by trying? Sometimes the younger demos embrace retro. Teen metal on AM...may sound dumb but....do did stuff called Rock 'n Roll when it started. easy to get the word out (internet) and inexpensive too. Simulcast on internet with it.

What are many AM owners in larger markets putting on the line by trying? Probably nothing.