WCCR Radio Improvement Project

[johnbasalla]

But 1260 still covers a whole lot of the suburbs that former Clevelanders moved out to. That still seems like a lot of people,
I dunno....

View attachment 4451

The map doesn't take into account their current signal strength challenges as outlined previously.

 

[johnbasalla]

1220 is a waste of watts IMO. I wish Salem would sell it.

It's not a waste if they can sell the time, in this case, brokered programming. The Center For Law and Justice has their show live for a half hour at noon on 1220 and re-broadcast on 1420 for the full 6pm hour. I'm guessing the reason that they don't run the full hour at noon is because they have another paid client who buys12:30pm daily. I'd be surprised if Ernie Sanders doesn't pay good money to be on-the-air on WHKW, 1220 AM. He seems to be on a lot, so Salem's cash register is bringing in a good chunk-o'-change.

 

[Santa fe]

60 years ago when AM was king, owners spent time and money to make sure their signals were at the peak of their ability. Engineers tuned the transmitters, adjusted the antennas and maintained expensive ground systems for solid rust-free towers. The audio chains of the day used the latest tech to make the stations loud, clear, reach farthest and sound good in the radios of the time.

Those radios were mostly AM only, especially in cars, and were designed to pick up all signals, minimize noise and make the limited audio sound like hi-fi. Less than 10 AM stations here shared market revenues, so the expense of all this was well rewarded
Today, their is no monetary incentive for any AM to spend the kind of money it would take to restore it to peak performance. Layer over that an FCC that lagged behind in easing rules to allow AM stations to expand their signals to match changing population patterns, the tremendous increase in EM noise the AM band is prone to and AM sections of most modern radios that are barely a step above crystal radio sets and it is no wonder AM today doesn't reach or sound as good as some can remember.
FM has few of those problems, it's easier and cheaper to maintain, no big antenna farms needed and equipment that can plug and play for years without attention. And that's where the audience and the money is, anyway.
AM had a nice 100 year run, but I see a limited future for it.

 

[radiofollower]

Remember, nearly all the significant stations in Cleveland (850, 1100, 1220, 1260, 1300, 1420, 1490) were licensed, if not in the 30's, in the late 40's to very early 50s, when the urban area did not extend beyond University Heights to the East and Garfield Heights to the South and Rocky River to the West.

1490 only served the Eastern part of Cleveland and the Heights, as it was originally just 250 watts.

None of the stations can improve beyond current values. The last one to upgrade significantly was 850, and still it is restricted at night to the East (Boston and others) and severely to the West (Denver).

Exactly correct, and this is impacting AM radio in just about every market.......the fact that the broadcast patterns were set up to cover where the population was in those days and NOT today where population spread has pushed people outside of the established AM patterns. For example, go out to Bay Village/Avon/Avon Lake at night and try to get any AM station besides WTAM. Even 50K WHKW on 1220 is full of noise and interference, yet all the FMs come in clear as a bell. I don't know what the answer is, because the patterns are all pretty much locked in (certainly at night) and there is no way to change them. I know that some of these AMs have FM low power repeaters, but those signals are not much better. Plus, as was mentioned, the quality of a typical AM radio is awful today, so that only makes the whole situation worse. And yes, to maintain an AM transmission site is a nightmare. Usually multiple towers spread over a major piece of property with a ground system to maintain. Some AM stations have shut down because the transmitter property is worth more than the station!

 

[snowdog88]

On WCCR's website under the coverage area page, they state that they are currently unable to increase their coverage, but hope to do so in the future. The only thing that they could possibly do would be to sign on a FM translator, assuming that there is an available frequency available that they can work with. Anything that's usable would be limited to very small areas, and would likely require multiple translators to be of any benefit. Not worth the investment for the current ownership.

The other option would be leasing someone's HD sub, which would mostly benefit listeners in WCCR's distant and nighttime coverage areas. Of course, a HD Radio would be required.

The map doesn't take into account their current signal strength challenges as outlined previously.

As I mentioned before, probably on the old Radio Insight forums, WCCR's broadcast is very problematic southeast of the transmitter. Cities like Kent, Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, etc. all fall inside their local daytime coverage contour, yet suffer from weak reception. Possible reasons are either the Cuyahoga Valley weakening the ground coverage of the signal, or the WTAM tower throwing a null in that direction, as it's less than 2 miles from WCCR's transmitter. (Any tower located within 2 miles of a directional AM array must have de-tuners installed to prevent alterations with their pattern).

 

[radiofollower]

On WCCR's website under the coverage area page, they state that they are currently unable to increase their coverage, but hope to do so in the future. The only thing that they could possibly do would be to sign on a FM translator, assuming that there is an available frequency available that they can work with. Anything that's usable would be limited to very small areas, and would likely require multiple translators to be of any benefit. Not worth the investment for the current ownership.

The other option would be leasing someone's HD sub, which would mostly benefit listeners in WCCR's distant and nighttime coverage areas. Of course, a HD Radio would be required.


As I mentioned before, probably on the old Radio Insight forums, WCCR's broadcast is very problematic southeast of the transmitter. Cities like Kent, Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, etc. all fall inside their local daytime coverage contour, yet suffer from weak reception. Possible reasons are either the Cuyahoga Valley weakening the ground coverage of the signal, or the WTAM tower throwing a null in that direction, as it's less than 2 miles from WCCR's transmitter. (Any tower located within 2 miles of a directional AM array must have de-tuners installed to prevent alterations with their pattern).

I think that they probably also have to protect WTIG on 990 from Massillon. They also take a cut toward Chicago's 1000, which probably prohibits any nighttime license.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Maybe the best update plan would be to turn in the license.

I respectfully disagree. There are some good programs aired by EWTN radio and the Ave Maria Radio Network as heard over most EWTN radio stations. The best, for me, is the afternoon drive show "Kresta In The Afternoon", (M-F 4pm - 6pm) hosted by Al Kresta. He talks about Religious items, but also delves into current event topics. Listeners get a different perspective on topics that you just don't hear anywhere else. By having what stations they have, they are trying to build something that can get bigger. Some months ago, on "Catholic Answers Live!" (M-F 6pm - 8pm) one of the hosts who answers listeners questions admitted that Catholic Radio is well behind Protestant's use of the medium. They want to work their way to a more powerful (as in outreach and radio watts-power). So, signing off, selling or turning in licenses is not in the cards.

EWTN is as dry, boring and milquetoasty-y. Theyre preaching to the choir, at least when my friend/mentor hosted mornings on Relevant Radio for a few years, the morning show was very lively and tried to reach out beyond their own flock.

They need to live up, loosen up and reach out beyond their flock if they want catholic radio to survive. They do nothing to be entertaining and less than nothing to attract younger catholics

Stations also need to run more programming.. so many catholic stations run the straight up EWTN feed or local shows once a week, at odd times, etc........

 

[johnbasalla]

Here are a couple of tidbits from WCCR's "Upon This Rock" Winter 2023 publication.
They've updated their "AM1260 The Rock Mobile App" with new capabilities. You can now listen to their "Wisdom From The Rock" podcast in the app. The app is now compatible with Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

They took a listener survey. In the publication they have "And the Survey Says: The Top 5 rated programs are:
* The Doctor Is In" with Dr. Ray Guarendi (M-F 1-2pm)
* Catholic Answers Live (Monday-Saturday 6-8pm)
*Called to Communion" with Dr. David Anders (M-F 2-3pm)
*Catholic Connection" with Teresa Tomeo (M-F 9-10am)
* Kresta In The Afternoon" with Al Kresta (M-F 4 - 6pm)

My two favorites are "Kresta In The Afternoon" and "Catholic Answers Live". "Catholic Answers Live" is one which I would say is both informative and entertaining. The hosts are very personable. It's a hoot when they do the Catholic Answers game show.