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WCKL Back on the Air

T

Towerclimber31

I caught WCKL 560 on the air today as I drove from the Thruway interchange across the Rip Van Winkle. There was no disc jockey, a couple of recorded id's and it was playing what I think to be the Quiet Riot CD. Once I got past CG-CC, I had to turn the station. It was so over modulated.

I found this interesting because I have been through there 6 times in the month of May. Each time, there was nothing on the frequency.

I thought I had heard they turned the license in.
 
No they renewed it.....

They have been airing 98.5 the cat (Which i like since i think them and 97.9 are two of the BEST in this area (i cant get 98.5 here))
 
Re: WCKL WCTW WZCR

Heard 'em Saturday evening May 16th simulcasting WCTW's 70's/80's dance mess - modulation was good, it was on frequency and sounded pretty strong for 'night power'. Still on during my return trip Sunday morning before sunrise. Listenable all the way past Troy before skywave started taking over.

Speaking of 'Radio Greenport' - what's up with the processing (or total lack thereof) on WCTW & WZCR? Both sound like a 40 year old Lloyds cassette player. No punch, no highs, no bottom end... no nothing. Time to rebuild those Optimod 8000's?
 
On Monday night I was back up around Catskill and WCKL was not simulating WCTW. They were playing hard rock on auto interrupted only by station ID. This continued on Tuesday and Wednesday .. Having not heard any simulating made me wonder if (although unlikely in today’s economy ) WCKL had finally found someone that would resume actual full time programming . Although you would think they would think there would promote a return to the air if that is what is going on. Could this just be a equipment test ?I remember reading on this board that WCKL didn’t end their annual keep the license alive broadcast until last winter so they don’t have to be on the air now. The FCC data base never showed them going silent., although that has been wrong in regard to this station before, perhaps due to the Black United Funds sloppy paperwork .
They obviously have done some work on the transmitter . In the past 560 was scratchy and sounded off frequency especially just east of Hudson. Now it is fairly clear , but somewhat over modulated , unless that was ( in my opinion) the God awful music . WCKL defiantly is not powering down at night . They put an ok for nighttime AM signal all the way down to Millerton . When I first thought to check the station out I was at the Route 82 and Taconic Parkway intersection and the signal was loud and clear . There is no way the authorized pea shooter night power should make it that far at all.
 
Yes the last few days i have also heard HARD ROCK on 560 :)

I wonder where they are getting that from!!

WOuld be nice if they added MORE BASS!!
 
That would be a great idea, let's put an active rock format on 560 and called it "560 Rock", just like the way it did since that station was simulcasting the former oldies station "Cool 92.9" back in 2004 and 2005 where it did had a station ID thrown in right in the middle of the song and near the top of the hour. I hope 560 will bring in some hardcore rock listeners to try this new format. There you go!
 
Amazing,they have had WCKL many years and have done NOTHING G00D WITH IT!!

Why dont they just sell it???? -- THE OWNERS OF WCKL HAD A GOOD STATION GOING FOR ALONG TIME!!

Whatever happend to the owners of WCKL??
 
Don't expect to once again hear Guy Patrick Garraghan anytime soon. There isn't anyone lined up ready to buy this. There really isn't anything to buy here.

I think BUFNY paid about $100,000 for the license only in 2002. They didn't get a stick or studio with the purchase. Clear Channel retained the original studio, transmitter and tower as part of the purchase agreement.

As the story goes (depending on who you ask) BUFNY was ready to open the studios (the red building near the corner of 23 and 385) in the fall of 2003 when the main guy at BUFNY was fired from the organization.

Those left at BUFNY didn't care/didn't know/didn't want WCKL, they had other pressing concerns as the Attorney General's Office was investigating their operation. Fast forward, the rent was never paid and the owner of the building where they were setting up a studio tossed the stuff on the front lawn sometime in 2006. There was some decent equipment subjected to some harsh weather before any of it could be recovered.

Now, here is the interesting part. BUFNY supposedly was dissolved in the Spitzer administration. So if the entity that holds the license doesn't exist anymore, who REALLY holds the license? Also, if the license holder doesn't exist anymore, exactly who is turning this little flame thrower on every year right about this time?

Come on Mr. or Mrs. turn WCKL's transmitter on once year right about this time person! Stand up and be counted.
 
Towerclimber31 said:
Don't expect to once again hear Guy Patrick Garraghan anytime soon. There isn't anyone lined up ready to buy this. There really isn't anything to buy here.

I think BUFNY paid about $100,000 for the license only in 2002. They didn't get a stick or studio with the purchase. Clear Channel retained the original studio, transmitter and tower as part of the purchase agreement.

As the story goes (depending on who you ask) BUFNY was ready to open the studios (the red building near the corner of 23 and 385) in the fall of 2003 when the main guy at BUFNY was fired from the organization.

Those left at BUFNY didn't care/didn't know/didn't want WCKL, they had other pressing concerns as the Attorney General's Office was investigating their operation. Fast forward, the rent was never paid and the owner of the building where they were setting up a studio tossed the stuff on the front lawn sometime in 2006. There was some decent equipment subjected to some harsh weather before any of it could be recovered.

Now, here is the interesting part. BUFNY supposedly was dissolved in the Spitzer administration. So if the entity that holds the license doesn't exist anymore, who REALLY holds the license? Also, if the license holder doesn't exist anymore, exactly who is turning this little flame thrower on every year right about this time?

Come on Mr. or Mrs. turn WCKL's transmitter on once year right about this time person! Stand up and be counted.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info on WCKL and the failure of BUFNY. 'CKL has been gone insane after all these years back when it was a standards station and then when BUFNY took over from Concord Media at the time, the station went dark around 2003. This has come to this attention that people are making arguments about WCKL over the years back they first carried a simulcast of WPBM's former "Cool 92.9" which was an oldies station at the time back around 2004 and then dark a year later, and then WZCR's "Cruisin' 93.5" back around 2005 and 2006 and finally WCTW's former "Lite-FM" last year and then "The Cat" a few weeks ago, and that was it! WCKL is a waste of space, come on here! Stop messing around with this active rock music loop from Quiet Riot, to Twisted Sister. A couple of days ago, WCKL was playing "We're No Gonna Take It Anymore" by Twisted Sister and it sounded more metal than the former WRKW's "92.9 Rock" and formerly "K-Rock" and WNEW-FM from a long time ago. Give me a break! Try something different beside the silent signals, try simulcasting an oldies station, the CBS-FM, HV hasn't had an oldies station since WBPM pulled the plug back in late January of 2007 to go for a more classic rock/classic hits/AOR kinda sound like WPDH does and so does the former "Jack" at 101.1 where the station kicked off 4 years ago and went off to a bad start. Why not make a oldies station on 560 and call it "Super CKL", put some CBS-FM type jingles in such as the "Do It Again" package made by JAM, put Ziggy in and do the liners and make an oldies that it will play 50's, 60's and go all the way through about 1975. That must be a good idea to put a station on 560. Adjust the signal strength from 1,000 watts to 50,000 watts and it will serve Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Woodstock, Saugerties, and the rest except Albany, it will get 50,000 watts in the daytime and low power at night so that it will not interfered with the other stations elsewhere. There you go. This station will work in all other areas to have an oldies station. WZCR had a crummy signal that interfers with WBWZ which is 2 kcs above. I hope this oldies station on WCKL will work. As for this rock music loop, enough is enough! Get on with it already!
 
Well, lets just say for the sake of argument someone bought the license, built a studio and set up shop somewhere. Lets also say they started playing oldies. The Hudson Valley still wouldn't have an oldies station.

The signal contour is to the North. You hear WCKL better in Saratoga than you do in Lake Katrine.
 
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