I live in Pegram, and the nearest tower to me is actually Hippie Radio's transmitter just off McCrory Lane, which is also the cell-phone tower nearest to me whenever I am at home.romer979fm said:
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WCTA 810AM Alamo,TN Dark?
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Fulton and Hickman Counties in Kentucky have a combined population of roughly 15,000, and the twin cities of Fulton and South Fulton (the latter in Tennessee) have a combined population of at least 3,000, so they theoretically should have been able to make a go of it, but from what I understand, the owner of the former WFUL in Fulton surrendered the license, so that station is basically gone forever! :'( I know that they were at one time (at least back when I worked there), they were also the audio feed for the local time and temperature TV channel on the local cable system.Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
Does that mean the Hippie transmitter is in Cheatham County? (I know it's awfully close to the county line)
Yes, the WFUL license has been canceled..
There are two FM stations licensed in Fulton Co. and one in Hickman Co.:
WKMT-89.5: I believe this is the only station whose transmitter is actually in Fulton County. However, it's a 100% relay of WKMS 91.3 Murray.
WWKF-99.3: Is this part of the Union City cluster? The transmitter is in Tennessee, midway between Fulton and Union City.
WQQR-94.7: Theoretically moved from Mayfield to Clinton in 2006ish. Transmitter is still in Mayfield & I'm betting everything else is too.
There is a 250-watt FM translator whose transmitter is in Clinton. It's a 100% relay of a Benton station.
Yes, the WFUL license has been canceled..
There are two FM stations licensed in Fulton Co. and one in Hickman Co.:
WKMT-89.5: I believe this is the only station whose transmitter is actually in Fulton County. However, it's a 100% relay of WKMS 91.3 Murray.
WWKF-99.3: Is this part of the Union City cluster? The transmitter is in Tennessee, midway between Fulton and Union City.
WQQR-94.7: Theoretically moved from Mayfield to Clinton in 2006ish. Transmitter is still in Mayfield & I'm betting everything else is too.
There is a 250-watt FM translator whose transmitter is in Clinton. It's a 100% relay of a Benton station.
No, I believe that where it is, it is still in metro, but just barely. It is directly south of the Veterans Cemetery there on McCrory Lane.w9wi said:
Yes, owned by WENK of Union City, and operated from the WENK studio. It is a sister station of WENK. And it was WFUL-FM up until about 1982 or 1983.
I remember WNGO, and its sister station, then known as WXID (I think) simulcasting. Would have figured that for a (near?) 24/7 simulcast, they would have used the same calls over both stations. Meanwhile WCMT in Martin ran different programming over both its AM and FM stations. I remember a former co-worker there (who had also worked for WNGO/WXID) pointing this out to me. Now that WCMT-AM has an FM translator, they should probably drop coverage of "Good Times in the Morning" over WCMT-FM. But knowing Tinkle, that isn't likely to happen. :AMFMKYTN said:
We discuss more Kentucky stations on the Tennessee board than we do Tennessee stations. But stations from western Kentucky don't get discussed on their board much.
I think 94.7 at one time was WXID. When the frog took over WBLN in Murray, WBLN moved to 94.7 in Mayfield. 94.7 later became WIVR, WLLE and finally WQQR. WNGO 1320 currently simulcasts WKYX AM/FM from Paducah except for local (Graves County, KY) sports from time to time.
Back to WCTA. According to my 1998 Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook (remember those?) Billy H. Williams bought the station for $119,933 in 1997. Looks like they had NBC as a network with adult contemporary as the format. Rates were $12 to $15.
Back to WCTA. According to my 1998 Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook (remember those?) Billy H. Williams bought the station for $119,933 in 1997. Looks like they had NBC as a network with adult contemporary as the format. Rates were $12 to $15.
Are there any ads on WCTA? How can they afford the electricity to keep the station on?
I still remember when WIVR was nicknamed "the wivver." It was as if Elmer Fudd had picked their nickname! :AMFMKYTN said:
The almighty WHDM in McKenzie sold for a whopping $27,000 about that same time. They had previously sold for "$1.00 + assumption of all debts"! That one would have scared me to death!
Could the station get an up grade or a non direction frequency? Two towers for 250 watts has to be expensive to maintain? Is an FM translator possible? Crockett County, Tennessee has 14K+ folks and only one other station.
IMHO: Someone who want to do local radio could make a go of it.
IMHO: Someone who want to do local radio could make a go of it.
I know there are examples that contradict what I going to say, but:
14k people is not enough population to support ONE station. By saying there is ONLY one other station, you seem to be suggesting that you think 14,000 population is adequate to provide revenue for TWO stations. I don't think it is.
14k people is not enough population to support ONE station. By saying there is ONLY one other station, you seem to be suggesting that you think 14,000 population is adequate to provide revenue for TWO stations. I don't think it is.
Much of whether the county might support two stations with 14,000 people would be determined by the business community. If the county seat is not a shopping hub for the area it would be really tough. Another factor is retail sales loss. If people spend much of their income out of town and the county them it would be virtually impossible for both stations to be much more than a labor of love. I've seen some strange markets where 8,000 people could support 5 stations plus a non-commercial station but then again it was a shopping hub for a fairly large area...say 50,000 to 60,000 people.
For Alamo, it appears there are at maximum 118 businesses that might buy advertising in the area. Even that figure is pushing it since some of those would not advertise but seasonally or maybe Christmas Greetings. My guess would be about $8,000 a month for the top station, maybe $5,000-$6,000 for a hard working second station. That assumes both stations work hard at sales. Neither figure would be too attractive to me. That would be selling news and weather sponsorships to the banks, grocery and lumber/hardware store and time checks to the little businesses and such.
I wonder if they could do what an East Texas station does: they let small businesses write their own ad and its read on the air with paid PSAs during a segment that runs before the trading post. 30s and 60s are sold to bigger businesses but if Hoe just started a mechanic shop or Jane just started a beauty salon in a building by her house he or she or she can buy a spot a day during the segment for a week for a $20.
For Alamo, it appears there are at maximum 118 businesses that might buy advertising in the area. Even that figure is pushing it since some of those would not advertise but seasonally or maybe Christmas Greetings. My guess would be about $8,000 a month for the top station, maybe $5,000-$6,000 for a hard working second station. That assumes both stations work hard at sales. Neither figure would be too attractive to me. That would be selling news and weather sponsorships to the banks, grocery and lumber/hardware store and time checks to the little businesses and such.
I wonder if they could do what an East Texas station does: they let small businesses write their own ad and its read on the air with paid PSAs during a segment that runs before the trading post. 30s and 60s are sold to bigger businesses but if Hoe just started a mechanic shop or Jane just started a beauty salon in a building by her house he or she or she can buy a spot a day during the segment for a week for a $20.
I traveled through that area one to three times a year for decades. Alama in sandwiched in between two go-getter towns that probably "suck the oxygen" right out of the market place.... if Alamo is your market place. Jackson I know. We spend the night there sometimes. We almost ALWAYS stop at the Casey Jones festival area for a major meal. Jacksonville is... to my way of evaluating markets... a market on steroids!
Dyersburg is a town I don't know, but one of Arkansas well known broadcasters for years had a station over in Dyersburg. I would think that Dyersburg from a retailing and radio point of view just leave Alamo in the shadow.
Dyersburg is a town I don't know, but one of Arkansas well known broadcasters for years had a station over in Dyersburg. I would think that Dyersburg from a retailing and radio point of view just leave Alamo in the shadow.
I should have looked it up on a map. If it's the little brother between a couple of larger towns it would be tough enough to make it wiith one station, let alone 2 stations in the town.
I guess they could try selling as many area Churches time on the station as they could.
I have heard of several stations that bill almost nothing if not for the weekend slots they sell to ministries and local churches. In fact I worked one station that sold about 15 hours of paid 'religion' on weekends but during the whole week only aired 44 commercials: that's 8 a day and 5 of those were newscast sponsorships, 3 Saturday morning (all news sponsors) and one just before the Sothern Baptist live worship service. Funny thing 60% to 70% of income came from the churches.
I guess they could try selling as many area Churches time on the station as they could.
I have heard of several stations that bill almost nothing if not for the weekend slots they sell to ministries and local churches. In fact I worked one station that sold about 15 hours of paid 'religion' on weekends but during the whole week only aired 44 commercials: that's 8 a day and 5 of those were newscast sponsorships, 3 Saturday morning (all news sponsors) and one just before the Sothern Baptist live worship service. Funny thing 60% to 70% of income came from the churches.
The second (and actually the primary) station in Crockett County is WWGM FM 93.1. They have a Southern gospel format and market themselves as a Jackson area station. They're pretty much the leader in SG programming in the area and get advertising from Jackson and Dyersburg and other surrounding towns more than Crockett County.
Alamo and Bells are both in the 2000-2500 range and are made up of small locally owned stores, probably very few of which would advertise other than Food Rite, the local grocery store in both towns. (But we actually got a McDonald's about a year ago! ;D) Most people (including me) go to Jackson or Dyersburg to shop, and also some in Humboldt, Trenton, and Brownsville, which are also nearby. So getting sponsors probably would be difficult.
On the FM translator question, the closest ones are 3 in Jackson (2 owned by EMF, 1 by Forever Communications) 3 in Dyersburg (owned by Burks Broadcasting, Moody, and BBN) and 1 in Brownsville (owned by EMF). I don't know if any would be for sale or could be moved, but why would anyone want to hear the current "format" on FM?
I still believe they're on just to stay legal and hoping to sell, but who would want it???
Alamo and Bells are both in the 2000-2500 range and are made up of small locally owned stores, probably very few of which would advertise other than Food Rite, the local grocery store in both towns. (But we actually got a McDonald's about a year ago! ;D) Most people (including me) go to Jackson or Dyersburg to shop, and also some in Humboldt, Trenton, and Brownsville, which are also nearby. So getting sponsors probably would be difficult.
On the FM translator question, the closest ones are 3 in Jackson (2 owned by EMF, 1 by Forever Communications) 3 in Dyersburg (owned by Burks Broadcasting, Moody, and BBN) and 1 in Brownsville (owned by EMF). I don't know if any would be for sale or could be moved, but why would anyone want to hear the current "format" on FM?
I still believe they're on just to stay legal and hoping to sell, but who would want it???
As some of you have said, Alamo is about halfway between Jackson and Dyersburg. That alone would make it tough for an Alamo (only) station to survive. (BTW, it's Jackson, NOT Jacksonville. Leave Tennessee to the Tennesseans.)
The situation that you have there in Crockett County is very similar to what we have here in Cheatham County. We are a bedroom community to Nashville, and are situated between Nashville and Clarksville (for those of you on the north side of Cheatham County), or between Nashville and Dickson (those of us on the south side of the county). We recently lost our only AM station, WQSV in Ashland City, but it wasn't much of a loss. They totally ignored the south side of the county, and their signal was atrocious (at best) here. But at least WQSV, while they were on the air, attempted to make a real go of it. They were live in the morning, although (apparently) automated the rest of the day. Definitely no wall-to-wall NOAA radio was ever heard over WQSV.
We have one of the FISH frequencies with a COL of Kingston Springs, and the GAME (sports station) with a COL here in Pegram, but both of those are Nashville stations.
Dickson lost their AM station about four years ago, but returned a few months later with new owners, who eventually also acquired an FM translator for them as well. Apparently Dickson is just far enough away from Nashville that they can support their own station.
The situation that you have there in Crockett County is very similar to what we have here in Cheatham County. We are a bedroom community to Nashville, and are situated between Nashville and Clarksville (for those of you on the north side of Cheatham County), or between Nashville and Dickson (those of us on the south side of the county). We recently lost our only AM station, WQSV in Ashland City, but it wasn't much of a loss. They totally ignored the south side of the county, and their signal was atrocious (at best) here. But at least WQSV, while they were on the air, attempted to make a real go of it. They were live in the morning, although (apparently) automated the rest of the day. Definitely no wall-to-wall NOAA radio was ever heard over WQSV.
We have one of the FISH frequencies with a COL of Kingston Springs, and the GAME (sports station) with a COL here in Pegram, but both of those are Nashville stations.
Dickson lost their AM station about four years ago, but returned a few months later with new owners, who eventually also acquired an FM translator for them as well. Apparently Dickson is just far enough away from Nashville that they can support their own station.
Maybe WCTA needs to get really radical as far as formats go. I talked to a guy once that was running an AM for his company. He was in Maine and he was selling his concept to other stations. His was a great idea. His idea was shopping radio...a modified Swap and Shop model where goods from local and area merchants were sold at discounted prices over the air. With computers it might be pretty easy to do these days. They could even run an all day 'tradio' format. If would pull them out of the competition mix and should generate some cash while keeping expenses low if you organize it correctly. Add in some local school sports and other local elements and it might work especially with paid church programs added to the mix.
I'm familiar with the Ashland City station. My parents used to live on the west side of Nashville. I recall stopping by one day. The door was open, so I walked in and there was nobody in the station. There was a gospel CDX release in the CD player playing straight through. I thought someone might be in the restroom, so I waited out front. In a few minutes Corky came walking in, went to the studio, played a few commercials and the ID, then joined network news on the hour. He had been down the street getting copy from a client. I thought that was very Mayberry feeling. I had been familiar with the station even before Corky when it was oldies based with live jocks. There was almost no advertising then. As I recall, during the time they were oldies, every time they gave the time they had a single 'time sponsor' and the hourly weather was always sponsored by Ashland City Floor Covering with about a 10-15 words spot. I never heard any 30s and 60s in my listening back then.
I was familiar with and visited the White Bluff station several times. Not many advertisers there with their Southern Gospel format. I also visited WPFD as well. Back in the day I think WPFD sold five 30s a day for $375 a month and had about 10 to 12 clients. They were automated classic country (and quite good actually) with a couple of spots every 20 minutes. It seems they had a live morning show at one point. Most of the other stations were really cheap and you could get rates down to about a dollar each if you bought enough.
I have tapes in a box somewhere of all these stations including the Dickson AM & FM (back when they had the soft rock automated FM with tons of consumer CD players and barely 2 spots an hour). Even got a job offer to sell the FM in Dickson. Except for the AM in Dickson, all the other stations had few commercials and not much billing. I recall telling one of the owners what I made managing an AM daytimer in a major market and he remarked that was how much his whole station brought in.
I miss such stations. They were run by dedicated radio people who struggled to survive but loved what they were doing . The stations weren't stellar quality as far as formatics and likely never had the community hanging on their every word but they provided a service to their respective towns giving a sense of community and ability for communities to retain their identity. I hate to see such stations become distant memories.
Maybe WCTA can hang on and become part of the community again. It will be a tough fight and odds are against them, but just maybe they can pull it off. I'm rooting for this underdog.
I'm familiar with the Ashland City station. My parents used to live on the west side of Nashville. I recall stopping by one day. The door was open, so I walked in and there was nobody in the station. There was a gospel CDX release in the CD player playing straight through. I thought someone might be in the restroom, so I waited out front. In a few minutes Corky came walking in, went to the studio, played a few commercials and the ID, then joined network news on the hour. He had been down the street getting copy from a client. I thought that was very Mayberry feeling. I had been familiar with the station even before Corky when it was oldies based with live jocks. There was almost no advertising then. As I recall, during the time they were oldies, every time they gave the time they had a single 'time sponsor' and the hourly weather was always sponsored by Ashland City Floor Covering with about a 10-15 words spot. I never heard any 30s and 60s in my listening back then.
I was familiar with and visited the White Bluff station several times. Not many advertisers there with their Southern Gospel format. I also visited WPFD as well. Back in the day I think WPFD sold five 30s a day for $375 a month and had about 10 to 12 clients. They were automated classic country (and quite good actually) with a couple of spots every 20 minutes. It seems they had a live morning show at one point. Most of the other stations were really cheap and you could get rates down to about a dollar each if you bought enough.
I have tapes in a box somewhere of all these stations including the Dickson AM & FM (back when they had the soft rock automated FM with tons of consumer CD players and barely 2 spots an hour). Even got a job offer to sell the FM in Dickson. Except for the AM in Dickson, all the other stations had few commercials and not much billing. I recall telling one of the owners what I made managing an AM daytimer in a major market and he remarked that was how much his whole station brought in.
I miss such stations. They were run by dedicated radio people who struggled to survive but loved what they were doing . The stations weren't stellar quality as far as formatics and likely never had the community hanging on their every word but they provided a service to their respective towns giving a sense of community and ability for communities to retain their identity. I hate to see such stations become distant memories.
Maybe WCTA can hang on and become part of the community again. It will be a tough fight and odds are against them, but just maybe they can pull it off. I'm rooting for this underdog.
If a Facebook posting from last year is to be believed, WQSV "goofobbled" BIG TIME by NOT carrying the Cheatham vs. Harpeth high school football game last year! Instead they carried Sycamore? An intra-county rivalry, and they DIDN'T carry it? Told you the south end of the county got short shrift from 'QSV! Sycamore is the third high school in the county, and they apparently had playoff intentions at the time, but that still does NOT excuse NOT carrying an intra-county game! The "S" in WQSV stood for "Sycamore" (a creek in the northern end of the county) and Corky always commented on the "twin valleys," supposedly a reference to the Harpeth and the Sycamore, but it was more realistically the Cumberland and the Sycamore. Not sure how you can ignore half of your (already) small county, and expect to stay on the air!
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