WDXZ-AM in Robertsdale Returns to Broadcasting Nearly One Year Later

[Mario500]

Here is a link to my article about the station's return to broadcasting.

 

[tomservo]

…and just like all the previous owners, they're running this daytimer 24 hours a day.

 

[Mario500]

I corrected part of my article after realizing I had used the word "northeast" by mistake to describe the location of Robertsdale, Alabama in relation to Mobile.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

I am in WDXZ's coverage area. They were on the air past 9 pm at least two nights this past week. I heard it as much as 13 miles away, so they were most likely running full power. When I was in radio (60s thru 80s), no AM daytime operator, particularly one that does not even have post-sunset authorization, would think of staying on all night. I guess some people think the FCC doesn't care what happens on AM anymore.

By contrast, when I was young (50s and early 60s), I was in a small town (Atmore) that had only a daytimer (WATM 1590). Post-sunset authorization did not even exist back then. When our area was threatened by a hurricane, the station could stay on all night with weather warnings ... no commercials ... and they were required to notify the FCC immediately afterward that they had done so. Clearly, times have changed.

I found WDXZ amusing in this regard: they have obviously pre-recorded drops, running every few minutes, saying "The correct time is ..." and "The current temperature is ...." Great, but last Tuesday, we had a severe thunderstorm, and as is always the case, the temperature drops to about 72. But that didn't stop WDXZ from saying every few minutes "The current temperature is 86 degrees."

At least they had the time checks correct.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I hate reading stuff like this. Much of it is the unfortunate side effect of computer automation and satellite formats that allow unattended operation.

The FCC would lead us to believe they can do all sorts of monitoring remotely. Well if they can it doesn't seem like they are bothering to do it.

 

[Groove1670]

The station had the capability to drop power levels, and shut down at the correct time in the past (the company I worked for owned the station for a short time 1999-2001). It is not working, it is not set right, or someone took it out

We had a awful Digilink automation system there that locked up, would repeat fill spots during network breaks, and had dead air till the network rejoin. The worst automation system ever.

When we purchased the station, it was Gospel and did quite well. I wish the new owners the best.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

This seems like business as usual for small town AMs these days. Last time I was tooling up I-65, I tuned to WEBJ 1240 near the Brewton exit ... it was about 4 pm on a Sunday. The carrier was there, but it was dead air. I left it on for 10 minutes ... a commercial ran ... then went back to dead air. Stayed with it until the car's ignition noise made it unbearable. For the sake of that sponsor, I hope they didn't get charged for a spot with that much dead air before and after.

 

[tomservo]

With the exception of the previous gospel format, 1000 has had a long history of staying on 24/7. They did it when it was classic country and I remember hearing it after sunset practically every year I would come vacation down here as a teen.

Ditto 1110 in Bay Minette. They were wool known on the DX boards years ago for staying on full power all night.

1360 was another offender until recently, as well. Tucker was running the day power at night from the WLVV site before he had authorization. WMOB was heard all over the eastern US according to the DX board on this site.

I think the FCC quit caring about AM a looking time ago.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

I think this AM 1000 (which has had more sets of call letters than I can keep up with) dates back to about 1985. When I used to see complete Arbitron and Birch ratings for the Mobile SMSA, I cannot ever remember seeing this station show up in the ratings, not ever. Same goes for 1110 Bay Minette. In the past, I was used to seeing 1310 Foley and 1220 Fairhope show up, with something less than a 1.0, but at least they showed up with something. Has anyone ever seen 1000 AM even make a blip in a ratings book?

On the subject of which, can anyone tell me where online one can find the 12+ numbers for all the stations? Only thing I can find is a listing which excludes the non-subscribing stations ... and that is not terribly revealing.