WGUN/WPBS AM

[amlover]

Have these stations been granted by the fcc to run full power at night? Sign off or power down in Dec. is 5:30pm and these two stations are running it sounds like full power and it's almost 30mins. after power. Just wondering!

 

[amlover]

Power down! 5:30pm and all other AM's are either off or on low power as should be. 640 seems to power down on time.

 

[secondchoice]

Here is the FCC "post sunset chart for WGUN:

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=3542

The one thing I get confussed on does WGUN's nighttime 78 Watts "over ride" the post sunset and pre sunrise 24-26 watts?

WPBS accually has more power post sunset and pre sunrise.

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=2758

 

[taylorengineer]

FCC database still shows WGUN as licensed for 78 watts nights.

 

[secondchoice]

FCC database still shows WGUN as licensed for 78 watts nights.

Does that "over ride" pre sunrise and post sunset?

 

[jefflaurence]

Interesting to note that when either station goes to full power they are reaching over a million people who don't listen. And when they reduce power... only their potential audience decreases.

 

[taylorengineer]

Not true, Jeff!
WPBC is a Korean format and I'm sure they have tons of listeners. I doubt they have a PPM encoder installed and even if they did, Arbitron does not report numbers for non subscriber stations.
I think this is the only Korean formatted station on the air these days in ATL.
WPBC appears to operate at full power on a regular basis....but I do not know this for a fact.
WGUN does not, and to my knowledge has never intentionally operated with 50 KW after sunset. There must be a problem with the equipment responsible for making the switch at sunrise/sunset.

 

[trusty]

WPBC is a Korean format and I'm sure they have tons of listeners.

I'm sure you meant to say WPBS. It's an easy mixup as WPBC is 1310 in Decatur with what seems to be a religious format.

WFTD/1080 in Marietta is also Korean. According to Radio-Locator, WPBS and WFTD have the same web page (which I will not try again because my computer locks up when I link to it).

Does anyone know if WPBS and WFTD simulcast?

 

[taylorengineer]

Thanks, Trusty! The senior moments come more frequently these days........
1080 has not been Korean in a couple of years - it is now some type of Spanish language programming. The same group now heard on 1040 used to be heard on 1080.
The last figures I saw indicates there are almost 75,000 Koreans in the Atlanta area. You could make a dime or two with a station serving 75,000 peeps!

 

[jefflaurence]

I was being a smart ass..but actually I kind of liked the "Bollywood" programming on 1040 where did that group land? Seems that super-niche programming could indeed be the way for AMs in ATl to go, at least that's the way it seems.

That many Koreans? Or is that all Asians? Is it me, or does it seem that 1040's audio is real quiet? And is that originating from here or is it piped in?

 

[amlover]

On Sunday I just happen to tune in WGUN at about 5:20pm and of course they were running some god awful music and it was full power untill about 6:05pm 35mins. after sunset then the signal went away. I know they have 45,000 now pre-sunrise. It is a crying shame that WGUN has such terrible programing. They can't make their mind up what they want to be. Anyway I really don't care but Jeff is right they have NO LISTENERS. As for WPBS they simply ignore their pre-sunrise and sunset. They will go off every night 30 mins after they are required to by the fcc. I never hear a legal ID on 1040 either or eas test.

 

[jabba17]

WGUN has a great signal, too. They could pick up the third-tier talk (really second-tier now, since WGST went espanol) from WCFO and do well with it. WGUN has a much better sound than WCFO.

 

[amlover]

True jabba, WCFO has one of the worst signal's for a 50,000 watt station in Atlanta. WGUN on the other hand a good signal for 50,000 of course they are non-directional but with the current owners and operators that station will never be anything but a big wasted signal.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

WGUN has a great signal, too. They could pick up the third-tier talk (really second-tier now, since WGST went espanol) from WCFO and do well with it. WGUN has a much better sound than WCFO.

Is there any daytime-only AM station in any large market that's doing well? WGUN is a daytime station for all intents and purposes.

 

[secondchoice]

with the current owners and operators that station will never be anything but a big wasted signal.

I can understand "family" ownership and not being able to get it sold, but has anyone ever approached them about a LMA. Then the Family retains ownership plus a check.

 

[secondchoice]

WGUN has a great signal, too. They could pick up the third-tier talk (really second-tier now, since WGST went espanol) from WCFO and do well with it. WGUN has a much better sound than WCFO.

Is there any daytime-only AM station in any large market that's doing well? WGUN is a daytime station for all intents and purposes.

How is the rumored 25 KW night signal coming? With 1010 Black Mountain (Asheville NC), going from B to D there should be some "room" in the nighttime skywave for something toward the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[taylorengineer]

WGUN has 45,000 watts during critical hours to protect a Canadian station. They used to have 300 watts pre-sunrise but now operate with 78 watts sunrise to sunset.

 

[jabba17]

WGUN has a great signal, too. They could pick up the third-tier talk (really second-tier now, since WGST went espanol) from WCFO and do well with it. WGUN has a much better sound than WCFO.

Is there any daytime-only AM station in any large market that's doing well? WGUN is a daytime station for all intents and purposes.

WCFO is essentially a daytimer, too.

Of course, putting news/talk on a daytimer entails a certain amount of folly as the station will be off the air or unlistenable during most of winter AM and PM drive. But it could be used to clear shows between 9 AM and 3 PM.

 

[secondchoice]

just looking at the soon to be CC WOR, They have a 3 tower 24 hour pattern that put most of the signal into NYC.

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WINS&service=AM&status=L&hours=D

If WGUN could have something like that from just north of Cartersville and they covered Bartow County, Cherokee, Forsyth, Gainsville north, and the Atlanta Airport to the south 24 hours a day, they could be a "second trier" player in the market. There are direction patterns that will "protect" stations with less than 100 watts going towards the "protected" station.

 

[agentUrge]

I kept wondering what was going on with them because at 7pm, on some nights, it drops the talk and goe to gospal. As I undrstand it, they do that because the signal power drops.

Seems the way they're approaching the format is just plain carefully...rather than go full force with prog talk, they mix it in with other options. It wouldnt take much to launch yet another all conservative talker in atlanta but it clearly takes a more methodical approach to try and make a prog talker successful here. It just cant be approached in the same way as a conservative station. There's a market for it here...i hear plenty of atlanta callers on those shows....knowing that such a station exists is another story.

Then again, the kind of listener and the format they use should be considerd as well. Rush and Beck are commonly heard on AM almost everywhere...Press or Hartman have coverage on satellite, targeted cities and internet so people who want the latter, even in Atlanta, can hear them by way of other markets over the internet and thats become a norm for that audience.