WNTP 990 AM nighttime signal is off the air right now

[Jul]

I guess I should step in and explain what's going on here at WNTP. Very simple, really. We are rebuilding the daytime antenna system, as I have been promising for the past year. When completed it will increase the station's signal strength in Chester and Bucks counties. It has required a lot more reconstruction of the phasor and antenna tuning units that originally planned, so the project has mushroomed well beyond what was envisioned.

We have been signing-off on some nights to make changes to the system that have to be completed with the carrier off. Most of the work is done during the day. Of course, with the old daytime antenna system now disassembled, it means that we have to run non-directionally during the day from our tower 2 at 12.5kw. Hence the weak signal during the day. From sunset until midnight we have been operating on various modes (12.5kw NDA/normal 10kw night/5kw NDA/etc.) depending on what work is being done. That's why the night signal has been bad, as well.

With any luck, we should have things somewhat back to normal by the end of the week.

Note to Sam Lit: thanks for the plug. It was one of those rare moments that I get on the air.

Rene'

What about the nighttime signal, will the station make changes to its nighttime tower so there can be a better 10 KW signal in the area?

 

[Those RRRRs]

Julius:...No Comment Thank You !! Have a day!

OK, sometimes his topics are met with, "For crying out loud Julius, someone just mentioned that same exact topic this morning in another thread." Or, "Julius, you have asked the same question 5 different ways within your own post." Or how about, "Julius, why the hell should someone else ask that question or check that website? Why can't you check it yourself?"

But who are you, Mr. Durkin, to suggest that he shouldn't post here? And to top off that suggestion with your obviously arrogant, "Have a day!" comment?

Anyone can see that with such a suggestion you are implying that Julius should have a miserable day take a long walk off of a short pier.

Well I think you should take a long walk off a short pier.

It's obvious that you are only trying to jump on the "let's bash Julius train" in order to score some points here, attempt to be funny with your moon bit, and promote your self-proclaimed expertise in the topic of amateur radio operation.

I'm sorry to say that your bandwagon leap has gone unsuccesfully. No one is laughing. For as many times as folks have shed the light on themselves at the expense of Julius, I've never seen anyone tell him not to comment on a given topic. This is a public forum and he is free to comment on whichever topic he finds interesting. You are in no position, Mr. Durkin, to suggest otherwise, and in my opinion you owe him an apology.

You must earn your way onto the Jive Julius bandwagon by demonstrating an invalid point on his part. That is what all the others do. You can't carpet-bag your way onto it by cracking a joke or two about propagation.

I'm sorry you failed with your comical:

experiement

That's spelled "experiment." Have a day.

 

[Those RRRRs]

Rtetro:

Would you please explain why WNTP has moved Savage to the middle of the night. He is the third most listened to talk show host in America.

 

[fredflintstone]

RRR, you are pretty savy about the biz. You know those Talkers' Magazine rankings and figures are creative speculation.

Salem has picked up Dennis Miller on many of their news-talk stations. Michael Savage is not a Salem owned show. Like Laura Ingraham, the show comes from TRN (Talk Radio Network). By all appearances, Salem made a deal with Westwood One to clear Dennis Miller. The name of the game is Let's Make A Deal and Westwood One made the deal. Syndication deals are often more about money than about ratings. And even in ratings, Savage has not been doing that well lately where he is up against real competition (for instance, ABC's Mark Levin). And let's face it, WNTP is not and has not been a ratings contender in Philadelphia in any case. Neither Salem nor TRN have any strong shows and mostly serve also-ran talk outlets.

The curious thing here is that CBS Radio's WPHT has not cleared Dennis Miller from Westwood One (also part of CBS Radio).

Besides, if you want to hear Savage, WOR still puts a good signal into this area plus the show is available online and on satellite radio. If I were programming WNTP, all things being equal, I'd rather have a show that wasn't on WOR at the same time. WOR is not the presence in this market it used to be (then again neither is 99AM) but for a low-rated religious right talker, WOR is a factor and real competition.

 

[radioman51]

Salem has picked up Dennis Miller on many of their news-talk stations. Michael Savage is not a Salem owned show.

There is another impetus for Salem and other stations dropping or moving Savage. A couple of weeks ago, as many of you may recall, Savage dropped the F-bomb on the air. The FCC has been getting pretty particular about such things as of late since the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction." It's a matter of being pro-active so that a station does not get fined for something it has little control over (i.e. network programming).

 

[BRNout]

About WNTP's nightime signal, I noticed last night that it was very strong - unlike how it was through much of the winter. However, I must say that I almost never listen to this station. It doesn't matter to me whether they put Savage on at 9 or at 1, it's still tape-delayed and too late to bother with. When I listen to it, I'm hearing it from WOR or WGY. Never WNTP. Nor do I listen to anything else on them.

The 'Savage Nation' is an acquired taste. For example, I need to be in the mood to listen for long. Otherwise it just puts you in an angry mood. It makes for interesting radio, but I think it's best listened to in moderation. He does get kudos from me for daring to be different. I respect that.

I didn't hear about Savage drop the 'F' bomb, any additional info on that would be appreciated.

 

[rtetro]

I didn't hear about Savage drop the 'F' bomb, any additional info on that would be appreciated.

It happened about three weeks ago. He got angry with his board op over something and let it drop. Neither Savage himself nor the board op caught it in time to hit the dump button. TRN has been back-paddling trying to calm affiliates, while tyring to keep it quiet. Some didn't make any changes. Some actually dropped him. Others just moved him to a time period when there is less a chance of younger listeners hearing it.

 

[BRNout]

Thanks for relaying the story!!

Reading this gives me mixed feelings about what happened. On the one hand, Michael Savage has enough experience to know better than to utter expletives within earshot of a mic. It's broadcasting 101.

On the other hand, we all make mistakes sometimes. To me, it's an gross overreaction to move or cancel a show over one accident like that. The show does give a disclaimer (of a sort) at the top of each hour. Now, if it happened again I would feel differently.

As stated above, I prefer to hear his show live because it times out better with my dog walk! So, the change in time on 990 doesn't affect me.

I got into the habit of listening to this show via skywave thanks to the frequent carriage of small-time college basketball on WNTP. Every time I'd try to listen to something on 990 in the evening, there would be 2 teams whom I've never heard of (granted I'm new to the area) playing b-ball. Well, I had no interest in that and found another place to hear the show (WGY replays the 1st hour at 9). Later, I got into the habit of listening earlier and elsewhere.

Anyhow, I hope that this guy doesn't drop any more 'f' bombs - because I think its good to have a different kind of voice on the radio.