Just a footnote here; a for-what-it's-worth bit of regional reality, regarding lower- and higher-frequency AM stations.
1590, 1530, 1480, 1450 and 550 all have 'gone dark' up this way. All except 1530 had nighttime licenses.
The first one to tank was 550 ! WHLM 550 was a true 'regional' facility. They had a quite decent daytime signal; not real good at night.
(We used to get them in the day near JFK Airport in Queens NYC. In fact, some folks applied for a new 550 station for the scenic Greenwood Lake NJ/NY area. That one never made it on. Those last two notes aren't really relevant. I just tossed them in for background.)
* * * * * * * *
South of town here, at the literal junction of PA 61 and Interstate 81, speculators and investors saw a pot of gold at a major intersection and built a mall there thirty years ago. Big K Mart was the first domino to tumble. Sears followed. Radio Shack closed. One end of the T-shaped mall was abandoned completely for a few years. An Arby's closed, re-opened, and closed again. The Gap and Hallmark left, after perhaps discovering that the cobwebs across their entrances were just as effective (and cheaper) than an actual security gate. A huge Chinese restaurant shut down. And most recently, a massive 100-concession flea market called Black Diamond closed their doors. My wife calls it 'The Dead Mall', and noted that even though the bus to Pottsville still stops at the place, no one gets on or off the bus.
The mall is up for sale, if anyone is interested.
Perhaps some savvy speculators folks will put up a tower there that houses AM signals on 550, 1450, 1480, 1530 and 1590 to lease time to everyone including Kim Jong-un and make some money. The AM survivors in 2016 seem to know what they're doing and how to do it. The rest of the county here will find and be satisfied with their internet Oldies and homogenized, safe terrestrial music elsewhere, and life will go on.
1590, 1530, 1480, 1450 and 550 all have 'gone dark' up this way. All except 1530 had nighttime licenses.
The first one to tank was 550 ! WHLM 550 was a true 'regional' facility. They had a quite decent daytime signal; not real good at night.
(We used to get them in the day near JFK Airport in Queens NYC. In fact, some folks applied for a new 550 station for the scenic Greenwood Lake NJ/NY area. That one never made it on. Those last two notes aren't really relevant. I just tossed them in for background.)
* * * * * * * *
South of town here, at the literal junction of PA 61 and Interstate 81, speculators and investors saw a pot of gold at a major intersection and built a mall there thirty years ago. Big K Mart was the first domino to tumble. Sears followed. Radio Shack closed. One end of the T-shaped mall was abandoned completely for a few years. An Arby's closed, re-opened, and closed again. The Gap and Hallmark left, after perhaps discovering that the cobwebs across their entrances were just as effective (and cheaper) than an actual security gate. A huge Chinese restaurant shut down. And most recently, a massive 100-concession flea market called Black Diamond closed their doors. My wife calls it 'The Dead Mall', and noted that even though the bus to Pottsville still stops at the place, no one gets on or off the bus.
The mall is up for sale, if anyone is interested.
Perhaps some savvy speculators folks will put up a tower there that houses AM signals on 550, 1450, 1480, 1530 and 1590 to lease time to everyone including Kim Jong-un and make some money. The AM survivors in 2016 seem to know what they're doing and how to do it. The rest of the county here will find and be satisfied with their internet Oldies and homogenized, safe terrestrial music elsewhere, and life will go on.
