WTAM 1100

[schmave]

I assume this was a shallow null pointed pretty much directly north? Guessing it was shallow only because I can't think of too many instances where a station throws a null directly over its city of license, and they almost certainly would have wanted as solid a signal as possible over downtown Cleveland.

 

[Rusty Muck]

To add a few more bits to the 1100 story, 3WE leased the WKYC Franklin antenna at the TV site until NBC sold off channel 3 in 1990. The new owners wanted the radio off their tower so a scramble was on to find a new site. I believe it was Booth American who owned 1100 at the time. The original WTAM tower on Snowville Road in Brecksville was still standing, now owned by Engineering Consultant Carl Smith and his firm. Carl had grounded out the tower years ago and leased it out to a number of stations, WCRF and WZAK come to mind, and many business radios, plus his own gear, so much so that when he agreed to rent it back to 1100, they could not load the tower up with a full 50K because of all the stuff that was now mounted on it.
And then there was this bit about a null to the north needed to protect a Canadian station near the arctic circle. So for some time, they fed less than 50KW RF into that old tower. I had heard Clear Channel was going to buy land near the Summit-Cuyahoga border to construct a new tower for 1100 and some of its other properties. Did that ever happen? I never heard what they did at Snowville Road to bring the station back up to 50KW, if they indeed did so as some say they never have put the power level back up.
Today, it would be very unusual for any big company to invest money in AM repairs or upgrades as the industry has pretty much relegated AM to the trash heap of history.

The FCC cards show WWWE moved back to the Carl Smith tower in 1974, not 1990.

 

[Yabadabado1]

Google mapping the Snowville road site [map from October 2021] , I see a "For Sale" sign stuck in the yard. Does anyone know if that's for the antenna site itself, the yard next to it or if it has been sold or off the market? I can see some housing/business developer greedily eyeing that land.

 

[boiseengineer]

Was the proposed move of WWVA-1170 from Wheeling to Cleveland part of that plan?

A move to Stoh, OH. back in 2004.
The original applications seems to be no longer available in the CBDS or of course the LMS/

 

[davideduardo]

Was the proposed move of WWVA-1170 from Wheeling to Cleveland part of that plan?

I doubt it. The two are too close on the dial to be diplexed easily. And tor WWVA to have been effective in Cleveland, it would have had to ideally locate the transmitter to the west of Cleveland, out towards Lorain, Grafton or Medina because it protects Oklahoma and other occupants of 1170.

 

[davideduardo]

A move to Stoh, OH. back in 2004.
The original applications seems to be no longer available in the CBDS or of course the LMS/

Stoh seems to be a horrible location to cover Cleveland, particularly at night.

 

[Yabadabado1]

Before somebody gets outraged, it's Stow.....no "H" in it.

 

[davideduardo]

Before somebody gets outraged, it's Stow.....no "H" in it.

Sorry, I had never ever heard of the location, even though my great aunt lived over 70 years in Hudson, which seems to be just "next door" to Stow. I grew up in Cleveland Heights and went to school in Lyndhurst and Gates Mills and all the rest of the family was from the East Side and around where my great aunt lived; I thought I knew all the little towns but Stow is a new one on me!

Heck, I even remember visiting the studios at 12th and Chester although I am not sure which call letters it was under at the time.

 

[skiwest]

Stoh seems to be a horrible location to cover Cleveland, particularly at night.

I don't remember all the details, but wasn't that location selected so the station could still be heard in Wheeling?

 

[schmave]

I guess that would have been possible, but that signal almost certainly would have been subject to fading and cancellation at night in Wheeling from that distance. It probably would have been solid daytime, but not a powerhouse.

 

[kevtronics]

Were they going to change it to the "Cleveland Jamboree" too? It seems odd that an station whose entire identity -- including their call letters -- is based on Wheeling, WV would suddenly want to become a Cleveland station. And why not Pittsburgh instead?

 

[gr8oldies]

Were they going to change it to the "Cleveland Jamboree" too? It seems odd that an station whose entire identity -- including their call letters -- is based on Wheeling, WV would suddenly want to become a Cleveland station. And why not Pittsburgh instead?

I don't think WWVA even carries that anymore. No, it would have been a redundant sports station, most likely.

 

[skiwest]

It seems odd that an station whose entire identity -- including their call letters -- is based on Wheeling, WV would suddenly want to become a Cleveland station. And why not Pittsburgh instead?

Perhaps to be in a larger radio market with the potential for more ad revenue. Yeah, it seems like Pittsburgh would have been a better choice, but maybe there were some obstacles which hindered that.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Were they going to change it to the "Cleveland Jamboree" too? It seems odd that an station whose entire identity -- including their call letters -- is based on Wheeling, WV would suddenly want to become a Cleveland station. And why not Pittsburgh instead?

The scuttlebutt at the time had WWVA’s format and call sign being transferred to WBBD 1400, a class C graveyard AM. The license would have been the only thing to move as a de facto startup.

I don't remember all the details, but wasn't that location selected so the station could still be heard in Wheeling?

I doubt that was the case. The only thing that they needed to do was keep the night power at or above 10kW if they wanted to maintain class A status.

Because the 1170 frequency is shared at night with fellow class A KTSB Tusla, the night pattern would have been very directional to avoid interference (unless the plan was to WOWO it and go under 10kW at night, not really the best plan when Cleveland is too spread out and the only AM that IS viable around-the-clock is WTAM). Coupled with likely NIMBY-ism for tower site installation in rural Lorain County (which is the only area where such a directional pattern could originate from), and it’s not hard to see why Clear Channel decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I don't think WWVA even carries that anymore. No, it would have been a redundant sports station, most likely.

The Wheeling Jamboree is on WWOV, a low-power FM owned by the nonprofit that bought the intellectual property for the Jamboree when Clear Channel simply gave it up (IIRC, it was attributed to the Bain Capital buyout from hell).

Prior to WWOV signing on, it aired for awhile on WKKX 1600.

 

[Yabadabado1]

Heck, I even remember visiting the studios at 12th and Chester although I am not sure which call letters it was under at the time.

Take your pick: WERE, but probably WGCL [on the FM side] which is what the call letters became in December of 1970. Spent some time trying to get my foot in the door there. Alas, they kept slamming the door on it which is probably why I have a limp now. Too bad that building is long gone.

 

[skiwest]

Heck, I even remember visiting the studios at 12th and Chester although I am not sure which call letters it was under at the time.

Take your pick: WERE, but probably WGCL [on the FM side] which is what the call letters became in December of 1970.

I think the previous poster was referring to WWWE (3WE) & WWWM (M105) when they were located in the basement of Park Centre at 12th & Chester.

WERE and WGCL were at 15th and Chester, across from the Greyhound station.

 

[davideduardo]

WERE and WGCL were at 15th and Chester, across from the Greyhound station.

I used to sub for a neighbor kid's Plain Dealer route if he was sick. One of the customers down the block was the Manager of WERE. I once tried to get invited to tour the station, but was met with "you'll have to call the promotion manager". That was back when WERE was Top 40 but at 6 PM every evening they did 10 minutes of the Holy Rosary.

 

[Yabadabado1]

I think the previous poster was referring to WWWE (3WE) & WWWM (M105) when they were located in the basement of Park Centre at 12th & Chester.
WERE and WGCL were at 15th and Chester, across from the Greyhound station.

Well, crap. At least I had Chester ave right. I probably haven't been in that area since 1978-1980. I do remember some of the weirdos hanging around the Greyhound station. If I had ever ended up working for WGCL, I probably would have wanted an escort out of the station after my shift....no matter what time of the day or night.

 

[davideduardo]

I think the previous poster was referring to WWWE (3WE) & WWWM (M105) when they were located in the basement of Park Centre at 12th & Chester.
WERE and WGCL were at 15th and Chester, across from the Greyhound station.

Well, crap. At least I had Chester ave right. I probably haven't been in that area since 1978-1980.

I have not been there since the late 60's. So I got you beat by a decade. And I have not been to Cleveland at all for 24 years!