WWKB Cutting Back To 10,000 Watts?

[Savage]

I'm curious to learn the source of the rumour that Entercom actually cut back its heritage 50 kilowatter "to save money on electricity." I agree with Maestro Pastrick: not a day goes by without our getting an "avail request" from a long-form program supplier (read: colon-blow, gold coin, business/financial, psychic-mystic supplies, or religion.) If money at E-Com is really that tight they could sell the nighttime signal that covers the Northeast to the hucksters and pay the monthly electric bill in one broadcast week, IMO. Believe it or no, you could actually make money with that signal if you tried. (Not much, maybe, but some.)

I suspect the reason for the short-term cutback was technical. This is the time of year when AM operators venture out to the ATUs and discover what winter hath wrought. Being only a mile from Dreary Lake Erie, KB's overtaxed engineers may not have visited the tower bases for a few weeks, since you probably would have to use snowshoes. Who knows? Maybe a frost-heaved spark gap was too close and was arcing at 50kw but okay at 10. Or something.

I agree, if money is too tight, signing the signal off from Midnight to 6am, hours of operation not required in "unlimited hours," makes more sense than powering down to 10kw 24-7. Zap: instant 25% savings.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Why not just sign off from midnight to 5 a.m?

Can that be done? Isn't that a separate licence? A Dawn to Dusk licence?
(Not sure, just asking...)

 

[Savage]

"Unlimited hours" operation under FCC rules does not mean literally, operation 24 hours a day. You're required to operate daytime hours and, essentially, until 10pm in the evening. No operation is mandatory from 12 Midnight to 6am local time. So KB could sign off overnights without any FCC consequences, if they really wanted to save money. In fact they could turn it off at 10pm.

 

[jefflaurence]

When 1530 was WSAI in Cincinnati..they stopped the standards and used to run Brother Stair, and "Angels Among Us" and in the old days Rev Ike, and Rev Schambach..among others..they paid a truckload and still do to be on that signal..Mr Savage makes a good point. The station "could" survive just by doing that all night..listeners or not. From what I understand the electricity costs are indeed enourmous..but the Fields don't really care about heritage..nobody does anymore..and short of some very successful AM operations that require a LOT of sweat equity like WYSL and a good handful of others (yeah, even Saul Levine's stations) there is a glut of silence from the listenership who seemingly don't care whether a station lives or dies. Unlike many of us here on Radio-Info, the vast majority of radio audiences are just not "into it" and if the same verbiage comes out of an iPod, or a WiFi radio or a laptop..it's no difference..It's just there. They have no clue as to the huge amount of cash it takes to run a transmitter, pay taxes on the land, maintain a tower if not 5 or 6 towers..phasors, lighting, insurance liability, land maintenece..etc..etc when in many cases they can garner as many if not more actual listeners by running a stream on Live 365.

Not long ago there was some scuttlebutt about how a kid in Dallas running a part 15 AM radio station out of his den..had MORE listeners than KLIF!! And when you included his Shoutcast stream..he beat KAAM, KLIF and KFXR..that is a LOT of real estate and electricity that got less than the teenager "playing radio"..pretty sad.

David Field is really a good guy..Entercom is a pretty solid company..(IMHO) There HAS to be something that a 50KW signal in the Queen City could do to generate interest..Where's Mary Lounsbury?

 

[klutch00]

How about moving WWWS's Urban Oldies Format to 1520? Then take 1400 dark. 1400 doesn't even broadcast with 1 Gallon of power.

I was thinking the same damned thing! It'd be cool to have an R&B oldies clear channel powerhouse. The only thing is that if such a move were to become reality, add a little British "northern soul" and maybe a little 'blue-eyed soul' (Doobie Brothers, Boz Scaggs, Hall and Oates and the like) to the mix during the evening and overnight hours.

 

[RBW]

If talk is to be KB's fate, it's got to be at least partially local. Where I am at the eastern end of the state, WGY has control of the "big talkers", but little 1300 was born from bad ratings a couple years ago... bought by a "local" talk-show host and supliments the schedule with local & secondary syndicated fare.

In KB's case, what about non-political chat? Those little pea-shooters in CNY; 1240, 1590 etc... (the Finger Lakes Radio Group), has Dr. Dean Edell, Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard etc... I don't think they're cleared in Buffalo are they??

Just a thought. :-\

 

[Savage]

Jeff's story about the kid with the Part 15 station is simultaneously hilarious, sobering....and instructive.

I'd be willing to bet that kid put some actual effort into his programming, involved his audience, infused his on-air product with actual human input and energy. And guess what? Poof! He got an audience! The 1960s live again....

So much for all the doom-mongers who look at corporate radio and conclude "it's over for our industry."

Maybe our problem is the big shots running radio these days. Maybe a kid with a Lafayette phono-oscillator actually understands radio more than they do. Maybe the Part 15 kid is the future of our industry...? Whaddya think?

 

[chas108]

I'm curious to learn the source of the rumour that Entercom actually cut back its heritage 50 kilowatter "to save money on electricity." I agree with Maestro Pastrick: not a day goes by without our getting an "avail request" from a long-form program supplier (read: colon-blow, gold coin, business/financial, psychic-mystic supplies, or religion.) If money at E-Com is really that tight they could sell the nighttime signal that covers the Northeast to the hucksters and pay the monthly electric bill in one broadcast week, IMO. Believe it or no, you could actually make money with that signal if you tried. (Not much, maybe, but some.)

I suspect the reason for the short-term cutback was technical. This is the time of year when AM operators venture out to the ATUs and discover what winter hath wrought. Being only a mile from Dreary Lake Erie, KB's overtaxed engineers may not have visited the tower bases for a few weeks, since you probably would have to use snowshoes. Who knows? Maybe a frost-heaved spark gap was too close and was arcing at 50kw but okay at 10. Or something.

I agree, if money is too tight, signing the signal off from Midnight to 6am, hours of operation not required in "unlimited hours," makes more sense than powering down to 10kw 24-7. Zap: instant 25% savings.

I did wakeup duty at WWVA-AM/Wheeling from 1990-92. 50,000 watts covering 18 states and 6 Canadian provinces. (I still like 'KB's old descriptor "Eastern America and Canada")

25% of the station's billing came between 7P-3A...from the very long-form suppliers described above. It's cheap and easy $$$$$.

 

[hypwr]

I'm the transmitter guy at a 50KW (67 horsepower) station. I calculated the savings by dropping to 10KW. It really is not worth it. Even if we were using our former tube-type transmitter it wouldn't be worth it. Of course, we are still billing over a million per month. On the other hand, the trend is there. Not too long ago we were billing over 20 mil per year.

Anyway, they should stay with 50KW or some other station could up their power and perhaps cause some additional interference.

 

[chas108]

Jeff's story about the kid with the Part 15 station is simultaneously hilarious, sobering....and instructive.

I'd be willing to bet that kid put some actual effort into his programming, involved his audience, infused his on-air product with actual human input and energy. And guess what? Poof! He got an audience! The 1960s live again....

So much for all the doom-mongers who look at corporate radio and conclude "it's over for our industry."

Maybe our problem is the big shots running radio these days. Maybe a kid with a Lafayette phono-oscillator actually understands radio more than they do. Maybe the Part 15 kid is the future of our industry...? Whaddya think?

Two words: Emotional Connection.

Live, local, passionate about the music...having fun and not afraid to convey that you're having fun. Of course there are other factors, but whoever makes the best emotional connection has the best shot to win.

 

[gary adams]

have any of you guys called the station to find out.......... i just called they are aware of the rumor but they as far as they know are running at a full throttle 50.000 watts they have been having transmitter problems but as far as they know its been taking care of i cant believe that scott couldn't find out if it was fact or fiction maybe its sun spots or atmospheric problems is the reason their not reaching out

 

[Mike Sheridan]

here in North Carolina their signal has been pretty good lately. Maybe they had to go up on the aux transmitter for awhile. Isn't there a 10KW aux for WWKB?

 

[Savage]

KB had a 1950s vintage tube-type RCA BTA-10U standby but AFAIK it hasn't run in years. When I did PM drive at the station in 1986 Tom Atkins put it on one day for some reason (at the time KB still had its main Continental 317-C2 and a standby MW-50 so there must have been some kind of phasor or antenna issue.) The RCA only made about 7kw. It sounded great, though.

Last time I was out at Big Tree was sometime around 2001 or 2002. I saw the new Destiny but no newer 10kw rig was in evidence then. And IIRC the RCA was still parked there.

 

[hypwr]

Jackson Armstrong told me that WKBW at one time had a Westinghouse transmitter. He wasn't certain if it was a 50HG 1 or 2. Does anyone know if they, indeed, had a Westinghouse? Just curious, as I love old transmitters.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Jackson Armstrong told me that WKBW at one time had a Westinghouse transmitter. He wasn't certain if it was a 50HG 1 or 2. Does anyone know if they, indeed, had a Westinghouse? Just curious, as I love old transmitters.

They sure did. Look up WKBW on www.fybush.com in the tower site of the week section. There is some very good information there.

 

[Savage]

The WKBW Westinghouse wasnt a "1" or a "2"....it was just an HG-50. It was the earliest series from 1941.
Absolutely enormous, massive, like a locomotive.

 

[hypwr]

Thanks for the info. We still have a 50HG. It is disconnected from the main power, however, I have some of the lights on the front lit. I may put some DC on the meters and connect an audio source to the mod meters. Sure looks alot better than our two "upright freezer" looking transmitters.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

The WKBW Westinghouse wasnt a "1" or a "2"....it was just an HG-50. It was the earliest series from 1941.
Absolutely enormous, massive, like a locomotive.

And that power transformer was a pup! Planted in the basement and rising to the top of the cabinets on the second floor. IIRC (it's been years) RCS, the Harris MW50 occupies the space previously held by the RCA 10kw'er. Our pal Frank Saj used to fire up the 10 every other Monday morning at 2. If it was your good fortune to work that shift, you had the pleasure </sarcasm> of hearing WCKY screaming in over the broad band air monitor. 10kw from Hamburg on 1520 getting muscled by WCKY's 50 kw (which, given its directional pattern probably was 70 kw) on 1530... still, I couldn't bring myself to monitor "Program."

 

[Time Traveler]

What may be kind of surprising here is that I used to be able to receive WKBW in Cincinnati, at night in spite of the fact that KB is nulled in that direction, not to mention adjacent local WCKY...

 

[Mike Sheridan]

When we moved to Florida from our little hut in Hamburg I used to DX KB and the signal was always getting squashed by WLAC 1510 and WCKY 1530, but I stayed in there to hear what was going on at home!