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WXCT

WRLK said:
How about calling it Classic Rock "lite"
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So far, they haven't dropped the soul, disco and pop tunes, although everything pre-Beatles seems to be gone. It seems to be evolving into a fairly standard classic hits format, which I guess it must for advertisers to be interested. It will be interesting to see whether management puts a straitjacket on the request show, the way DRC-FM did in its final year as a classic hits station, when only '70s and '80s song requests were allowed.
 
MarcB said:
P.S. 990 was having transmitter issues again this morning. I think Mr. Fuller needs to buy a new transmitter.
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I would like to make some comments regarding WXCT. I was the engineer at WNTY for over twenty years when it was managed by George Stevens. I oversaw the daytime power increase and tower replacements. We replaced the guyed towers because one of them required us to lease space on a neighboring property for a guy anchor. We performed field measurements to prove the ground conductivity was less than FCC prediction methods and we were able to increase power from 500 Watts to 2500 Watts and later add a separate night pattern. This was a major investment.
I prefer not to use the term "power increase". I much prefer "revenue increase" as any expense should be viewed as an investment. Investors expect a positive return. As a point of science if one wishes to double the signal at any point one must quadruple the transmitter power. The local channel AM stations that formerly reduced night power from 1000 Watts to 250 Watts reduced their coverage by one half, not one quarter.
When it is suggested that power be increased the consideration is not the quantity but if that increase will be beneficial to the revenue stream. We have seen two New England stations turn in their high power licenses because the signal failed to propagate where it covered a substantial audience.
Other considerations are the possible necessity to replace components in the RF feeder system and these can be quite costly. It may even require additional phasor cabinets, larger ATU cabinets, transmission line size increase, etc. Electrical service amy have to be upgraded and a new transmitter purchased. An allocation study will reveal which direction(s) and elevation angles (for night operation) require protection and to what extent. One may find that increasing power is not worth the cost or would require purchasing another station(s) to modify their facilities or turn them dark.
When I practiced RF consulting I designed patterns and feeder systems. I never performed allocation studies. Once given limitations I designed an array and feeder system. There are many considerations. Adding a tower(s) on a small parcel can result in very poor bandwidth (pattern and impedance) so care must be taken before thinking about that option. I have had no relationship in any capacity with WXCT since it was sold nor have I had any relationship in any capacity with Mr. Fuller although I have served his stations in the past. I do not know who the engineer(s) at the station is.
The SX transmitter has not been manufacturer supported for some years due to parts being unobtanium. There are contract firms that do support the series as best they can and have even manufactured their own retrofits. It is my understanding that WXCT's SX-2.5 has a dark history and fell victim to sabotage some time ago.
I wrote this just to offer some background. In the interest of full disclosure I am essentially retired and am not in any way involved with WXCT and is not possible for me to be given present circumstances.
Tom Gary Osenkowsky
 
KOOL Radio adds 2 new DJs

WXCT aka KOOL Radio has added 2 new DJs. Scott Wheeler started last week in the 2PM-6PM time-slot. Lisa Sinclair started this morning in the 10AM-2PM Time-Slot. Here is their line-up:

Mondy-Friday
6AM-10AM Larry in the Morning with Larry Kratka
10AM-2PM Lisa Sinclair
2PM-6PM Scott Wheeler
6PM-6AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

Saturdays
6AM-9AM The World Famous Rick Kelly Show
9AM-11AM The Healy's Irish Radio Show
11AM-Noon 60s, 70s, 80s Music
Noon-2PM Nothing but Old 45's with Larry Kratka
2PM-5PM That Thing with Rich Appel
5PM-7PM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
7PM-10PM The Ray Mills All Request Oldies Party
10PM-8:30AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

Sundays:
8:30AM-1PM Italian Programming
1PM-2PM Lutheran Church Mass
2PM-3PM Just Friends Polka Show
3PM-6PM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
6PM-9PM That Thing With Rich Appel
9PM-11PM Nothing but Old 45s With Larry Kratka
11PM-6AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

WACM
Sundays
6AM-10AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
10AM-Noon The Healy's Irish Radio Show
Noon-6PM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
6PM-9PM That Thing With Rich Appel
9PM-11PM Nothing but Old 45s With Larry Kratka
11PM-6AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

Note: I will be making an appearance on Larry's Show as a guest sometime this spring.
 
MarcB said:
WXCT aka KOOL Radio has added 2 new DJs. Scott Wheeler started last week in the 2PM-6PM time-slot. Lisa Sinclair started this morning in the 10AM-2PM Time-Slot. Here is their line-up:

Mondy-Friday
6AM-10AM Larry in the Morning with Larry Kratka
10AM-2PM Lisa Sinclair
2PM-6PM Scott Wheeler
6PM-6AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

Saturdays
6AM-9AM The World Famous Rick Kelly Show
9AM-11AM The Healy's Irish Radio Show
11AM-Noon 60s, 70s, 80s Music
Noon-2PM Nothing but Old 45's with Larry Kratka
2PM-5PM That Thing with Rich Appel
5PM-7PM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
7PM-10PM The Ray Mills All Request Oldies Party
10PM-8:30AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

Sundays:
8:30AM-1PM Italian Programming
1PM-2PM Lutheran Church Mass
2PM-3PM Just Friends Polka Show
3PM-6PM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
6PM-9PM That Thing With Rich Appel
9PM-11PM Nothing but Old 45s With Larry Kratka
11PM-6AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

WACM
Sundays
6AM-10AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
10AM-Noon The Healy's Irish Radio Show
Noon-6PM 60s, 70s, 80s Music
6PM-9PM That Thing With Rich Appel
9PM-11PM Nothing but Old 45s With Larry Kratka
11PM-6AM 60s, 70s, 80s Music

Note: I will be making an appearance on Larry's Show as a guest sometime this spring.
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So I just got word that Red Wolf Broadcasting has let Larry go. That's it. I'm done. I am no longer supporting this radio station. It was bad enough that they got rid of the 50s music and replaced it with 80s music 2 weeks ago, but then they had to get rid of their best jock too. I'm putting my prediction out now 6 months to a year from now WXCT and WACM will be back to some kind of Spanish Language format.
 
MarcB said:
So I just got word that Red Wolf Broadcasting has let Larry go. That's it. I'm done. I am no longer supporting this radio station. It was bad enough that they got rid of the 50s music and replaced it with 80s music 2 weeks ago, but then they had to get rid of their best jock too. I'm putting my prediction out now 6 months to a year from now WXCT and WACM will be back to some kind of Spanish Language format.
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It's disappointing what they're doing with the station. All I can figure is that they were getting no interest from advertisers with the original '50s-'60s-early '70s music mix and felt they had to skew younger to scare up any business. Unfortunate that the older DJs are an endangered species, too. Now WXCT sounds pretty much like DRC-FM did in its final months. I'll still listen, because some of the songs aren't being played anywhere else on the Hartford dial, but probably not nearly as much.
 
Larry Kratka's "Nothing But 45s" show will go on! VERY sorry to hear that his weekday morning show was replaced by a voice-tracker. Larry had real personality and made morning radio a FUN experience once again - something that has been lacking around here for some time. Hopefully this new management won't dilute what's keft of the stations' quality.
While I'm not abandoning KOOL Radio totally let us say my listening time will be somewhat reduced. Sounds like "the consultants" are doing their best to make it a cookie cutter product. It doesn't sound as bad as the "Titanic Days" of WDRC FM did, but I'll be spending more time back listening to WARE 1250 or WLNG FM when I can receive them.
Best wishes to Larry in his future endeavors, including his "Nothing But 45s" - check it out on Facebook
 
WXCT Dead Air

Pulled out of the driveway this morning at about 9:15... WXCT dead air. The carrier was there but no programming. Returned at 9:45 and still dead air. Back in the 70's at WPOP if there was more than 5 to 10 seconds of dead air, an alarm went off back in the engineering room and the crew would rush up to the front to see if the jock was asleep or dead or just couldn't get something working.
 
Bill Sample said:
Sounds like "the consultants" are doing their best to make it a cookie cutter product.
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What makes you think an on-the-cheap operator like Red Wolf would hire a consultant for a cluster of low-profile AMs? More likely they realized that advertisers didn't want 70- to 85-year-old fans of '50s and early '60s music to be a significant part of the audience, so that demo was effectively killed off with a dose of New Wave and MTV-ish pop/rock.
 
GreatCallofTheNorthEast said:
Pulled out of the driveway this morning at about 9:15... WXCT dead air. The carrier was there but no programming. Returned at 9:45 and still dead air. Back in the 70's at WPOP if there was more than 5 to 10 seconds of dead air, an alarm went off back in the engineering room and the crew would rush up to the front to see if the jock was asleep or dead or just couldn't get something working.
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What can I tell you except that COX Internet sucks. That's how they pick up the programming at the Southington studio.
 
I heard that WXCT may be getting an FM translator. Yeah because that crashing COX internet feed will sound even better on FM than on AM, along with that damn Polka show that's of very poor technical quality. It sounds like someone is holding the phone up to the speaker at the Bristol Polish Club.

Yeah yesterday morning my Mom went to tune in and the COX Internet feed was crashing. Meanwhile I still refuse to listen. 15 days now.
 
WXCT weirdness: Yesterday, I was driving on the Berlin Turnpike and heard the DJ on WXCT not only say that Jonathan Edwards' "Sunshine" had just been played when a completely different song had, but she also remarked on the snow that was coming down and how it wouldn't end until "sometime tomorrow." Obviously, her contribution to the show was a voicetracked shift from the previous day, not synced with the current day's playlist.

Today, even more weirdness: Same drive, and I notice there's no DJ and the music mix is back to '50s and '60s. Hmmmm. I get into New Britain, tune to 1490, and there's "Boogie Oogie Oogie," playing at the same time 990 is playing "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"! No simulcast!

Any idea what's going on? Marc, maybe
 
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