AM radio broadcasting stations

[ai4ep]

AM radio stations have gone through rough times lately ( last 25 years ), first by the new fm radio stations, then with the " stereo " attempt of several levels.

What do your local AM radio stations program these days ?
1) simulcast of the local FM station
2) own programming ( all original )
3) satellite hook up to wherever
4) no am radio station in my town

Locally we have a choice between Haleyville WJBB am 1230 which does " white gospel " ...their own programming, commercials, etc. Apparently well organized and worth listening to. Problem is ...only 1000 watt transmitter 30 miles away on am broadcast band........and Moulton am 1190 WHIY which simulcasts WEUP 1600 Huntsville and WEUZ 1710 Pulaski Tennessee. They do " black gospel " and it is done fairly well if you like the programming. 2500 watt transmitter near downtown Moulton makes loud signal, but not really fun to listen to. The 1600 & 1710 transmitters are both 1000 watt so there is no way the owner will sell the Moulton station since it transmits more stray RF.

[N6BOA]

Woah! You mean, there are still AM stations??? You're killing me! LOL

I don't know about what I would hear near my town. I never listen to AM and now that I have XM, I can't even imagine listening to FM stations anymore. Though I have to admit, it is kind of fun to listen to AM when I am driving down that purgatory I-5 in the middle of the night. I have heard stations from as far out as Europe, but more commonly, the east coast. It's almost eerie.

[wv6z]

Quote[/b] (N6BOA @ April 21 2006,21:17)]It's almost eerie.
Pennsylvania? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Praise Jebus for XM! w00t!

[KW4MW]

AM - ugh

Station #1 has lineup beginning at 9 AM with Boortz, Limbaugh at noon for three more agonizing hours. #Then some Howard dude talking about how cheap he is then the Hannity gabfest begins. #

I'll tell ya, if the Gov't really wanted to get those prisoners to talk, just pipe in that format all day, everyday. #

#2 #Sports - 24 hours of sports - Rome in the afternoon. #How many times can you rehash a ballgame or golf match and try to come up with something new. #

It's like, "didya ya see what Tiger had stuck to his shoe when he bogeyed (sp?) the seventeenth at the Masters?"

"I sure did Dave, whoever let that dog loose at Augusta needs to have a come to Jesus talk with the PGA director." #

This will continue for at least another 45 minutes or until a commercial break when one of them will discover a new tidbit of trivia.

#3 Blends local commentary with local sports - #SSDD. #

The rest can be grouped into various religious stations. #From some fake trying to speak in what he believes is a cultured voice to the Black minister exhorting, "I HEARD JAY SUSS, #UH UH # UHUH UHUH, # I HEARD JAY SUSS AND HE SAY-ED #HE WAS A COMIN, AND HE SAY-ED HE IS ANGRY, LORD HAVE MERCY BROTHER! #LORD HAVE MERCY UHUH #UHUH, LORD HAVE MERCY." #audience "Amen brother, Amen".

FM stations - some good rock for the young set, an oldies station for the rest of us although they seem to think that the only music we remember is the Beatles. For Chrissakes not "Help" again

One easy listening station and pathetically not a single classic music station (unless you count the "classical hit kickin station"

Thankfully I have Sat TV hooked up to the stereo and I can listen to Sirius all day with very few interruptions.

[n2nh]

We've got over 100 of them in this area. Everything from Curtis & Kuby, Limbaugh, Franken, Springer, Bob Grant, and a guy who has the Guiness Record for longest TV show - Joe Franklin (on AM).

Got Music Choice on TV and a Great Rocker on FM so when the pickin's are slim on AM, there's something else to listen to.

[KA4DPO]

I cruise the AM band late at night once in a great while just to see if I can pick up any DX. There is one AM station here (1500) that has traffic and weather in the morning so I tune it in for a couple of minutes when I leave the house just to see what the commutes going to be like.

Other than that, I haven't actually listened to see what's on AM for a long time.

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (N6BOA @ April 22 2006,21:17)]Woah! You mean, there are still AM stations??? You're killing me! LOL

I don't know about what I would hear near my town. I never listen to AM and now that I have XM, I can't even imagine listening to FM stations anymore. Though I have to admit, it is kind of fun to listen to AM when I am driving down that purgatory I-5 in the middle of the night. I have heard stations from as far out as Europe, but more commonly, the east coast. It's almost eerie.
Pretty much says it for me...

I'm starting to have second thoughts about satellite radio, though. Just paid my XM bill for another year -- $142.45. Some of the local FM stations are starting to sound pretty good! They've caught on and are more competitive.

AM - got it all, but if I listen at all, it's KOA. This is the local news/weather/traffic station. At noon, they switch from news to lies ("talent on loan from Eli Lilly.")

73, Rob

[KC0KBH]

Polka, and more polka than you can imagine. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[W4HAY]

Locally, AM is mostly talk and sports. Here in the South, high school and college football and basketball, and NASCAR rule the roost on weekend, as do farm and gardening shows. And there's always Kim Komando. Music is mostly C&W, bluegrass, and gospel, with a couple of oldies stations.

Local FM is a shameful waste of much-needed spectrum.

Wintertime DXing, especially with the crystal set, can be very interesting here. Kicking back in the recliner, tuning in a night baseball game with a really good sportscaster, and closing the eyes is the ultimate in relaxation.

[k6pme]

Quote[/b] (N6BOA @ April 22 2006,20:17)]when I am driving down that purgatory I-5 in the middle of the night. I have heard stations from as far out as Europe, but more commonly, the east coast. It's almost eerie.
Oh YUCK. I'm sorry. But I remember doing the same thing in days gone by. I had to make to same run a lot in the late 70's in a 1968 chevy P/U that only had AM radio in it. The reception was somewhat interesting.

[W0LPQ]

Mike, 4MW I am with you. Sat is on and Sirius plays all day in the background. In the car we have Sirius. Almost never listen to any AM/FM stations anymore. Why, if you want classical on PBS you are aksed to contribute. That is fine, but why do I want to listen to other stuff I care less about. With Sat radio, I have choices for music ... and no BS commercials.

It really would not break my heart if all of them went away. You want weather, tune to VHF Wx band. NOAA is there 24 hours a day, and you don't have to listen to I'm prettier than you do her cutesy thing on air.. bah!!

Bill, W0LPQ

[w2nsf]

I love AM radio. We're lucky to be in an area that gets daytime AM stations from NYCity, Boston, Providence, Hartford, and tons of others. My top stations for news are WCBS and WINS (New York), for general info, WBZ (Boston), and for just plain entertainment, WQUN (New Britian, CT). When I really feel like reaching out, I use my IC-706MkIIG with my dipole to pull in WVNJ all the way from New Jersey! I like to hear AM stations with lightning crackling in the background, 'cause it takes me back to my childhood. And, as a practical matter, I also use AM radio in the summer to check the status of thunderstorms in my region, so's I know when to unplug the antennas!

And then, the sun goes down and all the DX starts rolling in: WBT (Charlotte NC), WLS (Chicago), WWVA (Wheeling, WV), WKBW (Buffalo NY), and WTOP (Washington, DC) are some of my regulars. I also listen to CHML, Hamilton ON and several other Canadian stations after dark.

Long live AM radio!!

[WA2ZDY]

AM? FM? Come on, get Sirius. I don't listen to AM and FM.

[KW4MW]

AM radio was the only mode when I was a kid in the '50's and early '60's. #

We had one of those 'floor model' console radios with several knobs. #As Bill Cosby joked only two of them did anything, the on/off/volume switch and the station selector. #

Daytime radio was limited to the local 1000W and a couple of 5000W stations - mostly local hill billy stuff, soaps, Queen for a Day and the Arthur Godfrey show were on in the afternoon. #

The evenings were something else though, that's when the clear channel stations would come belting in - WLS, WABC, WOWO, KDKA, etc. #Of course the old man liked to listen to WCKY out of Cincy and ugh the Polka party out of KDKA in Pittsburgh. #

I soon discovered that the car radio was a much better radio, besides it was cool sitting there in the car all by myself, window down enjoying the cool night air and listening to Dick Biondi on WLS. #I usually started the car engine for a few minutes to recharge the battery before I went to bed since that old vibrator power supply sucked quite a few amps but there were some mornings when the old man had to coast the car down the driveway to get it started. #He never said anything about it though.

Later, I got a Knight Kit Ocean Hopper regenerative receiver. #(remember those?) and with a 200' long wire leading into my bedroom it really gave me two degrees of pleasure. #

One was of course listening to the same stations, except in more comfort.

The second was more enjoyable and devious. #I'd listen carefully to what station my little sister was listening to on her little AC/DC radio - then I would put the receiver into regeneration and 'zero beat' her station - well almost, maybe I'd be off by 1000 Hz or so. # http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

My Mom would threaten to Zero Beat me if I didn't quit picking on her.

[K9YLI]

yes AM is good. I listen to WHSM in Hayword WI.
Its the only radio station I listen to. "music of your life"
Fortunatly I can find MYL stations all accross the US so get the same programming.
I have Direct tv in my shop and can listen to XM radio there.
FM is only for classical music.

[K9STH]

No habela Espanol! That takes care of the majority of stations.

Then there is the Disney station for kids and several talk radio stations. One sports station at the high end and then the stations for the arriving flights and the departing flights at the Dallas / Fort Worth Airport.

Glen, K9STH

[k4lem]

You would ask, but, when the skip is not in here is what I hear in the Up State.

1. trash- right wing blabber

2. JEZUS- Praise OUR LARD !

3. More Right wing BLABBER

4. After dark, UFOs and tales from the Crept, all on a Spartanburg station that's prais'in the Lard most of the rest of the time.

Total trash out, end of one side of the dial to the other.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[W5HTW]

AM radio died in maybe 1983, was buried in 1985. Deregulation by the FCC drove almost all of the nails into the coffin. AM's glory days coincided roughly with ham radio's glory days, the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and a little into the 70s.

FM radio peaked in the early 90s.

The problem with both is with deregulation, the money disappeared. Commercial broadcast can't operate without money.

What is missed about AM radio, and the only thing I miss about it, was its "local and live" capabilities. If there was a storm, a road blockage, a flood, or even a local election, AM radio covered it, with immediancy or even urgency. That was part of the FCC requirement for public service. Now the closest you get to live coverage of anything is a crawler on the tv screen that says "we'll tell you more later."

In the early 1980s, AM radio throughout the country went to satellite, dispensing with any kind of local coverage or knowledge. News, weather, local sports, public service, all disappeared. The same generic music from Satellite Music Network was heard on station after station, some of them within the same coverage area.

FM, in an attempt to hold listeners, went to juke box formats, that is, no announcers. So again, local community involvement totally disappeared. Only a very few top-rated FM stations in a market could still afford live announcers, and even they could not take time away from the music to announce a flood was coming, or Jesus was returning, or the nation was under attack.

I like SIRIUS radio. But it tells me zero about my community. I have to wait for the newspaper, or maybe catch it on the 10 pm news. So for the music I will listen to SIRIUS, or maybe one of the "we never stop" FM stations. But for community events, I have to watch tv. LOCAL tv, not satellite. The "now" of radio has long gone.

That's sad.

And because radio has become so cheap in advertising time, thanks to deregulation, satellite programming, and generic garbage, just about anyone can buy radio time early on Sunday morning before prime satellite links are established.

I speak from the inside. I began DJing part time in high school! During my time in the military I even worked briefly for AFN, and AFRTS. In 1979 I went back into broadcasting, and stuck pretty much with it until I realized it was as dead as that CW horse, and in 1985 I left it forever. No regrets, neither on being in it, nor leaving it. While in it, did news, programming, music, DJ, engineering. Even built a radio station in Colorado (not my own.) But radio died, and I climbed out of the grave before they finished shoveling in the dirt.

Ed

[W0LPQ]

Well said Ed. #I agree, local news and such is pretty much gone, unless you watch the 10/11PM news. #Then you get to set through half a gazillion commercials. #Actual news probably lasts less than 10 minutes. #One local station does not use local weather guys, they use one from completely out of state. #This guy reads what NWS gives them, so you might as well listen to NOAA weather directly. #We have our local share of "beauty queens" to deliver weather. #They read it. #Sad. #Most have no clue what is happening .. their sole purpose in life is ... look at me, aren't I cute..! #BS.

Sat radio for a multitude of entertainment rather than local derived good stuff. #Ed, you pretty much detailed the demise of radio, whether it be AM or FM.

Ed, I sort of paralleled what you did. Worked for a TV/Radio station in Idaho while in High School, went to Korea and worked at the AFRTS outlet at Kunsan as Chief Engineer, then left broadcasting. Not sorry I did either. I had one opportunity to rejoin broadcasting when I left the Air Force, but declined.

Bill, W0LPQ

[KF0RT]

I don't think AM radio is quite as dire as what Ed says. We have a few stations in Denver who still do well in catering to the masses. These all have formats that don't demand MP3 fidelity, of course.

The biggie is KOA which still has a full-time news staff (link here (http://www.850koa.com)). They're a 50KW clear channel station that can be heard in at least 5 states during the day. They do news in the early morning, talk in the late morning, Limbaugh when nobody with brains listens, sports talk after that. They even do Paul Harvey.

During the 9/11 disaster, my wife and I were camping at the bottom of the Black Canyon -- I think you can get ONE AM station down there and it's a Montrose station - forget FM. Leaving our caming area, I turned the radio on and was shocked to hear KOA, on the wrong frequency! Turns out that during 9/11, about half the rural stations in the state switched to the KOA audio feed. Some of them didn't even appear to identifying with their own callsigns, and they sure weren't suppressing the KOA ID.

I don't know if anyone could say that KOA is thriving, but they still have a big place in the community -- statewide, even. As kids, we listened to AM radio all the time. Top 40 usually; there was no choice except maybe American Bandstand on Saturday morning TV. It was mostly an entertainment medium even then. And even Herman's Hermits sounds better on FM. Try to find a good local news station on FM though... it doesn't exist. The closest you'll find is PBS which may have news, but sure isn't local. If you want local news, weather or traffic, AM still does the best job. Even compared with satellite... XM put up 20 channels of local traffic and weather a little over a year ago. Nice, if you live in one of the 20 markets they picked (Denver isn't on the list).

Anyone have a take on the expanded AM band? I forget just now, but it's 1600-1650 KHz -- maybe up to 1700. There are a few broadcast stations using this allocation, but I never have figured out when that happened or what the purpose was.

And a P.S. to LPQ: On TV we have certified meteorologist beauty queens doing the weather here. The TV stations in Denver have better weather radar than NOAA.

73, Rob

[W0LPQ]

Rob, used to listen to KOA AM when I lived in Idaho. Always was a class act.

Listen once in a while during the late evening hours just to see if I can still hear them...!

Our beauty queen has her AMS Cert, big deal. She is still a "Aren't I Cute" bimbo..! Those who watch channel 8 in Indy will understand.

Bill, W0LPQ

[KB9YCO]

Quote[/b] (K9STH @ April 23 2006,10:26)]No habela Espanol! That takes care of the majority of stations.

Then there is the Disney station for kids and several talk radio stations. One sports station at the high end and then the stations for the arriving flights and the departing flights at the Dallas / Fort Worth Airport.

Glen, K9STH
Don't they have the all Beatles station anymore Glen? When I lived in Plano, TX about 9 or 10 years ago there was a guy that owned a couple of stations that needed content on them to keep the license. The story was something along those lines anyway. But on one of the AM stations he did an all Beatles format, pretty cool, at least if you like The Beatles. I would imagine it's probably long gone since that was awhile back.

AM radio up here in NE IL/SE WI has actually gotten better in the last few years. It's not all syndicated sports talk garbage, or all political extreme conservative versus extreme liberal garbage, or all religious talk, there are actually a few stations that play music now (nothing like oldies on AM the way they were made to be heard) and somewhat of a variety of different stations. Though I would agree that the changes in AM in the late 70's and early 80's really screwed things up (miss those clear channel AM days) at least it's getting a little bit better around here with variety and some local lower power stations.

Luckily the local station in Racine WI, WRJN (http://www.wrjn.com) where I currently reside has a nice mix of talk radio. Local programming in the morning from a somewhat conservative host, the next show is a little more liberal and is a call driven semi-political show, then O'Reilly (who is entertaining even if I personally think he's full of crap), another local show for an hour, then Ed Shultz which is a progressive-liberal kind of call in talk show, a consumer show at night, Alan Colmes, Coast to Coast over night, all in all not bad. At least it has variety instead of all one slant or format. I give them a lot of credit for that since most of the other stations all sound the same all day... boring.

Again though I have to agree that AM hasn't been the same in about 30 years. I am just old enough, and enough of a radio nerd at a young age, to at least have caught the end of the AM gold era when there were still some good clear channel stations you could hear almost everywhere at night.

What will it be like when it all goes digital?

As far as satellite radio goes I know there is a great wealth of diverse programming available, but call me old fashioned I just don't feel compelled to pay for radio, nor do I need another bill. I know there is some great stuff on satellite, but when everywhere else starts becoming digital satellite may not be so alone.

[WA5KRP]

Quote[/b] (KF0RT @ April 23 2006,12:18)]The biggie is KOA which still has a full-time news staff (link here (http://www.850koa.com)). #They're a 50KW clear channel station that can be heard in at least 5 states during the day. #They do news in the early morning, talk in the late morning, Limbaugh when nobody with brains listens, sports talk after that. #They even do Paul Harvey.
KOA 850 is one of America's blow torches. #It roars into San Antonio consistently every night unless conditions are unusually poor.

San Antonio has clear channel WOAI 1200, the flagship station of Clear Channel Communications which is headquartered here. #Fortunately, WOAI has an excellent news team that runs a meat and potatoes news, traffic and weather report 5am-9am M-F. #To its credit, they still run local talk radio 5pm-11pm and take lots of call-ins. #WOAI is the highest ranked AM talk radio station in San Antonio. #It doesn't hurt their ratings that they broadcast all Spurs basketball games. #Overall, AM broadcast stations still maintain a solid footing in San Antonio. #

And like others have said, it was my fascination with AM DX during the wee hours of the night that ultimately led me to ham radio. #Often late at night, fifty years later I still go up and down the band with a GE SuperRadio III to see what I can hear. #I guess it's in my blood.

In case you're curious, you can look up your local market station ratings here at radioandrecords.com (http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/).


WA5KRP
Texas

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (WA5KRP @ April 23 2006,12:04)]San Antonio has clear channel WOAI 1200, the flagship station of Clear Channel Communications which is headquartered here. Fortunately, WOAI has an excellent news team that runs a meat and potatoes news, traffic and weather report 5am-9am M-F. To its credit, they still run local talk radio 5pm-11pm and take lots of call-ins. WOAI is the highest ranked AM talk radio station in San Antonio. It doesn't hurt their ratings that they broadcast all Spurs basketball games. Overall, AM broadcast stations still maintain a solid footing in San Antonio.

And like others have said, it was my fascination with AM DX during the wee hours of the night that ultimately led me to ham radio. Often late at night, fifty years later I still go up and down the band with a GE SuperRadio III to see what I can hear. I guess it's in my blood.
WOAI has a good signal in Denver, too. It and just a few others (KOMA and WLS come to mind) can always be depended on for a good nighttime signal here. Pretty much the same format as KOA, too. They air the Rockies and Donkos games frequently.

It's surprising to me that KOSI-FM has a higher rating here than KOA. I helped replace KOSI-FM's antenna back in 1976 -- they've probably replaced it by now. It was a classical music station back then and their chief engineer at the time was Keith Ericson, KØKE. I notice that Keith is still big in the HF contests.

Ditto on the fascination with AM DX... Used to listen in on an old Star Roamer before I got my ham ticket in 1970. Swear, I'm gonna buy a SuperRadio III this year.

73, Rob

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (W0LPQ @ April 23 2006,11:41)]Rob, used to listen to KOA AM when I lived in Idaho. Always was a class act.

Listen once in a while during the late evening hours just to see if I can still hear them...!

Our beauty queen has her AMS Cert, big deal. She is still a "Aren't I Cute" bimbo..! Those who watch channel 8 in Indy will understand.

Bill, W0LPQ
Could be mistaken, but I thought there was a higher certification than the AMS thing. A degree, maybe? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Denver has Kathy Sabine (http://www.womenof.com/News/cn12_9_02.asp), a real babe, but she's educated and sharp as a tack. Weather-readers don't survive very long in the Denver market because the weather here changes so fast. The network TV stations here all have their own weather centers and come up with their own predictions.

73, Rob

[n0jaa]

Melbourne, FL has six AM stations. One of them, WMMB, is a talk radio station that carries some syndicated talk shows and some locally produced shows.

The FM stations here out-number the AM stations by about 3 to 1.

[n0jaa]

Quote[/b] (W0LPQ @ April 23 2006,13:41)]Rob, used to listen to KOA AM when I lived in Idaho. #Always was a class act.

Listen once in a while during the late evening hours just to see if I can still hear them...!

Our beauty queen has her AMS Cert, big deal. She is still a "Aren't I Cute" bimbo..! #Those who watch channel 8 in Indy will understand.

Bill, W0LPQ
I loved KOA! I usually listened to them at night when I lived in Colorado Springs, after the local station, KVOR, finished running the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre. Used to listen to all the Denver Nuggets games on KOA.

When I moved to Houston, I could still hear KOA, until a local hispanic station went on the air on the same frequency!

Now being in Florida, I can't hear it due to other stations being on the same frequency. WLW comes in pretty good, though. Then there's the infamous "Radio Rebelde" from Cuba that blankets everything!

Occasionally I can hear a station from the Virgin Islands.

[N6BOA]

Quote[/b] (KF0RT @ April 23 2006,12:50)]Denver has Kathy Sabine (http://www.womenof.com/News/cn12_9_02.asp), a real babe, but she's educated and sharp as a tack. #
you mean "and she's sharp as a tack..." #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (N6BOA @ April 23 2006,15:03)]Quote[/b] (KF0RT @ April 23 2006,12:50)]Denver has Kathy Sabine (http://www.womenof.com/News/cn12_9_02.asp), a real babe, but she's educated and sharp as a tack.
you mean "and she's sharp as a tack..." http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
I'm not opposed to English lessons, but that one went over my head.

73, Rob

[WA5KRP]

Quote[/b] (KF0RT @ April 23 2006,16:57)]Quote[/b] (N6BOA @ April 23 2006,15:03)]Quote[/b] (KF0RT @ April 23 2006,12:50)]Denver has Kathy Sabine (http://www.womenof.com/News/cn12_9_02.asp), a real babe, but she's educated and sharp as a tack. #
you mean "and she's sharp as a tack..." #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
I'm not opposed to English lessons, but that one went over my head.

73, Rob
http://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/blackeye/lol.gif Stand your ground, Rob. The brain fart isn't yours!




WA5KRP
Texas

[ka3trx]

In the 60s, used to listen to Bob (Bob-a-loo) Lewis and Cousin Brucie on WABC. Also WBZ in Boston and WOWO in Ft. Wayne.

[w8ob]

Quote[/b] (KW4MW @ April 23 2006,12:35)]AM radio was the only mode when I was a kid in the '50's and early '60's. #

We had one of those 'floor model' console radios with several knobs. #As Bill Cosby joked only two of them did anything, the on/off/volume switch and the station selector. #

Daytime radio was limited to the local 1000W and a couple of 5000W stations - mostly local hill billy stuff, soaps, Queen for a Day and the Arthur Godfrey show were on in the afternoon. #

The evenings were something else though, that's when the clear channel stations would come belting in - WLS, WABC, WOWO, KDKA, etc. #Of course the old man liked to listen to WCKY out of Cincy and ugh the Polka party out of KDKA in Pittsburgh. #

I soon discovered that the car radio was a much better radio, besides it was cool sitting there in the car all by myself, window down enjoying the cool night air and listening to Dick Biondi on WLS. #I usually started the car engine for a few minutes to recharge the battery before I went to bed since that old vibrator power supply sucked quite a few amps but there were some mornings when the old man had to coast the car down the driveway to get it started. #He never said anything about it though.

Later, I got a Knight Kit Ocean Hopper regenerative receiver. #(remember those?) and with a 200' long wire leading into my bedroom it really gave me two degrees of pleasure. #

One was of course listening to the same stations, except in more comfort.

The second was more enjoyable and devious. #I'd listen carefully to what station my little sister was listening to on her little AC/DC radio - then I would put the receiver into regeneration and 'zero beat' her station - well almost, maybe I'd be off by 1000 Hz or so. # http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

My Mom would threaten to Zero Beat me if I didn't quit picking on her.
Wow does that bring back memories. I used to listen to Dick on WLS every night in Northeast lower Michigan as a kid. We used to camp out in the most God awful places but who cared about skeeters,snakes,bears and flies if you had the ole trusty AM radio. I also used to love to listen to WGAR Cleveland in the mornings the flex club show was crazy then. AH the days before FM radio was popular. Nothing like static crashes in the background of your favorite tunes.

Now for local stations
1. Old time classic country
2. Big band era tunes (sounds great on the old floor model restore job)
3. Old time rock and roll
4. Praise Jesus
5. Talk radio ( my dial won't get wear marks at this spot)
6. a couple of general purpose stations with anything from local farm reports and mix of music formats.
7 A bunch of low power stations from the many small communities nearby.

AM radio still plays nice in central Illinois

Why pay for XM when other stuff is free?

[w8ob]

Is KLOS still around? When I was in Central America that station used to boom in there like it was local. Never heard it up in Michigan though. Another big boomer was the New Orleans station and WBZ.

[W2ILP]

There are many AM stations in the greater New York area. Some are devoted to news only. Others to sports only. Some are in foreign languages; most popular are ones for Spanish speakers. There are some which are obviously geared for the African American audience. Some just play oldies while others just play Rock. Some duplicate FM stations. WQXR still plays the classics and had a BW slightly greater than the other AM stations, which is allowed by the FCC because it is at the high end of the BC band.

All radio is now canned or delayed. Nothing is live, even the latest news is slightly delayed to allow it to be censored.

The frequencies of AM stations never change...but the frequency of advertisements increases as a function of time. Odds are if you turn on any radio to a random frequency you will hear a Spanish commercial first because more than 50% of BC time seems to be devoted to adds on most stations.

w2ilp (Interresante Las Programmes?)

[WA5KRP]

An article about AM DXing (http://dzabcik.home.texas.net/amdx.html). Notice the paragraph about two-thirds down about the remaining "clear channel" stations.



WA5KRP
Texas

[n0jaa]

I still do some AM DXing here and there, then report my results to the National Radio Club. The best catches are always those on the "graveyard" frequencies (1220, 1230, 1240, 1250, etc.). Those frequencies are where the low-power (1000 watts or less at night) Class B and Class C stations hang out.

[W5HTW]

Visiting the KOA site east of Denver was a true highlight for me. The chief engineer, whose name was Frank, but I have forgotten the last name, lived three houses from me, and was a ham, as was I. But we were very different kinds of hams! I had an ARC5 transmitter and a Hallicrafters S-85, with a end fed wire. Frank had a (gasp!) KW-1 in the basement, and a 75A-3 or 75A-2) on his desk and a tower and beam.

But Frank took me to the KOA site. Now THAT was RADIO! I wish the KOA web site had photos of that old place. The floors were clean and reflective. Everything was spotless. The transmitter occupied much of the second floor.

Out back was the 400 or 600 foot triangular tower. Around the building were several decorative ponds. But I was to learn they were not just for beauty. They were for the distilled water that cooled the final tubes in that transmitter.

You could look into the inspection window of the transmitter and see the inverted finals, water rushing over the plate caps. I had not yet taken physics in school, and that was my introduction to the fact distilled water was not a conductor.

A sign, for visitors, explained that the transmitter had an instantaneous peak power of 250,000 watts. I told when it was built and installed, but I don't recall.

Years later I was in Denver and I rode by there. It was all gone. Houses, businesses. Once upon a time KOA had been in the desert east of Denver. But they had, I heard, moved their transmitting facility to Lookout Mountain.

In the 1950s they were non-directional, a single tower. I don't know what they are today. But I remember their on-hour ID. "Your fifty thousand watt voice of the west, KOA, Denver." That alone impressed this 16 year old kid.

Maybe four years or so ago, I was browsing eBay and spotted for sale, one of the final tubes from that old transmitter! Useless for ham work, what a nice artifact it would have made! I had no interest in purchasing it, of course, but I emailed the guy and told him a bit about the history of where that tube came from. He thanked me, and told me his wife said, "GIVE him the tube - he deserves it." Needless to say, he did not. Nor would I have accepted.

I got my first (Novice) ham license in Knoxville, TN. In the 10th grade, I worked on afternoon a week, and a couple of hours on Saturay on WIVK, as part of what school called "Distributive Education," allowing students to work in what might be a chosen career field. It was a daytime station, one kilowatt, and was my very first every exposure to broadcasting. The transmitter was in the studio. Later they remoted it on a hill outside town, and eventually then went to 50 KW directional.

But that year we moved back to Denver, and WIVK passed into my history. Briefly worked at KOSI (Cozy Radio) in Aurora, and a bit at the "giant" KLAK, (Clack Radio) which was a huge 250 watts 24 hours a day, from a little white farmhouse (complete with sagging porch) in a manmade swamp in Lakewood, west of Denver. But ham radio, girls, and cars soon led me to other places where money called - to afford the girls and cars, and a bit of surplus radio.
got me out of that.

Still, KOA remains the highlight of my broadcasting events.
Over the years many other transmitters passed through my hands, both AM and FM, but KOA was THE KING.

KKOB (was KOB, but lost that in a license change) in Albuquerque was a clear channel station, protecting only for 770 WABC in NY. It covered the entire western USA, but at night they have to go directional and null the northeast signal. Somehow KOB never held the excitement for me that KOA did.

I miss the golden days of AM radio. At sock hops at school, the DJ from the local station was a true celebrity!

I still like to listen to the AM band. i have a Realistic DX-200 sitting here beside me as I write this, but of course, all it picks up is the computer, if the computer is on! At night, though, with the computer and the tv off, I find many exciting - not DX, just exciting - AM stations.

Ed

[WA5KRP]

HTW,


Great stuff.




WA5KRP
Texas

[W0LPQ]

Ed, growing up in South Central Idaho, I also remember KOA and KOB..! True powerhouses, as was KNX in LA, KSL in Salt Lake and KFI in LA.

I too was saddened when I read of the loss of KOB to become KKOB. Sort of made it not worth while to even try to listen to.

Late nights we used to listen to WJR, once in a while we could get WBZ Boston and KAAY in Little Rock.

Great history Ed, keep up the good work.

Bill, W0LPQ

[KF0RT]

Yes, thanks for the "tour," Ed.

I've never been inside the KOA transmitter facilities, but have been by there several times. As far as I know, it's still in the same location where it was first installed in 1924. Just southeast of the town of Parker. The antenna is a 660' 5/8ths wave vertical. KOA first went on the air on December 13, 1924 as a 5KW station and reached it's present power output of 50KW sometime in the early 30's. Parker and the communities surrounding the transmitter site are now among the more popular in the U.S. -- home to a lot of 10-acre "mini-farms" where many of the residents own horses. Some in Parker can receive KOA via kitchen appliances.

It's really hard to grow up in Denver and not have memories that involve KOA. (Well, maybe today...) For me, it was Irving R. Levine's reports from Vietnam in the 60's. We heard those every morning during breakfast in our house in Aurora, listening to the "fifty thousand watt voice of the West." I remember coming home school for lunch one day in November 1963 and telling my Mom that she needed to "turn KOA on" because something had happened to the president. I was in the second grade.

The only 50KW transmitter I've seen though, was a station in western Douglas county. I forget the callsign now, but believe it was on either 1120 or 1150KHz. Typical 5-tower directional array and I was very impressed that it was more copper pipe than copper wire. The transmitter had meters for water temperature and water pressure! I remember thinking that the towers didn't seem very "stout." A few years later, a horse got tangled in one of the guy wire sets and brought one of the towers down.

KOSI, though... I've actually worked at both their AM and FM sites. My brief stint as a "pro" tower climber. I replaced light bulbs at the AM site and helped swap out antennas at their FM site on Lookout Mountain. This was in early 1977. We had a crane to do the heavy lifting -- one tower section weighed over 2,000 pounds as I recall, and the mast mounting plate was another 2,000 plus. When the job was done, we went up there at 2AM one Sunday morning to switch from the backup antenna to the new antenna. This required pressurizing the 3" Heliax with nitrogen (I think it was nitrogen) to keep it from arcing. Standard stuff for those in the broadcast biz, but pretty impressive to me! KOSI, back then was owned by Bill Armstrong, a U.S. Senator.

Fun stuff...

73, Rob

[nx6d]

I've got a pile of AM medium wave QSL's sitting around here from the "clear channel" days.

Some of the stations were:

KOA, Denver, CO
WCCO, Minneapolis, MN
KGA, Spokane, WA
KOMO, Seattle, WA
KDWN, Las Vegas, NV
WHAS, Louisville, Kentucky
WHO, Des Moines, IA
KIKI, Honolulu, HI (same freq as WCCO-830khz!)

All from Berkeley, CA. I have others too, I just can't remember the callsigns off the top of my head.

Wow, was THAT fun!

Dave WX7B
Sonoma County, CA

[W5HTW]

A couple of years ago, a hot air balloon crashed into one of the KKOB AM towers in Albuquerque's North Valley. The station went off the air almost immediately, due to the danger of fire from the propane. Seems to me the balloon hit at about the 600 foot level, but I don't really recall.

Three or four people in the balloon basket, one of them a young boy. Afraid of an explosion, they, uninjured, climbed out of the basket and descended the tower slightly. That must have been one heck of an experience!

Rescue crews climbed the tower and brought them down one by one.

The antenna was said to be damaged, and repairs would have to be made, but I never heard the outcome of that.

I never worked at KOB/KKOB, but had a friend who did. I was at a station just across the street from their studios. I worked for KRKE, a 5 KW regional station on 610. It was non directional during the day, so covered almost all of our large state. But at night we went north-south directional, and you couldn't hear us 50 miles to the east!

The old KOA site, Rob, was just south of US 40, and a few miles east of Aurora. It probably was quite near Parker, but access was from US 40 (no interstates back then.) Seems to me it was perhaps five miles east of Fitzsimmons Hospital. Ah, but that's memory! I could have been near Parker! I was told they moved it to the mountain, back in the 1970s or 1980s. I went looking for it, perhaps in 1977 or 1978, and couldn't find it. I was never at their studios but I believe they were in a bank building in downtown Denver.

KLAK eventually went to 5 KW. And would you believe it, as a 250 watt station on 1600 KHZ, it was directional at night?!

I built KDRW on 1450 in Silverton, Colorado. The fellow who owned it was a Montrose native and wanted a station there but couldn't get the permit. We put KDRW on the air as a 1 KW AM on 1450, in June, 1981. I ran it for nearly two years, as Jack of everything imaginable. DJ, engineer, snow pusher, talk show host, personnel manager, program director, music director, news director/reporter, production director, assistant vacuum cleaner repairman, and coffee consumer. It went off the air by late 1983, but I had decided it was a crashing project, so I left in late 1982.

Was really hard getting that old transmitter to come on the air when the temperature was 35 below zero. We installed a heater in the shack to keep the transmitter sort of lukewarm. Even then, there were many mornings I had to hop a snowmobile and drive to the t-site and manually start the transmitter, as the remote control link wouldn't work.

KOSI AM was, when I stumbled across it, in a motel on Colfax, in Aurora. Didn't know where the transmitter was. I thought it was northeast of Stapleton airport, but that's another foggy memory. I was never out there.

I used to listen, when I lived in Virginia, to WBZ. Some all night talk guy, last name was Williams. Great show! Another foggy memory is, when I lived in eastern Mass, I saw the old WBZ radio tower. THAT was something to behold. I hear it is gone now. That was in the early 1960s. I was, at the time, W1BXP, and lived in Millis, Mass, which was the former site of an FCC monitoring station. Nothing left there when I was there except some wooden antenna poles.

My teen-days favorite station was WKBW, Buffalo. Wow that could be heard all over the eastern US. But what surprised me, was I could hear that station when I was living in France! No joke. And occasionally I could hear WMGA. Mostly in Europe, though, I listend to Radio Luxembourg.

Sure, I recall WHO, WMS, WLAC, and (lordy mercy) the most famous of all the old timers, WCKY. If anyone listened to WCKY in the 1950s or early 60s, they heard the pure corn of hillbilly music coupled with selling guitars, records, harmonics (Wayne Raney and Lonnie Glossen?) get your baby chicks by sending 5 dollars to "WCKY, CINCINNATI ONE, OHIO."

And I recall, I think it was WHO, where the late night DJ would play a record, then pause for coffee. "Ah, that coffee sure is good tonight, hmmm." Then another song, and more comments on the coffee. His voice could make you very sleepy, coffee or not!

King of the air was XERF, Del Rio, Texas. Transmitters in Acunya oahilla, across the border, with 250 KW. No place in America where it could not be heard at night. That is probably the first place I heard of the Wolfman.

Reminiscing about the days of AM radio has been fun. Hope I read more on here about it.

Ed

[KG6YTZ]

AM here? Talk, talk, talk, talk, news, news, news, sports, sports, Radio Disney, and Mexicans. To a lesser extent, assorted other foreign languages as well - Chinese, undoubtedly, probably Vietnamese, and something that sounds middle-eastern.

[ve2nsm]

Quote[/b] (ai4ep @ April 22 2006,21:34)]What do your local AM radio stations program these days ?
PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
GLORIA A DIOS!!!!

And a lot of QRM on 160 and 80m too http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[kf6rdn]

I do like KFI in the morning with Bill Handel, and afternoon John & Ken. Talk about non PC, and strong on local issues. John and Ken regularly rag on any local politition regard illegal immigration, drivers license etc, doesnt matter whether dem or rep.

For music, it's the ipod.

If you "DX'd" KFI, they may have gotten weaker in the last couple years. Apparently a small plane nailed the main tower.

[w8ob]

HTW Thank you very much for that information. Not only is DXing the AM stations fun, hearing a little bit of history about them is great. I also like to listen to the graveyard stations you know 1400,1450 etc during grayline you can pick out some strong signals from really remote never heard of places.

[2E0GYD]

hi all,
shame to hear that most of the am station in the us is "praise the lord" type stations

here in Britain theres a variety of stations, the strongest thats nation wide is 909 bbc radio 5 live, which is politics (not extreme) on weekdays and sports (mainly football (soccer)) at weekends, no commercials as the bbc's revenue comes from the £120 per year t.v licence.

another strong station is 1089 talk sport, which is mostly (yep, you've guest it) sport with a bit of phone in mixed in.

the rest is mostly/always music like 1215 virgin radio,
657 bbc wales, 1458 capital gold, 1548 Magic (Liverpool) and some more that i cannot really be bothered naming http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

just to add salt to injury to the argument that "am is dyeing" at night time there isnt a ounce of space on medium wave as its full of european stations.

plus theres some long wave stations , 198 is bbc radio 4, 252 is RTE radio, which is irish, 182 i think is german and 235 and 162 sounds french.

i wonder if there are any long wave stations in the us??

73 de Rick 2E0GYD

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (W5HTW @ April 24 2006,20:36)]The old KOA site, Rob, was just south of US 40, and a few miles east of Aurora. It probably was quite near Parker, but access was from US 40 (no interstates back then.) Seems to me it was perhaps five miles east of Fitzsimmons Hospital. Ah, but that's memory! I could have been near Parker! I was told they moved it to the mountain, back in the 1970s or 1980s. I went looking for it, perhaps in 1977 or 1978, and couldn't find it. I was never at their studios but I believe they were in a bank building in downtown Denver.
What year was that, Ed?

As far as I know, the KOA transmitter has always been in the same place (but my "memory" of this doesn't extend much before the late 60's). Of course, back then, "East of Aurora" covered everything from about Fitzsimmons to the Kansas state line.

I found the current KOA transmitter site on a Terraserver aeriel photo -- just outside of Parker, and right where I thought it was.

Link - (http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=4&S=10&Z=13&X=2599&Y=21865&W=2&qs=%7cparker%7cco%7c) If this works, you should be able to see the orange and white tower stripes just to the right and down from the center of the picture. Move to the east just a bit and you'll find Parker Road, which goes into Aurora and Denver to the NW. This is probably about 10-12 miles south (and just a little east) of the Fitz complex; more south of Aurora than east.

It could very well be that KOA moved at some time before the late 60's -- it's really hard finding that sort of history, I'm learning.

The only time I was ever at KOSI's studio, they were on 16th or 17th Avenue, just a block or two north of Colfax, as I recall. The motel bit isn't surprising.

73, Rob

[W5HTW]

Rob that doesn't even *vaguely* match my memory! First, the building was a red brick, two story building, lengthwise parallel to the highway, and set back from the highway by perhaps 300 yards, but this photo suggests it was a lot further, maybe a quarter mile. There was a gravel, or maybe even paved, narrow lane going to the transmitter building.

The building faced the road. The tower was out back, away from the highway, but I guess since, in this photo, I would approach from the north, then "out back" would be south. So that's probably where it was back then. In front of the building, besides gravel parking lot, there was a pond, and some shrubs, greenery, to make the place really attractive, and it was.

There was a larger pond out back. In the photo I see a depression that could have been one of the ponds, but is now dry. They no longer use water cooled transmitters, I guess, huh?!

However, I can believe it was off the Parker road instead of US40. In those days Parker was virtually nothing at all. We teens used to go out there and drag race in the evenings on that road, which was two-lane.

Wow! Memory sure does play tricks!

In any case, the site doesn't come close to looking like the picture stored on my mental hard drive!

That was 1957, by the way.

Thanks for the link. Now I have to try to reconcile what the photo shows with my own memory.

KOSI was in a motel on the south side of Colfax. It was in a second floor room, at least the studio was. I think the admin office was in a second room. I was in there when I was hired, but that's about it. I was a kid, doing part time radio work one afternoon or so a week. And I wasn't even left alone in the studio - I was under supervision all the time. I'm pretty sure someone told me the KOSI transmitter was east of Stapleton, but I don't recall ever seeing it, even though I used to go out to the small airport east of there for Civil Air Patrol meetings. Went up Peoria almost to the end, at the very north end of Stapleton, then turned east on a two lane highway.

Looking south in the photo though (on edit) the other building, at the end of the lane, could have been the original transmitter building. It even has the shrubbery. That would also fit the "tower out back" but there was a lane in from the highway, which, if that was the building, has been removed.

Speculating, I'd guess a new transmitter site/building was built further northwest, and the old one was abandoned. But that's just speculation.

Interesting anyway!

Ed

[KW4MW]

I know this isn't broadcast related but I recall that in the early '60's the Navy had a huge transmitting complex near Annapolis Md. #I don't know the power they were running nor the frequency, I do remember seeing a large wire array.

The call letters of the station was NSS. #Why did I know this? #Because every radio that was turned off station, every telephone line and all the PA systems in the department stores reverberated with the endlessly repeated # #Dah dit, #dit dit dit, #dit dit dit .

Of course back then folks didn't question it being there - I imagine that today it would be a different story. #

Is there anyone on here from that part of Chesapeake Bay that can recall listening to NSS whether they wanted to or not?

[KA9VQF]

A few years ago one of my sisters decided to clean her attic. In amongst all the stuff that she had accumulated over the years was a box of stuff that she had taken when she got married moved out of the family house back in the early ‘70‘s.

In that box was a bunch of stuff that actually belonged to me. She returned the stuff, still in the box, to me. It was a bit like opening a time capsule. There were several Estes rocket motors a bunch of dead but surprisingly not corroded 9V batteries, my original Jade 6 transistor pocket radio {a birthday present when I turned 11, still works}, some bits of circuit boards, components, and an un-built crystal radio kit.

I thought that it might be fun for my daughter and I to put this thing together. We had to buy a container of Quaker oats to wind the main condenser. This kit had a lump of galenite <sp> mounted in a lead base and an actual little wire called a cats whisker to make the detector with.

It took a bit of fiddling with the cats whisker to get it to work but finally we were able to hear KROS 1340 in Clinton Iowa. {about 20 miles away}

Now, my daughter was in girl scouts back then and told her pack leader about this contraption, one thing lead to another and I ended up gathering enough stuff to help a gang of boy scouts in another town build crystal sets of their own.

I made the ear pieces out of wood, a magnet wound with fine magnet wire, and disks of steel cut from stove pipe.

Instead of galenite crystals I used diodes for the detector. Took a while to find enough that worked by putting them in a working prototype board and testing them. Most of the guys didn’t like the homebrew ear piece so I ended up whipping up a little amplifier using a 555 op amp that would run those cheap stereo headphones or a small speaker.

To me this defeated the purpose of having a crystal set because you needed a battery to make it go.

KROS was almost like the old time AM stations at that time. They played mostly farm reports but manage to toss in a bit of music. Mostly really old country but after 9:00 pm they had different old time radio programs like “The Shadow” and “Green Hornet.” they didn’t seem to have them in any sequential order though. You might hear episode one through four of a series then the next night they would play episode 15 through 20 from a different story in the series. Was a bit confusing and hard to follow the story that way.

I just went to their website and don’t see the old time radio shows their anymore. Too bad. They seem to be another ‘50’s &’60’s old time rock station now.

{use you best snappy DJ voice when you read this bit} “We play all the hits from the 50’s and 60’s especially the ones that really sucked when they were brand new.”

They still seem to have the farm stuff though.

Locally we have 100.3 WCCI FM. A few years ago they dropped the local announcer DJ format and were a totally satellite feed ‘All Hit Country’ station nothing ‘local’ at all. This went on for a few years but now while they are still all hit country they have local people on the air and cover local news and weather on their own.

Plenty of farm and Ag news and of course all hit country. I think they get their music from a satellite feed yet and don’t actually have any records or CD’s in house at all anymore.

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (W5HTW @ April 25 2006,19:20)]Rob that doesn't even *vaguely* match my memory! First, the building was a red brick, two story building, lengthwise parallel to the highway, and set back from the highway by perhaps 300 yards, but this photo suggests it was a lot further, maybe a quarter mile. There was a gravel, or maybe even paved, narrow lane going to the transmitter building.
Great stuff, Ed!

Yes, I recall the red brick building from the 60's, and the short gravel road. Apparently, KOA has done a lot of building at the transmitter site since then. Access was from the east (Parker Road). It's even possible that Parker Road has moved some since then. There has been a LOT of construction in that part of town in the last 30-40 years.

They probably have A/C units to cool the water these days. I don't recall the cooling ponds, but I was never actually on the site -- just saw it while driving by. You're right about Parker being just a bump in the road back then. It might have been nothing more than a convenience store and a post office. You sure wouldn't recognize it today -- it's now part of the "greater urban sprawl" that Denver has become.

I found the KOSI-AM towers - here. (http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=4&S=10&Z=13&X=2530&Y=21896&W=2)

This is the 5-tower directional array that now belongs to KEZW-AM. KOSI-FM is still on the air, but the AM station was sold some years ago. I've actually climbed a few of these towers. In the picture, there is a house just NW of the northernmost tower. Back in the 70's, an old guy lived there. I gathered at the time that he sort of kept an eye on things but didn't "belong" to KOSI. He had a hobby of making tiny sculptures out of wood (funny what one remembers). That's Arapahoe Road on the north side and C-470 to the south. This is almost due South of downtown Denver.

73, Rob

[w8cbc]

WLW had two water-cooled transmitters. A 1928 Western Electric 50kW last ran in 2000. As far as I know, it can still run - but the cooling system wasn't drained, and froze, so it needs lots of work.

The other was the 500kW monster that ran in the 30s and early 40s. It's just a hulk now. Its cooling pond has bass living in it. No, we don't let anyone try to catch them. The 50kW Western was this transmitter's exciter.

There's a working Continental 317 (2nd backup) and two solid-state Harris transmitters (DX50 - first backup, and 3DX50 - main), all air-cooled.

WCKY's operational transmitters are all air-cooled - a Continental 316F (2nd backup, 10kW), Harris MW50 (first backup), and Harris DX50 (main). The 316F has been on-air a couple of times this year when both the main and first backup were down for unrelated reasons. We had one of the tuning doghouses - main NDA - burn up last summer. This site also had its array wrecked by a tornado some years ago, the main NDA was the least damaged and got straightened out, the other three towers there now are replacements.

As to programming... far-right talk (WKRC), centre-right talk (WLW), centre-left talk (WCKY), sports (WSAI) - those are "my" stations. I like the Ed Schultz programme. The rest I ignore unless I have to be listening in order to fix something.

1160 WBOB (Salem) is presently oldies. They've tried sports and extreme-right talk, neither of which showed up in the ratings. Knowing Salem, they'll probably go right-wing religious next and leave it there.

1480 WCIN (independent, local ownership) is adult urban, the only contemporary-music AM in this town. They're always on the edge of bankruptcy. If Radio One do an adult urban on FM like they're rumoured to be setting up, it'll be the end.

Other AM stations around here are mostly religious. One is a sort of Godly Country. Neither aspect of that is to my taste. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[WA5KRP]

DAAAANG! #This is a great thread. #I wish to goodness I had a radio station story but I just don't - at least not as far as working around one. #One Friday night during my senior year in 1967 we did go to Ciudad Acuña to the XERF studios. #When we pulled up in the taxi (best to walk across and leave your truck in Texas), we could see the big neon XERF sign flickering from the modulated rf. #Wolfman Jack had come and gone by then, but his mystique was still palpable. #But before we got out of the cab a guard ran our ass out of there. #

The four of us that went down there for that traditional HS boys' weekend still think of it as a pilgrimage. #Crossing back into Texas, two of the guys puked in the river side by side with Sonny Crawford and Duane Jackson. #The only thing we didn't do was get thrown in jail. #


WA5KRP
Texas