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Interesting article on 1090 The Fan

fordranger797 said:
Really interesting article, but I don't think radio should be compared to the print industry.
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Baker is right in that both mediums are on the decline. One is primarily from technology, the other partly due to technology but also due to Wall Street implosion.

That said, print media would be served better by taking accurate shots at radio, such as getting Dan Mason's name correct.
 
From the article:

"For Sandmeyer, who’d spent 2½ years waiting for CBS Radio’s head office in New York to give local management better resources, what hurts most is wondering what could have been."

Instead of "waiting for resources" Sandmeyer could have better spent that time working on his own to get the show noticed. There are creative ways to pay for things (like trips to Phoenix) but it requires someone willing to put in the effort to make it happen.
 
Rob Piotrowski said:
Instead of "waiting for resources" Sandmeyer could have better spent that time working on his own to get the show noticed. There are creative ways to pay for things (like trips to Phoenix) but it requires someone willing to put in the effort to make it happen.
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That's not a place where talent should go, it sets a bad precedent everyone will regret.
 
Rob Piotrowski said:
The precedent has already been set - across the country it's common for talent to double as salespeople selling time on their shows.
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It's one thing to sell the show, you made it sound like talent should fork the money and not get reimbursed.
 
I think that part of the problem with any format on 1090 kHz is the night time signal issues.

It would've been helpful if CBS would've had given the local cluster a marketing budget so that KFNQ would've been noticed by the local sports listener. Now it has to pass with national programming 24/7...wonder how long this is going to last? (Me thinks that sooner or later, CBS will sell it off to either Salem or to an ethnic broadcaster if the national sports network fails.)
 
CBS has AM stations in this sort of situation all over the country. Parking their network sports radio on one is pretty common and with valuations what they are, nobody is going to pay individually what the station is worth within the group. My money is on if CBS ever sells, it will be the group and a swap/cash or stock combination with an equally large group.

I worked for the Mighty 1090 during the KING years and in reality the night null wasn't a deal breaker. The facts are, if you're late to the format game and don't plan on outplaying the competition by investing in higher-dollar live lineups and then promoting the crap out of it, you too fall under the also-ran category.
 
KXA said:
I think that part of the problem with any format on 1090 kHz is the night time signal issues.

It would've been helpful if CBS would've had given the local cluster a marketing budget so that KFNQ would've been noticed by the local sports listener. Now it has to pass with national programming 24/7...wonder how long this is going to last? (Me thinks that sooner or later, CBS will sell it off to either Salem or to an ethnic broadcaster if the national sports network fails.)
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Did 1090 switch to its daytime pattern at some point? I haven't been up there in years but the last time I was driving through Chehalis, it was right in there, all by itself. When it was KING, XEPRS just about knocked it out completely and affected it badly by the time you got to Tacoma.
 
AQH said:
It's one thing to sell the show, you made it sound like talent should fork the money and not get reimbursed.
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No, that's not what I meant. They should get paid for their work, but there's nothing wrong with doing more since you're sitting around "waiting for resources" and they don't come in after a couple of years.
 
semoochie said:
Did 1090 switch to its daytime pattern at some point? I haven't been up there in years but the last time I was driving through Chehalis, it was right in there, all by itself. When it was KING, XEPRS just about knocked it out completely and affected it badly by the time you got to Tacoma.
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Over the years they made some slight adjustments to the night pattern of 1090, but nothing that eliminates the deep null toward the southeast. The ratchet rule prevented anything that would have reduced protections.

With the ever increasing terrestrial noise floor from switching power supplies and energy saving lights, no AM station in any major market, ND or D, covers even 60% of their market per the original licensed design, at least from the listener perspective.
 
They used to be weak here at night. Ever since they went HD their signal has increased at night --- and I'm referring to their in channel, non-HD signal, not the IBOC buzz. So they must have tweaked something.
 
The Times should perhaps improve their own sports section because it sucks. Front page coverage of women's teams while local baseball and hockey teams (whose draw is just as great) never get a mention. You wouldn't even know there were pro hockey teams in the metro by reading the Times. It's just one example of how far they've dropped in quality.

As for 1090, when they went sports the talk here on RD was that it was to give the national network a Seattle presence for national marketing reasons. I myself don't isten to the local sports shows very much -- the national shows give a national perspective that I find more interesting that a couple guys blathering away about Russell Wilson 24/7.
 
Kelly A said:
Over the years they made some slight adjustments to the night pattern of 1090, but nothing that eliminates the deep null toward the southeast. The ratchet rule prevented anything that would have reduced protections.

With the ever increasing terrestrial noise floor from switching power supplies and energy saving lights, no AM station in any major market, ND or D, covers even 60% of their market per the original licensed design, at least from the listener perspective.
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It's looks like the FCC is in the process of eliminating the "ratchet rule" but I'm sure it's 20 years or so too late for 1090. If they did anything now, it would probably cost a fortune and what good would it really do?
 
Assuming the Commission actually bothers, I think eliminating the ratchet rule is about 20 years too late for all AM stations. With the increase of terrestrial and impulse noise floor, AM stations now theoretically need to put a 10mV/M signal over their entire market for average coverage. I don't see enough technical leeway ever being given to AM stations to fill that requirement.
 
Re: national clearace
Yes, yu're exactly right, but we've already got 4 other sports stations, 2 of which are completely bird-fed , and the other 2 having some but not all national content. KIRO-AM is all ESPN late nights after I think it's 7 but it could be 10, not sure, and KJR I think picks from a couple. I think KHHO and KRKO are all national outside of the respective baseball teams. To add to that, Seattle has a reputation as being a very liberal city, and the only liberal talk station was blown up for another sports station.
Re: signal noise
Where is it that AM signals don't cover that they used to? I don't know if coverage was any better out that way 20 or 30 years ago, but when I was at a friend's house in Black Diamond, the signals were clear during the day. However, once they switched to their night patterns KOMO and KIRO were very weak. I should take the G8 out there now that I have it and see what it does, that's my standard reception gage these days.
 
bobdavcav said:
Re: signal noise
Where is it that AM signals don't cover that they used to? I don't know if coverage was any better out that way 20 or 30 years ago, but when I was at a friend's house in Black Diamond, the signals were clear during the day. However, once they switched to their night patterns KOMO and KIRO were very weak. I should take the G8 out there now that I have it and see what it does, that's my standard reception gage these days.
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In the past 15 years if you were Chief Engineer with an AM station in your group, you'd see an ever increasing noise floor manifests itself to listeners as a weaker signal. Most recently when I was at Fisher for KOMO and KVI, I was fielded a half dozen complaints weekly from listeners who were sure there was something wrong with either of the stations. But we did frequent field strength measurements which showed nothing had changed from the licensed design. In the particular vocal complainers, we actually visited their homes, or area of complaint, finding the overall noise floor from florescent replacement bulbs, noisy pole transformers, a nearby flat screen TV, computer monitor, all contributed to the local signal complaint. The calculated field strength at the location was right on the money. Of course, suggesting they turn off the noise making devices when listening to the radio, wasn't an option. "Why don't you just turn up the power on your radio station?" Yeah, like it's that simple.
 
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