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WWPR-AM 1490 Bradenton
- Thread starter jmtillery
- Start date
hdradioeng
Frequent Participant
I would think pretty good, its on the old channel 40 property in north Bradenton by Mixon Farms.
During the late 80's and through the 1990's when WWPR's tower was on the Pier in Bradenton on the Manatee River and they broadcast the fully allowed 1,000 watts, they were like a local station in Saint Petersburg, even a night in most locations in Saint Petersburg, there was no or little interference to be heard even at night. In fact when they were an oldies stations, they had several Saint Petersburg advertisers, on was a bakery in Saint Petersburg that seemed to be the sole sponsor during certain dayparts.
With their tower move and reduction in power, they still have an adequate signal in SP during the day, but at night, depending on the location in SP, the night-time graveyard frequency interference can be a problem in inland areas and the northern areas of Saint Petersburg, in zip codes 33712 and 33715 good signal day and night, 33701, 33704 and 33705 depends on proximity to the bay for good night-time reception.
With their tower move and reduction in power, they still have an adequate signal in SP during the day, but at night, depending on the location in SP, the night-time graveyard frequency interference can be a problem in inland areas and the northern areas of Saint Petersburg, in zip codes 33712 and 33715 good signal day and night, 33701, 33704 and 33705 depends on proximity to the bay for good night-time reception.
Now keep in mind, that the AM radios I listen to at home or in the car, all have good sensitivity.... Some of these cheap clock radios and other cheap radios, where the AM band is a complete afterthought may not have good reception of 1490, except in zip codes, 33711 (left that one out in my previous reply), 33712. 33711 and 33712 are mainland St. Petersburg's southern most zip codes, closest to the current 1490 tower location..... Zip code 33715 covers the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Tierra Verda.
If someone were to take the current 1490 facilities and make it into a rimshot for SP, then that 97.5 translator in Seminole might be the answer to make it completely listenable in all of SP, Pinellas Park, Gulfport, Seminole, South Pasadena, St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island.
Now back in the day.......when WWPR (WTRL before that) used the full 1,000 watts allowed and was on the Manatee River in downtown Bradenton, a translator would have not been necessary as far as coverage issues are concerned.
Hope this additional information helps and doesn't make things more convoluted .
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ok walters
Guest
It is less than 1000 watts on 1490 so it has limited range even on a good day and the night signal likely doesn't even cover 5 miles. High on the dial, low power, and on a graveyard frequency. Station is a "pay to play" station like Tan Talk so there is a limited audience due to no actual format. The website tells the tale pretty clearly - if you have the money then you are on the air.
coolaid213
Leading Participant
WWPR actually has better coverage than WTAN, despite what you'd think. I attribute this to the fact that TanTalk doesn't exactly believe in preventative maintenance. The last person to work on the tower was me, and that was 3 years ago. Lets just say, before I got there the ground system was mostly disconnected.
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ok walters
Guest
Maybe so, but with Tan Talk you are on multiple stations around Tampa. And likely at a similar rate.
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ok walters
Guest
Unfortunately, with that format and signal on AM there isn't going to be much audience and you are selling audience not signal. The show you represent is apparently on at night (it isn't showing on the programming schedule on their website), so shouldn't the real consideration be where does the night signal go? It is Bradenton only at night it looks like.
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WWPR-AM&h=N
jmtillery
Star Participant
No, because the show you are referring is already on the air on WWPR at night and is established as WWPR is the flagship station. I'm interested in the daytime signal for another program.
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ok walters
Guest
I would say you should be okay with the day signal for most of Saint Pete. They may want to get the station to update the program schedule to include the night show.
May be a tough sell due to the rest of the schedule being all over the map and all pay to play part timers. Covers a bunch of people though so good luck with it.
I think WWPR's website might need a little "truth in advertising" about its nighttime coverage into Tampa/St. Pete, "Be on a radio station reaching Tampa, Florida! As you can see from the map below, 1490 WWPR reaches all the way into Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida. (This is the daytime range; at night our signal may go much farther.)" This is above Radio-Locators daytime coverage map. OK Walters has posted the nighttime map below.
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