When 1200 was based in Framingham with only 1 kW at night, the big interference was CFGO in Ottawa, ON. They are a sports station using the branding "TSN 1200"
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WRKO at night pattern around the clock?
- Thread starter fjockey
- Start date
There are, believe it or not, a few of us who do not like what you're saying, but we do know you are NOT WRONG about this.
Thanks for the information.
AM and FM radio will eventually completely die. May take several more decades to get there. With advent of streaming, there's no reason to have a separate device to receive AM/FM radio signals. The death knell will be once vehicle manufacturers start to eliminate the receivers in their cars and go strictly with bluetooth pairing to mobile phones.
Still a lot of places without mobile reception. It's amazing to drive in northern New Hampshire / western Maine at night in the winter with zero cellphone reception and yet hear Howie Carr crystal clear on WRKO.
Interesting....I know that on Cape Cod...WRKO has a very strong night time signal...but it receives night time interference there from 680-WPTF Raleigh, NC...
I'm pretty sure that WTLA is what he is hearing too...
IMO one major thing that AM/FM radio in the car has going for it and will keep it around at least for the foreseeable future, is the word "free". While one can play music from their phone or MP3 player, if they want to listen to "radio", live broadcasts and things like live news/talk, streaming costs $$ unless one has unlimited data as part of their cell plan. I at times stream in the car, but even though my cell plan includes a solid amount of data, it's not unlimited. For listening to NPR, news/talk and my preferred morning shows on a few music stations, at least for now, AM/FM wins out. Beyond that, one of the ridiculously cheap SiriusXM offers may be the next best plan for some at least and may cost less per month than paying for data, again, depending on their plans.
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On the AM band those hardly qualify as minor changes. An extensive showing must be made that increasing nighttime power and/or moving to N-DA will not cause increased interference to co-channel and first-, second- or third-adjacent channel stations
I'm glad SOMEONE had the sense to say what you did!
The distinction is that a "minor" change can be made without the FCC opening a window for new AM broadcast licenses - something which has not occurred in decades.
An AM broadcast station can modify its antenna, including the antenna location and directional pattern, with an application for a minor modification, so long as they do not propose changing frequency or community of license. See 73.3571 for additional details.
yes they are major changes, but you can apply for them anytime, you do not have to wait for a filing window
Whatever entity that does a filing for a major night pattern change for an AM for the better will have to have a ton of documentation, and many times it is done only after the licensee buys a station in another market and turns in the license eliminating the party that is most likely to object. Sometimes it is done to take advantage of an AM that just gave up and turned the license on the same frequency, or a up to third adjacent .
The easy filing for an AM WRT night power/pattern is to downgrade to 250 watts or less, especially if they have a translator.
At that point they can pretty much run 1 watt at night and still keep the translator fed, so long as they cover the city of license... it saves a ton on electricity costs
Whatever entity that does a filing for a major night pattern change for an AM for the better will have to have a ton of documentation, and many times it is done only after the licensee buys a station in another market and turns in the license eliminating the party that is most likely to object. Sometimes it is done to take advantage of an AM that just gave up and turned the license on the same frequency, or a up to third adjacent .
The easy filing for an AM WRT night power/pattern is to downgrade to 250 watts or less, especially if they have a translator.
At that point they can pretty much run 1 watt at night and still keep the translator fed, so long as they cover the city of license... it saves a ton on electricity costs
what i said is a "minor change" is true in the eyes of the FCC insomuch it can be done anytime
a Class D AM doesnt have to cover its city of license at night with any usable signal. a translator doesnt have city of license coverage requirements.
You could be 5kw non directional day 250watts directional nights..... and decide.. i wanna sign off at sunset and not operate at night anymore and you can do that, keep the translator and keep it running at night
a Class D AM doesnt have to cover its city of license at night with any usable signal. a translator doesnt have city of license coverage requirements.
You could be 5kw non directional day 250watts directional nights..... and decide.. i wanna sign off at sunset and not operate at night anymore and you can do that, keep the translator and keep it running at night
But it's important to recognize that the main reason in recent years to reduce night power and eliminate directional systems is to sell the land the transmitter is on. In some jurisdiction where property taxes can be increased due to reappraisal, that expense may be burdensome. And selling the land may produce significant cash.
Unless you have a higher power AM... 50 kw for example, power bills are not the biggest expense. Let's say the electric rate is $0.15 per kwh, a 5 kw station will use less than a dollar an hour in electricity just for the transmitter. At 250 watts or 5,000 watts, the tower lights, audio and STL gear, A/C or heating, security lights and such will often use as much as the transmitter and those costs will not decline when a station goes to lower power.
And unless the station is in a very small market with low revenue, the savings are going to be insignificant compared to things like insurance, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, rent, etc., etc.
But if you can sell the land for around $60 million like KHJ did or nearly $100 million like KABC did, then a change is worthwhile.
Yes, there are AM's that are doing that to cash in on the real estate, and there are others who don't own the towers or the land (think Vertical Bridge) and when Vertical decides to get rid of the facility ( 1430 and 1090 in Boston for example) they are left scrambling to find a new home for the stick. Look at the prior ownership of 1510 WMEX Boston, they were priced into oblivion by the tower rent as were several previous owners. The only reason 1510 wasn't deleted was Ed Perry is crazy and I say that with much respect. Nobody else thought the license was worth the 125K or so Ed paid for it, especially since he had to start from square 1 to get it back on the air
Those are the ones willing to take a second bite at the apple.
Then there are the hundreds of AM's who have turned the license in after selling off their land .
WNPV in PA comes to mind, IIRC they sold their land to the school district that built a school next door to them. Expanding Metro area, land scarcity, cha ching!
"LANSDALE – The former home of a local media fixture could soon house students, athletes, vehicles, or all of the above for a former neighbor.
The North Penn School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to buy the 13-acre property that formerly housed WNPV Radio, a $2.3 million purchase district officials said opens up plenty of new options for the adjacent North Penn High School."
(source: https://www.thereporteronline.com/2020/07/18/north-penn-to-buy-former-wnpv-radio-property/)
Those are the ones willing to take a second bite at the apple.
Then there are the hundreds of AM's who have turned the license in after selling off their land .
WNPV in PA comes to mind, IIRC they sold their land to the school district that built a school next door to them. Expanding Metro area, land scarcity, cha ching!
"LANSDALE – The former home of a local media fixture could soon house students, athletes, vehicles, or all of the above for a former neighbor.
The North Penn School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to buy the 13-acre property that formerly housed WNPV Radio, a $2.3 million purchase district officials said opens up plenty of new options for the adjacent North Penn High School."
(source: https://www.thereporteronline.com/2020/07/18/north-penn-to-buy-former-wnpv-radio-property/)
Tired of it all said:
This is just inherent in the type of propagation AM radio uses. Spend a few hours listening to LSB or USB on 20/40/80 meters
I will readily admit this is something I pay no attention to. My wife and I do not have any type of 'special' plan (e.g. some form of 'high' data limit) and I cannot recall a single instance where we exceeded our allotted data on our mobile plan. And I stream at least 12 hours per day on my phone (I have tinnitus so I leave the phone on WABC overnight to provide some nominal background noise to counter the ringing)
Its important to remember that the only time you'd be using mobile data would be when you're driving... otherwise, most folks I know are linked with with their wifi when at home or another location offering free wifi. With the typical commute being an hour, that's 10 hours of audio streaming (I can't say what audio streaming uses in terms of bandwidth, but we're not talking super high-quality audio.)
In the total realm of things, I think the "free" thing is a non-starter. Everyone on the planet (hell, even my 83 year old father) has a cell phone.
Uh, almost...
US smartphone penetration continues to climb, while tablet penetration is stagnant
Smartphone penetration increases while tablets trail
4.88 Billion Smartphone Users In The World!
This articles provides the latest data about the number of smartphones and smartphone users. Learn about phone ownership trends through the years.
www.bankmycell.com
There is definitely still an audience for AM/FM then, as not everyone wants or can afford a smartphone. People who already have smartphones have "jumped the gap", and so assume everyone has one, (I'm just as guilty of this thinking) but your articles definitely paint a better picture. It's still not the complete thing, but it helps.Uh, almost...
US smartphone penetration continues to climb, while tablet penetration is stagnant
Smartphone penetration increases while tablets trailwww.emarketer.com
4.88 Billion Smartphone Users In The World!
This articles provides the latest data about the number of smartphones and smartphone users. Learn about phone ownership trends through the years.
I'm not sure I understand. The data provided says 88% of those Americans age 12+ have a smartphone already.
Additional data from Pew says 95% of Americans age 18-49 own a smartphone, with older age groups lower.
IMO it's not a question of individuals having access to streaming audio, because enough people have access to affect the marketplace very considerably.
Those "older" age groups grew up w/o a cell phone, so do not know the utility of it. As they die off (and the younger crowd who grew up w/ cell phones age) that age disparity will disappear completely.
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