Wasted 50KW AM Signals

BRNout said:

DavidEduardo said:

50 kw stations like WLAC or KOMA or WCKY or KXEL or KBLA are pretty dreadful facilities...

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David, KOMA isn't a dreadful facility. At least it wasn't when it was KOMA. Now as KOKC, it's a weak shadow of its former self. But as oldies KOMA, it actually garnered pretty good ratings - even after the FM simulcast began. Last I checked, KOKC has yet to match those numbers. So, formatwise, KOKC could be considered "a waste" at the moment. But the technical facility sends an excellent signal across it's home metro and (on most nights) an almost local-grade skywave signal throughout the high plains and intermountain West. I used to listen to it a lot when driving through UT, CO, WY or NM at night. During the day, it covers most of Oklahoma pretty well.

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The daytime usable signal misses, although barely, parts of several counties in the metro, and at night, about half the geography of the market. That is per the definition of a signal that is not viable.

There is, and has not been for 3 decades or more, any use for the night skywave coverage insofar as revenue generation. While KOMA did a huge business promoting shows and movies in the 60's, by the late 60's most places had local Top 40's and when FM came, it was over.

Of course, one could argue that any AM facility is a bad facility, but this one is not a good one even in a looser context.

DavidEduardo:

...What is your opinion of radio-locator? Checking out the daytime pattern for WCKY it shows solid coverage of Hamilton County, and in fact has 'distant' coverage up to Dayton.

I also checked out Radio and Records, and it shows that WDJO, a 5000 class B Oldies Station (with most of the former WSAI crew) out scoring WCKY by .2 of a point in what I guess is the overall ratings.

Is the business of radio such that a 50KW owner could not expect to make more money off of locally produced programming (as is suggested by a small station with an FM format competitor) than they could by a largely syndicated program lineup that is the only sports station in town yet is getting marginally lower ratings despite greater power?

"one could argue that any AM facility is a bad facility"

... It should be noted that WLW, with mostly entirely local programming, often beats its nearest FM competitor in these overall ratings by almost 35%.

SCMcKinney said:

DavidEduardo:

...What is your opinion of radio-locator? Checking out the daytime pattern for WCKY it shows solid coverage of Hamilton County, and in fact has 'distant' coverage up to Dayton.

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There is a reason the Radio Locator maps are labeled as for amusement purposes only. They are calculated, not measured contours. Most FM listening takes place inside the 64 dbu contour, so about 20% inside the R-L red curve is the signal that gets most (90% to 95%) of the listening. Similarly, metro area AMs don't pick up much listening outside the 1|0 mv/m contour, so go inside the red line, again for AM.

Is the business of radio such that a 50KW owner could not expect to make more money off of locally produced programming (as is suggested by a small station with an FM format competitor) than they could by a largely syndicated program lineup that is the only sports station in town yet is getting marginally lower ratings despite greater power?

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People do not listen to signals, they listen to programming content. A boring format on a big signal gets no listening, while a good one on a small signal is capable of performming well, despite the odds.

"one could argue that any AM facility is a bad facility"

... It should be noted that WLW, with mostly entirely local programming, often beats its nearest FM competitor in these overall ratings by almost 35%.

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But it's the content... despite being AM. WLW is one of the rare AM news talkers with a strong 25-54. The fact that the shows are local helps, but only because the shows are also entertaining. 1800 miles away, and not from Cincy, I listen to the Glbert Gnarley podcasts!

DavidEduardo said:

The daytime usable signal misses, although barely, parts of several counties in the metro, and at night, about half the geography of the market. That is per the definition of a signal that is not viable.

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That has not been my experience at all. During the day, they send out a good (listenable) signal which extends at least 60 miles east and west and 100 miles north and south of their transmitter site in Moore. The fringe signal (which only someone like me would listen to) extends pretty much to the state line on all sides, save the panhandle.

Now, at night it's more debatable. They blast a strong signal over the about 70% of the metro which is north, south and west of the tx site and it only gets hazy for the eastern fringes of the OKC metro area. Then again, most advertisers and most of the target audience isn't in those area. More development is north, south and west. The eastern portion of the metro is dominated by a military base. So, the vast majority of the market's population is served by an excellent signal from this station. Basically, the only decent sized suburb that is missed by the usable signal at night is Midwest City - and they can still hear it. The debatable part is whether it's "usable" in that portion area of the metro. I'd still say yes, but it's not the same level of signal as those in Oklahoma City, Norman, Edmond and other areas enjoy - which is excellent.

DavidEduardo said:

There is, and has not been for 3 decades or more, any use for the night skywave coverage insofar as revenue generation. While KOMA did a huge business promoting shows and movies in the 60's, by the late 60's most places had local Top 40's and when FM came, it was over.

Of course, one could argue that any AM facility is a bad facility, but this one is not a good one even in a looser context.

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Yes, one can argue that skywave is useless in a business sense; although an awful lot of people in underserved areas of the west actually did listen to this station in the 80's and early 90's. These days, you're certainly right in saying that good skywave won't do much for you financially. But there's no reason to discount this facility's viability. At the moment, Renda's choice of programming is questionable. However, with the proper format and execution, this is one station that could still be successful.

There are a heck of a lot of AM facilities (hundreds) that are far less viable than this one. Now, the long term viability of AM in general is another matter. I maintain that there are ways that it can be maintained.