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GREAT Standards Station!

C

carolinaradio

I stumbled across a very good Standards station on AM a few nights ago. 740AM WCHO, a 50kw clear channel (NOT the company) station from Toronto booms in to much of the US at night and plays great standards and lots of big band! Here's their website: http://www.am740.ca

Not sure exactly how far the signal goes, but I live in South Carolina and it comes in just like a local station.
 
Several U.S. blowtorches reside on 740. So even though CHWO is the dominant clear on the channel in Eastern North America, the signal (at least in the U.S.) is not all that well protected and reception can be uneven. Usually sounds just fine here in Northern Illinois, however.
 
Interesting sidebar regarding the appeal of this station: I don't know how well it does in Toronto's ratings, but in Buffalo, NY, the nearest US city of any size, it's 12+ numbers are significant. It's worth noting, since Buffalo lost it's last standards formatted station about a year ago. Still, Buffalo listeners found this station and are noting it in their diaries. Not just an "out-of-market" station, but an "out-of-country" station!

Having grown up in Western New York, I can tell you that Toronto's 740 is loud like a local in Buffalo 24 hours a day.

For those unfamiliar with its history, 740 was used by the CBC for decades (official calls: CBL). The CBC moved nearly all of their services to FM a few years ago. CHWO had previously been on 1250, licensed to Oakville, Ont.

Nick Gerard
 
Hello Nick,

I was sorry to hear about KKGO. I listened on line from time to time and even have about 20 hrs. of the station recorded. I really don't think Ctry. will last on the staions frequency's. I too worked for a wonderful standards station here in Atlanta untill it was sold and is now Business Radio. YUK!! What are you doing now?
You can email me off line from my web site if you like.

www.alhardee.net
 
amlover said:
I too worked for a wonderful standards station here in Atlanta untill it was sold and is now Business Radio. YUK!!
Click to expand...
Which one?

I've picked up that Toronto station in the past. I haven't made a practice of listening to AM at night lately, but I should.

During the day 740 is bluegrass here in my part of North Carolina. At least that's the primary format.
 
I have been able to tune in to "AM 740" myself in Dayton, Ohio, at night. It comes in pretty clearly. Of course, with it being a Canadian station, I am interested as to what songs are popular on it vs. what songs are popular here in the States; I am aware of a rule in Canada saying that 35% of the musical selections on your stations have to be from Canadian artists like BTO, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, etc.

Back in June I was able to tune in while driving east on I-90 just west of the Pennsylvania state line. It must be a Lake Erie thing. However, I struggled to pick it up on I-80 east of Clarion (Exit 62).
 
I tried it. All I could pick up was someone ranting about the idea that liberals who support gay marriage are destroying the family.
 
jcs said:
I am aware of a rule in Canada saying that 35% of the musical selections on your stations have to be from Canadian artists like BTO, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, etc.
Click to expand...

I believe this varies by format. My understanding is classical music stations are not bound by the 35% "Can-con" rule, although a lower percentage my apply. Other waivers may also be granted from time to time for other reasons (possibly, for example, for a station with a listener/advertiser base is partly in the U.S.).

I do believe that CHWO may have also benefited from the rules being relaxed a bit. I travel to Toronto several times a year on business, and here's how I recall it....

When the CBC abandoned the frequency, the CRTC (Canada's FCC counterpart) invited applicants who proposed to provide programming for underserved segments of the community. CHWO won out when the CRTC determined that older adults represented the largest of those segments. CHWO thus subsequently moved from a modest signal on 1250 to the blowtorch transmitter west of town on 740.
 
carolinaradio said:
I stumbled across a very good Standards station on AM a few nights ago
Click to expand...

AM 740 is a great station! We listen to it all the time here in Ohio where local radio had some hard blows in the past 3 years or so. (WRMR, WLEC, WSAI ... RIP)

I think it's actually kind of neat that a lot of us Standards lovers are listening to the same station (740) even though we live all over the country ... I wonder if 740 themselves are aware of their "extended" listenership. They're really a fantastic station.

Last weekend I was out west and picked up another very good Standards station in NW Ohio, 1220AM. They played a great selection of Christmas music but the station must be pretty weak because we can't get it just an hour or two east.
 
tradrev said:
Last weekend I was out west and picked up another very good Standards station in NW Ohio, 1220AM. They played a great selection of Christmas music but the station must be pretty weak because we can't get it just an hour or two east.
Click to expand...

Tradrev, you definitely were tuned in to WERT 1220 out of Van Wert. I listen to it myself when I am on daytrips in the area. The signal does not come in until I am in about Troy or Greenville. I remember one night in Arcanum (south of Greenville) I tuned in to 1220 and heard a religious station out of, I think, Cleveland.

The station has begun audio-streaming, accessible at the site VWIndependent.com, but the last time I tried to get it, I was having problems with Java (an incompatible version?) or something similar.
 
I have been listening to CHWO AM 740's online stream and their mix of Adult Standards is too marvelous for words. I am happy for folks in the New York City area, where WVNJ AM 1160 has gone mostly talk with Adult Standards heard only during the overnight hours. I only wish there was a 50 kW clear channel AM station for the western part of the States, e.g., California, Colorado, Utah, etc.
 
Well as Standard's stations in the US are becoming as rare a Classical Music stations this 740 CHWO from Toronto Canada may become the only Standard's station available for the Northeastern US at night. Unfortunately we can't pick it up during the day here in Wilmington Delaware as to the North in Chester PA is WVCH, a 5k station. As soon as they power back at sunset, in come CHWO. I miss hearing the CBC programming at night though.
 
Here's the reason why Standards/Nostalgia/MOR can work if done correctly. What do the listeners most relate to, musically, in Toronto (and elsewhere?) http://www.am740.ca/fav_artists.htm

An interesting mix, not of just 300 burned out songs played repetively.

It's in the variety, in the personality of the station and it's committed to serving the local target.

And not playing 2:10 second fill-songs four times and hour or being 4 songs deep in core artists' discography. I'm impressed. Great mix with variety, not the same old - same old every six to ten hours.

An exciting "local" station. Imagine that...
 
Here's one I really like and listen to a lot here in California ... KAAM "Legends 770" in Dallas/Ft. Worth. A true "standards" station with some MOR, Big Band, Nostalgia...even a touch of Patriotic. A Crawford Broadcasting Station and a 50kw digital HD one at that. Similar to their Rochester station. http://kaamradio.com Good personalities, wonderful nostalgic Pams jingles and full service community info, traffic, weather, etc. Nice web site, too.
 
Agree 100% about KAAM - great station -- Oaktree, can you actually pick it up in California, or do you listen on the web?
 
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