I think the expense exceeds any possible benefits. In fact I haven't seen any NPR stations rushing to buy any AMs.
WFCR took WNNZ Westfield, MA (640) off Clear Channel's hands in 2010.
I think the expense exceeds any possible benefits. In fact I haven't seen any NPR stations rushing to buy any AMs.
WFCR took WNNZ Westfield, MA (640) off Clear Channel's hands in 2010.
I'd not be surprised if WFCR were to looking to sell WNNZ soon.
That would probably spell the end of music programming on WFCR 88.5.
I'd not be surprised if WFCR were looking to sell WNNZ soon.
and its directional pattern seems optimized to reach the fewest ears possible.
WNBM 103.9 does not cover the whole market, but still reaches many people. With a current overall rating of .3, it seems to be grossly underperforming. As virtually everyone in the market that listens to Urban A/C tunes in WBLS, it seems they would have little to lose by trying something else. Soft/AC appears to be on the rise. The Breeze is the #1 music station in San Francisco. The format is also gaining in Detroit and Seattle. And with WPLJ being sold, Cumulus would not need to be concerned that this format would be drawing listeners from a sister station.
Another format I could see working on 103.9 is a variety hits format such as Jack. It did quite well in New York on 101.1 FM, even if the current classic hits programming is performing even better.
Signal Reaches a Large Population: https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNBM&service=FM
Another format I could see working on 103.9 is a variety hits format such as Jack. It did quite well in New York on 101.1 FM, even if the current classic hits programming is performing even better.
"Did quite well?" So well that they flipped back to their old format.
There aren't many AMs in the country with the kind of coverage WABC has. Doubly so when it comes to ones potentially for sale.
The ITU now says that 15 mV/m is the minimum needed AM signal to cover an urbanized area. Under that standard, the coverage of WABC is not that significantly greater than that of an ESB FM signal.
Night skywave is irrelevant. Very little radio listening happens then, and nearly no buying takes place. And nearly no listening to out of market AM stations at night can be seen anywhere in the USA.
I am probably one of the few that listens to AM stations out of my area at night [WCBS, CFZM, etc.] Even ordered something from a WCBS advertiser once so buying does take place. Granted, probably no one under 50 listens to out of market AM stations at night but if they follow a certain sports team that is broadcast on that AM station and that doesn't have an affiliate in where they live, they might try and tune it in [if they even remember that AM still exists.]
One person listening and patronizing one advertiser once -- that would seem to confirm David's "nearly no" statements on both listening and buying, no? The bottom line is that while many of us radio fans found long-distance AM reception fascinating from our youth right into adulthood, that fascination hasn't been mainstream in the US since the very early days of radio broadcasting. I'm pretty sure none of the middle-school kids I knew back in 1968 in suburban Boston were listening to anything but WRKO or WMEX on AM, not staying up late to check out CKLW and WKBW, let alone listening to baseball on WBAL or WJR when the Red Sox were playing on WHDH.