WWKB Cutting Back To 10,000 Watts?

[Savage]

I'm curious to learn the source of the rumour that Entercom actually cut back its heritage 50 kilowatter "to save money on electricity."  I agree with Maestro Pastrick: not a day goes by without our getting an "avail request" from a long-form program supplier (read: colon-blow, gold coin, business/financial, psychic-mystic supplies, or religion.)  If money at E-Com is really that tight they could sell the nighttime signal that covers the Northeast to the hucksters and pay the monthly electric bill in one broadcast week, IMO.  Believe it or no, you could actually make money with that signal if you tried.  (Not much, maybe, but some.)

I suspect the reason for the short-term cutback was technical.  This is the time of year when AM operators venture out to the ATUs and discover what winter hath wrought.  Being only a mile from Dreary Lake Erie, KB's overtaxed engineers may not have visited the tower bases for a few weeks, since you probably would have to use snowshoes.  Who knows?  Maybe a frost-heaved spark gap was too close and was arcing at 50kw but okay at 10.  Or something.

I agree, if money is too tight, signing the signal off from Midnight to 6am, hours of operation not required in "unlimited hours," makes more sense than powering down to 10kw 24-7.  Zap: instant 25% savings.

[Yeziknoradio]

Why not just sign off from midnight to 5 a.m?

Can that be done? Isn't that a separate licence? A Dawn to Dusk licence?
(Not sure, just asking...)

[Savage]

"Unlimited hours" operation under FCC rules does not mean literally, operation 24 hours a day.  You're required to operate daytime hours and, essentially, until 10pm in the evening.  No operation is mandatory from 12 Midnight to 6am local time.  So KB could sign off overnights without any FCC consequences, if they really wanted to save money.  In fact they could turn it off at 10pm.

[Jeff Laurence]

When 1530 was WSAI in Cincinnati..they stopped the standards and used to run Brother Stair, and "Angels Among Us" and in the old days Rev Ike, and Rev Schambach..among others..they paid a truckload and still do to be on that signal..Mr Savage makes a good point.  The station "could" survive just by doing that all night..listeners or not.  From what I understand the electricity costs are indeed enourmous..but the Fields don't really care about heritage..nobody does anymore..and short of some very successful AM operations that require a LOT of sweat equity like WYSL and a good handful of others (yeah, even Saul Levine's stations) there is a glut of silence from the listenership who seemingly don't care whether a station lives or dies.  Unlike many of us here on Radio-Info, the vast majority of radio audiences are just not "into it" and if the same verbiage comes out of an iPod, or a WiFi radio or a laptop..it's no difference..It's just there.  They have no clue as to the huge amount of cash it takes to run a transmitter, pay taxes on the land, maintain a tower if not 5 or 6 towers..phasors, lighting, insurance liability, land maintenece..etc..etc when in many cases they can garner as many if not more actual listeners by running a stream on Live 365.

Not long ago there was some scuttlebutt about how a kid in Dallas running a part 15 AM radio station out of his den..had MORE listeners than KLIF!!  And when you included his Shoutcast stream..he beat KAAM, KLIF and KFXR..that is a LOT of real estate and electricity that got less than the teenager "playing radio"..pretty sad.

David Field is really a good guy..Entercom is a pretty solid company..(IMHO) There HAS to be something that a 50KW signal in the Queen City could do to generate interest..Where's Mary Lounsbury?

[klutch00]

How about moving WWWS's Urban Oldies Format to 1520? Then take 1400 dark. 1400 doesn't even broadcast with 1 Gallon of power.

I was thinking the same damned thing! It'd be cool to have an R&B oldies clear channel powerhouse. The only thing is that if such a move were to become reality, add a little British "northern soul" and maybe a little 'blue-eyed soul' (Doobie Brothers, Boz Scaggs, Hall and Oates and the like) to the mix during the evening and overnight hours.

[RBW]

If talk is to be KB's fate, it's got to be at least partially local. Where I am at the eastern end of the state, WGY has control of the "big talkers", but little 1300 was born from bad ratings a couple years ago... bought by a "local" talk-show host and supliments the schedule with local & secondary syndicated fare.

In KB's case, what about non-political chat? Those little pea-shooters in CNY; 1240, 1590 etc... (the Finger Lakes Radio Group), has Dr. Dean Edell, Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard etc... I don't think they're cleared in Buffalo are they??

Just a thought.

[Savage]

Jeff's story about the kid with the Part 15 station is simultaneously hilarious, sobering....and instructive.

I'd be willing to bet that kid put some actual effort into his programming, involved his audience, infused his on-air product with actual human input and energy.  And guess what?  Poof!  He got an audience!  The 1960s live again....

So much for all the doom-mongers who look at corporate radio and conclude "it's over for our industry."

Maybe our problem is the big shots running radio these days.  Maybe a kid with a Lafayette phono-oscillator actually understands radio more than they do.  Maybe the Part 15 kid is the future of our industry...?  Whaddya think?

[chas108]

I'm curious to learn the source of the rumour that Entercom actually cut back its heritage 50 kilowatter "to save money on electricity."  I agree with Maestro Pastrick: not a day goes by without our getting an "avail request" from a long-form program supplier (read: colon-blow, gold coin, business/financial, psychic-mystic supplies, or religion.)  If money at E-Com is really that tight they could sell the nighttime signal that covers the Northeast to the hucksters and pay the monthly electric bill in one broadcast week, IMO.  Believe it or no, you could actually make money with that signal if you tried.  (Not much, maybe, but some.)

I suspect the reason for the short-term cutback was technical.  This is the time of year when AM operators venture out to the ATUs and discover what winter hath wrought.  Being only a mile from Dreary Lake Erie, KB's overtaxed engineers may not have visited the tower bases for a few weeks, since you probably would have to use snowshoes.  Who knows?  Maybe a frost-heaved spark gap was too close and was arcing at 50kw but okay at 10.  Or something.

I agree, if money is too tight, signing the signal off from Midnight to 6am, hours of operation not required in "unlimited hours," makes more sense than powering down to 10kw 24-7.  Zap: instant 25% savings.

I did wakeup duty at WWVA-AM/Wheeling from 1990-92. 50,000 watts covering 18 states and 6 Canadian provinces. (I still like 'KB's old descriptor "Eastern America and Canada")

25% of the station's billing came between 7P-3A...from the very long-form suppliers described above. It's cheap and easy $$$$$.

[hypwr]

I'm the transmitter guy at a 50KW (67 horsepower) station.  I calculated the savings by dropping to 10KW.  It really is not worth it.  Even if we were using our former tube-type transmitter it wouldn't be worth it.  Of course, we are still billing over a million per month.  On the other hand, the trend is there.  Not too long ago we were billing over 20 mil per year.

Anyway, they should stay with 50KW or some other station could up their power and perhaps cause some additional interference.

[chas108]

Jeff's story about the kid with the Part 15 station is simultaneously hilarious, sobering....and instructive.

I'd be willing to bet that kid put some actual effort into his programming, involved his audience, infused his on-air product with actual human input and energy.  And guess what?  Poof!  He got an audience!  The 1960s live again....

So much for all the doom-mongers who look at corporate radio and conclude "it's over for our industry."

Maybe our problem is the big shots running radio these days.  Maybe a kid with a Lafayette phono-oscillator actually understands radio more than they do.  Maybe the Part 15 kid is the future of our industry...?  Whaddya think?

Two words: Emotional Connection.

Live, local, passionate about the music...having fun and not afraid to convey that you're having fun. Of course there are other factors, but whoever makes the best emotional connection has the best shot to win.