93.3 WGWD-FM

[Alan McCall]

One of my former employers tried to be the second news/talk mixed with Christian talk back in the early 2000s, when WFLA was being carried on 1270. The station never fully recovered from that attempt.

Listenership of AM radio in Tallahassee is almost non-existent. WFLA's news/talk moved to 100.7 in 2006. Most AM listeners went with it and never went back to AM, period.

[Louis_009]

Coming Soon WGWD 93.3 will have a facebook page. They are now streaming online and on Tune In Radio App.

[poledo]

For a couple of decades now I've been expecting most of the 5 or 6 AM radio stations in Tally to start shutting down as their equipment falls apart.  Several of them aren't worth as much as the real estate required... toss in the costs to build towers and a physical plant... just enough equipment to simulcast something off the bird... I don't think any AM in Tallahassee is worth that much money.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tallahassee became the first rated market in the country with no AM radio stations left... If the current rules allowing new 250 watt FM translators to simulcast AMs stay unchanged I could see where a couple of Tallahassee's AM stations might still have a purpose, but if the FCC comes around and does the right thing, letting AM stations shut down and continue broadcasting legally on FM, Tally would not have any reason to keep it's remaining AM stations on life support.

[Alan McCall]

For a couple of decades now I've been expecting most of the 5 or 6 AM radio stations in Tally to start shutting down as their equipment falls apart.  Several of them aren't worth as much as the real estate required... toss in the costs to build towers and a physical plant... just enough equipment to simulcast something off the bird... I don't think any AM in Tallahassee is worth that much money.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tallahassee became the first rated market in the country with no AM radio stations left... If the current rules allowing new 250 watt FM translators to simulcast AMs stay unchanged I could see where a couple of Tallahassee's AM stations might still have a purpose, but if the FCC comes around and does the right thing, letting AM stations shut down and continue broadcasting legally on FM, Tally would not have any reason to keep it's remaining AM stations on life support.

Having worked for a couple of these AMs..you're pretty much right, poledo.

WFRF-AM 1070 probably has the nicest facility. It's the flagship to several FM stations now, carrying an inspirational Christian format. The AM is located in a former house off of US 27 heading toward Havana. Beautiful studios, for a station that was once housed in a small 500 square foot engineering shack, it has come a long way.

WCVC-AM 1330 is being leased/purchased by a Catholic man from Pensacola. It runs EWTN straight off the bird. The mobile home is boarded up and weeds higher than I am. What's
left of it is inside the transmitter building. I bought their former CCM music library. I worked here
for 13 years!! The tower also serves Cumulus' WHBT-AM 1410, which runs a gospel music feed from Sheridan.

WTAL-AM 1450 is where I started in radio in 1979. It's a shell of its former self. It runs the Rejoice Musical Soulfood channel.

WNLS-AM 1270 might have a little life left, being a sports station. I have not been in the control room since Clear Channel bought it. In the 1970s 1270 and 94.9 were sister stations, with the country on the AM as "WTNT Country Dynamite." This is where I hung out as a wanna-be DJ, learning the board there but never getting hired..ended up at WTAL instead.

WSTT AM-730 is licensed to Thomasville and runs a local black gospel format.  I haven't been to WSTT in several years now. Wasn't much to look at but has a decent signal with live board operators and announcers.

I don't think any of them need a translator. They need programming that might compel someone to..walk over..or reach over..and flip over to AM radio.

It isn't there anymore.

I occasionally get calls from absentee folks wanting to know "Is my station on the air?" Sometimes it isn't but no one has noticed. I kid you not.

[poledo]

... but none of those stations have a significant nighttime signal, right Alan?

[R.D.P.]

From my research on radio-locator, you would be correct Mr. Poledo sir.

To Mr. Alan, hope you'll soon be able to sign on with your new LPFM and then have major success with it.

R.D.P. <><

[Alan McCall]

From living here, you are correct, Poledo. WSTT and WCVC are daytimers and sign off at sunset. WFRF is too, but has a post-sunset power that lets them stay on for about an hour after sunset.
WHBT drops to 17 watts and I can't pick it up at all 10 miles away after sunset. 1270 goes 5kw directional. It's listenable but not great. WTAL is 1 kw unlimited. I imagine 1270 is the only AM with any audience at all at night.

Dan, thanks for the encouragement. I'm working hard on it and looking at a couple of options.
Because it will be locally programmed (no satellite feeds with the exception of news) there are quite a few folks that would like to see it happen. Even the former owner of WGWD sent me an email saying "if I can help you, scream."

[poledo]

So unless FSU lets go of a couple of their FM translators in Tallahassee the future of the remaining AMs is very bleak.

Tallahassee still tops my list of first rated market in the US that would have no AM stations licensed.  Just don't really have any idea how long those remaining AMs will hold on.  It'll probably start falling apart as major equipment failures start on the locally owned stations with the Clear Channel owned AM going forward with either a major upgrade or just shutting down.  As for Clear Channel, placing a format on rimshot signal 97.3 would provide better Tallahassee coverage than most any possible AM upgrade.