Worst Station I've Ever Heard

[Mediafrog+]

Sometimes, near sunset KAAM comes into Galveston and Freeport with a good signal.

And KAAM puts in a reasonably decent daytime signal along I-10 going west from Houston, until the slopover from KTKR 760 starts to drown it out close to San Antonio.

[stevezodiac]

I really enjoy KAAM. Just a little bit of everything.

[NewsNow]

After rattling my brain, I remembered the calls: KXGM Muenster, TX which now appears to be KZZA Casa 106.7.

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Yep. Another wasted freq.with Lieberman ownership.

[rbrucecarter5]

Sometimes, near sunset KAAM comes into Galveston and Freeport with a good signal.

And KAAM puts in a reasonably decent daytime signal along I-10 going west from Houston, until the slopover from KTKR 760 starts to drown it out close to San Antonio.

KAAM was really suffering from interference in Galvestion.  I suppose I could have nulled the other station and gotten it reasonable clear.

To the west, KAAM was in almost perfect stereo until it started suffering from interference from KKOB, which was about Crosbyton.  In Lubbock, the interference from KKOB was pretty bad, although stereo still decoded.  That is in the days before IBOC insanity - when they were broadcasting in C-Quam.  Now - I agree with other posters.  Their audio is terrible.  I hope they stream, because that will sound better than AM IBOC.

[oaktree]

As I said in the previous post, I have no clue what their HD IBOC sounds like, nor how the analog signal sounds with or without interference in their main lobe...I hear them online and with a good sounding wireless Internet radio (Roku SoundBridge) distributed through an above average stereo system throughout the house.

They sound fine in their online presentation at what appears to be 49kbps. They may be using the HD stream online to take advantage of the "better audio" because it really sounds as good or even a bit better than a 64kbps stream that I often hear on many stations.

At least KAAM didn't opt-out to go 24kbps or even 32kbps to sound like a typical "AM" station online, that so many do.

Getting a kilowatt out of 4 towers on 770 at night must be interesting to hear, especially to the northeast and southwest, though I imagine to the south, their main lobe makes the trip pretty well. The daytime signal looks pretty efficient.

Interesting thread, here. 

[Stuart Greenberg]

I have to admit after reading all the thoughts about KAAM, I decided to try it online.  I really think it is one of the BEST stations I have ever listened to.  I have been listening to it every night while working.

My only complaint is they cannot tell time, they always seem to be an hour behind the time here 

Does anyone have a brief history of the station?  Do they use "drop ins" or are the hosts there?  I checked the Billboard Radio Ratings, they have a 0.9 percent.  How do they keep going 

Thanks,
Stuart
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

[jd]

I checked the Billboard Radio Ratings, they have a 0.9 percent.  How do they keep going 

From all indications the station is doing okay, not great, but consistent.  Forget the 12+ numbers.  Even their 55+ ratings might not keep them afloat if they were selling the station just by the numbers, but that's the key.  A station like KAAM, with a small but extremely loyal audience is able to sell based on results.  Crawford Broadcasting is committed to the format, which began years ago on 1310, resurfaced on 620 after a sale, and was given new life by Crawford on 770 following another sale.  The music, the jock presentation and overall imaging are consistent, just what the listeners have come to expect.  As was obvious when the station disappeared not once but twice, the oldsters don't like change and made their voices heard.  To them, after a number of years on 770, KAAM is like a comfortable pair of old slippers.  Warm and fuzzy, if you want to take the analogy a little further, and with the older crowd that wins out over glitz and hype every time.

[MikeShannon914]

Check my www.knus99.com site under AM list, and go to 1310, 620 and 770 for a complete history.  

Briefly, they started at 1310 in early 1978 when the City of Dallas sold the old WRR to the Mormons (Bonneville Broadcasting.)  Format was initially all news (carried over from WRR) but changed by the summer to mostly AC Gold/pop oldies, with an oldies show on Saturday nights.  For a short time in 1981-82, they were playing AC Gold from the Satellite Music Network, but reverted to local-based AC Gold thereafter.  By early 1986, they went with "Music of Your Life" (inherited from KFJZ-870AM) and that's been the same, basic thing since...also incorporating 'big bands and great singers' along the way.  

At the end of 1993, 1310 went dark when Bonneville sold it to SFX (or was it Cardinal Communications?) to make way for a sports format there (KTCK-"The Ticket," which remains there today.)  After almost two years off the air, the KAAM calls reappeared on Halloween, 1995, at 620 AM (a former Wichita Falls rimshot) that was purchased by a group of 30 investors and listeners who wanted to salvage the format (and it was a long two years, as time passed with lots of publicity and broken promises for a sign-on date.)  

By November, 1998, the investors sold out to ABC's Radio Disney, and KAAM was gone again (although a push was made to draw listeners over to the new KXEZ-92.1 FM, as they carried a similar format and hired some of the talent from KAAM.)  

A year later, in November, 1999, Crawford Broadcasting, primarily a religious broadcaster, flipped their KPBC-770 to a 'music of your life' format and took the old KAAM calls for it.  It's remained there ever since.

To my knowledge, it runs live 24-7, save for a weekend full of sponsored programming.  I assume the weekend programming pays all the bills, and Crawford, being used to low-cume religious formats, is probably content with KAAM's performance.  It is indeed a niche format here, drawing in a chunk of the 55+ audience, which is still coveted by some specific advertisers.  But I hear of plenty of 20- and 30-somethings who listen regularly as well; many drawn in by the retro music stylings of Brian Setzer, Harry Connick Jr, etc.

Was that indeed a 'brief' history?  

[WCFLWLS]

This topic has been dealt with before about KAAM.  The concept is good but, the execution is embarassing for a major market radio station.  That's what you get with $6.00 an hour djs.  We have talked about the clown on the Saturday night show who leaves his mic on and cues cds or records on-the-air.  If this radio station was located in Centralia, Illinois, in 1959, then the quality of the station would be acceptable.  Dallas is radio market number 5 and this station is a sad excuse for a major market station.  Having live personality would be a major improvement over any radio station today that is over consulted and mostly automated but, KAAM's djs make automation seem very attractive.  The more personality you do on a station, the more demanding it is for the dj
to entertain.  You get what you pay for.  None of the djs on KAAM has a fraction of the ability to make this station sound like a major market radio station.  The best example of this format done correctly would be WNEW
A. M., New York, from the 50s into the 70s.  Since it was also mentioned in this thread, KAAM has the deadest,
flatest audio that an A. M. radio station could have.  Maybe Crawford Broadcasting spends as much on their audio processing equipment as they do on their djs or their engineer is clueless.  There is one thing that is amusing about the station that is nostalgic.  The morning man, Jaan McCoy, is a classic puker on-the-air.