Finally, some good news regarding AM radio

[radiotvnut]

OK, some more good news. KMOX-1120 of St. Louis is now broadcasting a music program on Saturday night called "Route 66." They play music from '55-'67. I really enjoyed it and so did the '38 Airline radio! I was looking on the KMOX website and they went all talk in 1960. I didn't think AM talk radio started until the '80's. I don't think there's a soul alive that hates talk radio more than I do.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

OK, some more good news. KMOX-1120 of St. Louis is now broadcasting a music program on Saturday night called "Route 66." They play music from '55-'67. I really enjoyed it and so did the '38 Airline radio! I was looking on the KMOX website and they went all talk in 1960. I didn't think AM talk radio started until the '80's. I don't think there's a soul alive that hates talk radio more than I do.

I'm glad to see it. I'll have to see if I can pull them in here in Pittsburgh although I do listen to WABC, 770 kc, out of New York on Saturday nights. If the ionosphere is willing, I like to use my 1953 Philco 5 tube radio or my 1965 8 transistor Magnavox (Maggie) radio.

Talk radio has been around probably since even the 1940's, after World War II, I think the legendary Joe Pine got his start that way. Still, I think the modern sense that we know today didn't get much of a hold until the 1960's, I know WNBC was talk part-time then, you had talkshow hosts like "Long John" Nebbel and Joe Pine again. I think they were mainly on at weeknights. Here is Pittsburgh on KDKA radio from the 1950's until 1971, we had a husband/wife couple, "Ed and Wendy King," where the caller was not heard over the radio but either Ed or Wendy would repeat what they said.

I think there is a demand for music on AM, a lot of people fondly remember it. I'm a huge talkshow junkie myself but there are times I need to get away from that stuff and think back to the 1970's when I was a kid.

[Jeffhs]

Talk radio is beginning to appear on the FM band in some cities, in addition to or instead of on AM. In my area just outside greater Cleveland, I now hear talk programming part of the time on WMMS-FM which used to be 100-percent active rock--the first talk FM station so far in Cleveland. (I wonder which station here, if any, will be next to go all-talk.)

Oldies, on the other hand, seem to have left AM in this area (and probably in many other cities as well) for FM. I can hear at least two FM oldies stations here, one from Cleveland (WMJI-Majic 105.7) and another from a lakefront city 50 miles from Cleveland (WZOO, Magic Oldies 102-5). This is not to say that all oldies stations have fled AM for FM; some small towns/suburbs still have AM oldies radio, such as WKFB-AM 770 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania (as I found out after doing a search using RadioLocator.com). There was a small oldies AM station in the Cleveland metropolitan area until about four years ago (WELW-AM 1330 in Willoughby, east-suburban Cleveland) that switched to syndicated talk, dropping its solid-gold oldies on a Friday. I can only imagine how upset some listeners may have been when they tuned their radios to 1330 the following Monday morning, only to hear national talk hosts rather than the oldies this station had been playing for some four or five years; the format (WELW's oldies format) was modeled after that of CKLW-AM 800 when that station was "The Big Eight" in the '60s-'70s. The station (WELW 1330) also had two of the best local oldies DJs in the business during its oldies days, both of whom were let go when the format changed.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Talk radio is beginning to appear on the FM band in some cities, in addition to or instead of on AM. In my area just outside greater Cleveland, I now hear talk programming part of the time on WMMS-FM which used to be 100-percent active rock--the first talk FM station so far in Cleveland. (I wonder which station here, if any, will be next to go all-talk.)

Oldies, on the other hand, seem to have left AM in this area (and probably in many other cities as well) for FM. I can hear at least two FM oldies stations here, one from Cleveland (WMJI-Majic 105.7) and another from a lakefront city 50 miles from Cleveland (WZOO, Magic Oldies 102-5). This is not to say that all oldies stations have fled AM for FM; some small towns/suburbs still have AM oldies radio, such as WKFB-AM 770 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania (as I found out after doing a search using RadioLocator.com). There was a small oldies AM station in the Cleveland metropolitan area until about four years ago (WELW-AM 1330 in Willoughby, east-suburban Cleveland) that switched to syndicated talk, dropping its solid-gold oldies on a Friday. I can only imagine how upset some listeners may have been when they tuned their radios to 1330 the following Monday morning, only to hear national talk hosts rather than the oldies this station had been playing for some four or five years; the format (WELW's oldies format) was modeled after that of CKLW-AM 800 when that station was "The Big Eight" in the '60s-'70s. The station (WELW 1330) also had two of the best local oldies DJs in the business during its oldies days, both of whom were let go when the format changed.

Yeah, it seems like FM talk is growing, we have one here in Pittsburgh, 104.7, WPGB that is ripping KDKA-AM a new one. They first took Rush Limbaugh away and then the Pittsburgh Pirates. Come to think of it, I notice that many sports teams are going FM too, heck, all three teams here, the Penguins, Pirates, and Steelers have their flagship stations on FM. My maternal grandmother passed away in 1997 but if she was still around, she'd be going ape on her Pirates not being on KDKA anymore. The downside is that the Pirates always pre-emps Michael Savage and he pre-emps George Noory. Wish the Pirates were somewhere else, oh well....

Yeah, sometimes I listen to 770 out of Jeanette and they have a sister station on 620 kc, when there isn't any doctor shows on, they play oldies too.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by NowhereMan 1966

Yeah, it seems like FM talk is growing, we have one here in Pittsburgh, 104.7, WPGB that is ripping KDKA-AM a new one. They first took Rush Limbaugh away and then the Pittsburgh Pirates. Come to think of it, I notice that many sports teams are going FM too, heck, all three teams here, the Penguins, Pirates, and Steelers have their flagship stations on FM. My maternal grandmother passed away in 1997 but if she was still around, she'd be going ape on her Pirates not being on KDKA anymore. The downside is that the Pirates always pre-emps Michael Savage and he pre-emps George Noory. Wish the Pirates were somewhere else, oh well....

Yeah, sometimes I listen to 770 out of Jeanette and they have a sister station on 620 kc, when there isn't any doctor shows on, they play oldies too.

Pittsburgh also has an FM oldies station, WWSW-FM, as I found when I did a search for the city's radio stations on RadioLocator.com. The two AM oldies stations you mention are there as well, although I can't see why two stations (WKFB770/WKHB620) in the same area are simulcasting the same programming. I can't see why, unless 620 (WKHB) is so weak at night at 50 watts (5.5kW daytime) no one much outside the area can hear it.

Doctor shows? WKHB620 must be a talk/oldies station; talk during the day, oldies at night or vice-versa. I can think of at least one other station that splits formats like that: 50kW WBZ-AM 1030 in Boston, which booms in here near Cleveland at night and should be audible in the Pittsburgh area as well after dark. That station is news during the day and talk at night. A small station in the Detroit area, WPON 1460, also has the same format as WKHB; talk and oldies, at least they did the last time I looked at their listing on RadioLocator.com.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Pittsburgh also has an FM oldies station, WWSW-FM, as I found when I did a search for the city's radio stations on RadioLocator.com. The two AM oldies stations you mention are there as well, although I can't see why two stations (WKFB770/WKHB620) in the same area are simulcasting the same programming. I can't see why, unless 620 (WKHB) is so weak at night at 50 watts (5.5kW daytime) no one much outside the area can hear it.

Doctor shows? WKHB620 must be a talk/oldies station; talk during the day, oldies at night or vice-versa. I can think of at least one other station that splits formats like that: 50kW WBZ-AM 1030 in Boston, which booms in here near Cleveland at night and should be audible in the Pittsburgh area as well after dark. That station is news during the day and talk at night. A small station in the Detroit area, WPON 1460, also has the same format as WKHB; talk and oldies, at least they did the last time I looked at their listing on RadioLocator.com.

RadioLocator is a nice site. 620 and 770 don't simulcast but the oldies on 620 and a little "newer" with more emphasis on the 1970's and a few 1980's, I also listen to WWSW-FM, they play "oldies" from the late 1970's and 1980's, stuff I grew up with, never thought the 1980's would be seen as "oldies." Then again, I turn 42 on Tuesday (July 8th).

Hmmm, another side issue since you bring up 1030, WBZ Boston. It is bad news unfortunately, we used to be able to receive them under KDKA's signal which is on 1020, but with HD radio and KDKA keeps HD on all night, the HD signal "walks over" 1030 and 1010 (CFRB, Toronto). In fact, the HD signal seems like it splatters 20 kilocycles on each side of KDKA, I hear it on 1040 in my Explorer and in Mom's Hyundai so it is "buh bye" 1040 in Des Moines. I like to AM DX at night plus I think KDKA has "jumped the shark." The morning of July 7th, 2005, I took Mom to work around 5 AM or so and was AM DXing on the way home, I found out about the London terrorist attacks by AM DXing 840 out of Louisville, KY. KDKA was still talking about movie stars. BTW, WEAE on 1250 here in Pittsburgh runs HD all night and I pick up hash on both sides of WOR, 710, our of New York City.

There is even a site out there to stop HD radio over AM at night: http://www.stopiboc.com/index.html