well its official

[Einar72]

Pretty sorry here in Seattle/Tacoma. Three foam-at-the-mouth talkers (one owned by a "religious" network), two "business" talkers, three "religious", two black gospel/Motown oldies, ESPN just got the CBS affilliate's AM, NBC gone for over a decade since the passing of a local broadcast pioneer (now AirAmerica and beating conservative talk in some time-slots), two Latino, one Korean, one Indian, no classical, no jazz, two sports-talk, one "old people" oldies, no 50's oldies, no country. Just not the same as when I started AM DXing around 1966. Just Entercom and ClearChannel divvying-up whatever they can wrestle away from local owners. I am so grateful for CBS bringing us "JACK-FM", which I wake up to on my GE stereo clock-radio every weekday.

[Jeffhs]

One station (WATJ 1560) in the next county south of here (a rural area some 40 miles east of Cleveland) went off the air for good, after going through no fewer than four formats. It first signed on as a daytime-only 1kW station in 1969, had a top-40 format at first; then, about ten years later (!) went to oldies, then talk, then, the last few years of its life, it was running a sports-talk format from Sporting News Radio. It signed off for the last time at 5 p.m. on Memorial Day 2004, IIRC. Hasn't been heard from since. I tried to call their business office a week or so later, but their phone had since been disconnected; this proved to me beyond the shadow of a doubt that they were off the air for good, never to return.

They couldn't return to the air anyway even if they wanted to, since the frequency they were on, 1560 kHz, is the full-time home of WQEW-AM "Radio Disney" in New York--which is the senior station on that frequency; the smaller station tried to get permission from the FCC to move to 870 kHz and operate full-time, but was turned down because that frequency is too close to a Cleveland station on 850. One other problem WATJ (the Ohio station I've been referring to) had was that, even if they were to stay on 1560, they would run into problems with a station in Toledo (and others in northwestern Ohio) on that frequency; there were other problems as well that eventually forced the station to turn in its license for cancellation, and throw in the towel for good. The FCC no longer issues new daytime-only AM radio licenses either, so WATJ couldn't possibly return as a daytimer today--again, even if it wanted to.

This station had its share of problems, however, in the short time it was on. The towers weren't well anchored into the ground and were on the verge of toppling, the aging transmitter (very likely the same transmitter they had had since they first signed on 35 years before) likely had problems one after another as well, and, if all that was not bad enough, the station, after it switched to the Sporting News Radio format, found itself unable to compete with a Cleveland station (now known as WKNR) that had itself just switched to ESPN Radio and increased its daytime power to 50kW. The signal pattern of the Cleveland station encompassed the area formerly covered by the 1kW daytimer so well that the latter couldn't hope to compete with it anymore--if it ever could have in the first place. One thing led to another and, as they say, the rest is history.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Einar72

I am so grateful for CBS bringing us "JACK-FM", which I wake up to on my GE stereo clock-radio every weekday.

I wonder how Jack FM manages to stay within the letter of the law, considering the FCC's rules which require radio stations to operate in the public interest as a condition for license renewal. Their slogan is "we play what we want", which is certainly not my idea of operating in the public interest; however, radio stations have been operating like this for decades, before Jack-FM was even thought of--ever since they stopped, for the most part, taking listener requests.

Thank goodness there are no Jack FM stations in Cleveland, although several of the city's FMs are now CBS Radio O&Os (owned and operated stations); hey, I'd better keep my mouth shut. I just might turn on my stereo tomorrow morning and find Jack FM on 105.7, which is currently Cleveland's classic hits (what they once called oldies) station. The classic-hits station is currently operated by Clear Channel (!), as are most other local FMs not operated by CBS, but you can never tell; CC may decide to sell its O&Os nationwide to CBS before too long. No telling what might become of those stations after that.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I wonder how Jack FM manages to stay within the letter of the law, considering the FCC's rules which require radio stations to operate in the public interest as a condition for license renewal. Their slogan is "we play what we want", which is certainly not my idea of operating in the public interest; however, radio stations have been operating like this for decades, before Jack-FM was even thought of--ever since they stopped, for the most part, taking listener requests.

Thank goodness there are no Jack FM stations in Cleveland, although several of the city's FMs are now CBS Radio O&Os (owned and operated stations); hey, I'd better keep my mouth shut. I just might turn on my stereo tomorrow morning and find Jack FM on 105.7, which is currently Cleveland's classic hits (what they once called oldies) station. The classic-hits station is currently operated by Clear Channel (!), as are most other local FMs not operated by CBS, but you can never tell; CC may decide to sell its O&Os nationwide to CBS before too long. No telling what might become of those stations after that.

I always got a big kick when they named stations after a common male name. Here in Pittsburgh, we have "Bob FM" on 96.9 Kc. I think Greensburg has a "Sam FM" (SAM -Simply About Music) as well. I think somebody told me there was a "Ted-FM" in Columbus or Cleveland, Ohio.

[Hemingray]

Originally Posted by NowhereMan 1966

I always got a big kick when they named stations after a common male name. Here in Pittsburgh, we have "Bob FM" on 96.9 Kc. I think Greensburg has a "Sam FM" (SAM -Simply About Music) as well. I think somebody told me there was a "Ted-FM" in Columbus or Cleveland, Ohio.

We have a SAM-FM at 94.3 here in Ark. There's also a Jack-FM on 93.9 coming from West Plains, MO. Both equally good stations, alongside 100.5 The Eagle (KEGI Jonesboro)

[Jeffhs]

The migration of hit music from AM to FM has been going on at least 25 years. It's to the point now where AM radio in most cities is talk, sports and/or religion, with few if any music stations. One of the best AM music stations I listened to after all the AMs in Cleveland went to talk formats was WKBW in Buffalo, New York. They even had a former top-40 disk jockey from Cleveland (Jack Armstrong), who had been on at least two Cleveland stations in the 1960s. I remember him best on the former WIXY radio (1260, now WWMK Radio Disney), and later 50kW WKYC-1100 in Cleveland (now newstalk WTAM), from 1965-'74. I'll never forget how he used to scream at the top of his voice "Big Jack YOUR LEADER!" every chance he got. It amazed me that he didn't lose his voice from all that yelling.

When WKBW (KB-1520) finally went all-talk a couple years ago, they let Armstrong go; where he wound up, I may never know. Maybe he found work at a little 250-watt station in a small Southern town; that wouldn't surprise me, as he did work for at least one station in the Carolinas after leaving Cleveland. However, since most big-city stations today are automated, the demand for live DJs is not as pressing as it was in the '50s through the end of the 1980s, so I think Armstrong may well have retired after he was fired by the Buffalo station.

Add to this the fact that many of the few live DJs there are left will voice-track their shows on several different stations, and we now know why AM radio is dying a slow death in most of the US--and the FM stations in those areas, especially those FMs operated by Clear Channel and CBS Radio (which, combined, own some 90 percent of all American FM radio stations) are following suit as well. Clear Channel operates, among others in the Cleveland area, the "classic hits" (what was formerly referred to as oldies) station, and it would not surprise me one bit if their one afternoon DJ, who seems to be on the air almost continuously from three p. m. until midnight, is live during the first four hours of his program and voicetracked the rest of the time.

I don't listen to the station (or any Cleveland FM station) much anymore, preferring, rather, to listen to Internet radio (which has a much wider variety of music than today's terrestrial FM or AM stations) and my own music collection, so I'm only guessing, but I think a lot of their programming after the jerks on the morning show (Lanigan and Malone, 5:30-10am weekdays) leave the air (thank heavens they are off the air for the day by the time I get up in the morning) may well be voicetracked or otherwise automated, as the DJs do not give time checks as they once did, and the comments they make on the air (what little they are allowed to say between songs) are not, by and large, IMHO, worth listening to.

Commercials? The classic-hits station, probably like all stations today, runs seemingly endless strings of those obnoxious things several times an hour, which is one reason I don't listen to the station much these days. I have never actually counted how many songs this station (or any of the CC/CBS Radio O&Os--owned and operated stations--in Cleveland) actually plays in an hour; however, it might be an eye-opener if I did so some day. As a stab-in-the-dark guess, however, I would say most stations in this area play perhaps 30-40 minutes of actual music, if that much (!), with commercials filling in the other 20 minutes or so.

Sheeeesh! I know radio stations need to run a certain number of commercials an hour to stay on the air, but for crying out loud, this business of running strings of them every hour is too much. The day the FCC decided to deregulate radio broadcasting was the day that agency made a huge mistake, IMO, and when commercial radio started going down the drain as well.

I could not believe what happened to Cleveland's Music of Your Life station a few years ago. The format was on a 10kW day/5kW night station for years; then, when the FCC decided to give AM stations the option of increasing their day or night power (or both), with directional antennas if need be, the Cleveland station immediately applied for and received permission to raise its daytime power to 50kW. The night power was and still is 4.7 kW. However, shortly (very shortly) after this station increased its power, it dropped the Music of Your Life format and replaced it--with ESPN.

The MoYL format then disappeared for good from the radio dials (AM and FM) in northeastern Ohio--well, I guess it's not quite that bad, although it is as far as commercial radio stations in my area are concerned. There is a small FM station operated by a school district in Geauga County, Ohio, however, about 20 miles south of where I live, that plays big band and 30s-50s standards. The station is WKHR-FM, 91.5 MHz, and the station has an excellent signal everywhere in Lake and eastern Cuyahoga counties of Ohio; they also have an Internet audio stream at www.wkhr.org for folks listening over their computers at the office or at home (the stream sounds excellent when listened to on a good stereo system), or who live in areas the station's over-the-air signal does not reach. The only things I wonder about with that station are their student DJs, all of whom are far too young to remember any of the music they play over that station; after all, just about every track played over WKHR was recorded decades before these young people were born.

I can't help but wonder if these kids aren't all but bored to tears, having to listen for hours to music (through headphones in the studio) that is almost certainly decades older than they are. I wouldn't be surprised if, at the end of their air shifts, these kids immediately turn on their car stereos to the loudest FM rock station they can find (or they plug in their iPods to their car stereos and run the volume so high the thing can be heard outside the car for blocks around, with the windows closed), for the ride back home; after all, today's commercial FM radio stations play music today's teens and young adults can relate to. I honestly do not believe high-school or college radio DJs are required to listen to their school's radio station exclusively, after hours, as DJs at commercial stations often must because of possible problems with conflicts of interest, advertising restrictions, etc. if they listen to any other local radio station than the one for which they work--even after these folks are finished for the day or on weekends. Hmmmm.

[MarkAnderson]

I managed to pull in a grand total of 2 AM stations just now. Sad.

I did just hear Chicago's "You're the Inspiration" on FM.

Now paying, " Love Will Find a Way"......Pablo Cruise?

[MarkAnderson]

Now, America's "Ventura Highway"...

[rollei35guy]

Here in Atlanta we have the usual sports/talk/news AM stations. Lately however I have seen several interesting stations 'pop-up'. One at 1690 has an eclectic (to say the least) program. Seriously now when was the last time you heard Miles Davis on AM???

The last commercial classical station here was on AM. They switched formats years ago. Really miss that station.

Back in the '60s it seemed like all the top 40 stations were on AM. The avant-garde, 'underground' stations started showing up on FM. Now it would seem that that trend is reversing? At least in some way?

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by rollei35guy

Here in Atlanta we have the usual sports/talk/news AM stations. Lately however I have seen several interesting stations 'pop-up'. One at 1690 has an eclectic (to say the least) program. Seriously now when was the last time you heard Miles Davis on AM???

The last commercial classical station here was on AM. They switched formats years ago. Really miss that station.

Back in the '60s it seemed like all the top 40 stations were on AM. The avant-garde, 'underground' stations started showing up on FM. Now it would seem that that trend is reversing? At least in some way?

We have several music AM stations here in Pittsburgh including one in an alternate format.

[Einar72]

When JACK came to Seattle, the "we play what we want" mantra was there from day one. It replaced an all-80's station that was running out of steam fast, then gave me a chance to win Stones tickets, and played some stuff that helped me forget my wife (driven off, in part, by all my radio/TV collecting).

Nickelback's How you remind me
Garbage's Special
and XTC's Peter Pumpkinhead, to name a few.

The remaining classic rock station here had adopted a "we won't play any artist without a legitimate body of recordings" policy, so we here are doomed to hear a short-list of songs once considered a treat being worn-out for good.

[radiotvnut]

We had a "Jack" station; but, it left almost as fast as it came. The station went from rap, Jack, country, and now it's ESPN sports talk radio. We also had a "Sam" station that lasted about a year and then they changed the format. It seems like many stations in my area change format every time the wind changes direction. Oh, and if you really want to see radio wasteland; come to Meridian, MS. I've already mentioned what's on AM. FM consist of several country stations, a couple variety '80's-present top 40 stations, about 3 R&B/hip-hop stations, one sports talk station, one or two religious stations, and a classic rock station that mainly plays well known stuff over and over. I haven't used the tuner, for extended periods, on my stereo in years. I also really hate that real local DJ's are almost a thing of the past. We have a classic country station that receives it's programming via satellite amd it's like listening to a CD player set to shuffle play + the commercials. We used to have a typical FM "play the same top 10 songs over and over" oldies station. They pretty much dropped the oldies format and went with '70's rock songs with a few '60's songs mixed in. Then, they canned that format and went with hip-hop crap, which it's been for about 4 years now.

[wa2ise]

Talking about Jack stations, we in NYC had our oldies station WCBS-FM be jacked on a Friday afternoon several years ago. Ratings dropped, and after about 2 years of jack, they brought back the "classic hits" station (seems "oldies" is a dirty word in the broadcast industry nowadays), though they play much less pre-Beatle songs and added some 80's hits. But we were happy to have it back, as ratings went back up to place the station in the top 5 of NYC.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

Talking about Jack stations, we in NYC had our oldies station WCBS-FM be jacked on a Friday afternoon several years ago. Ratings dropped, and after about 2 years of jack, they brought back the "classic hits" station (seems "oldies" is a dirty word in the broadcast industry nowadays), though they play much less pre-Beatle songs and added some 80's hits. But we were happy to have it back, as ratings went back up to place the station in the top 5 of NYC.

We have an oldies station here in 94.5 Kc, WWSW-FM, and the "oldies" they play are songs from Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Falco, and other 80's songs. Dang, I was in high school when I listened to these songs, it is funny hearing them on an oldies station.

[OvenMaster]

I've been noticing over the years that Canadian AM is slowly dying. What I can't find out is precisely why the CRTC is moving AM stations to FM. I really miss hearing CBA (CBC Moncton) and CBL (CBC Toronto) at night. Yes, I can get them on the internet but it's not the same thing.

AM for me during the day is pretty useless.
1. ClearChannel Corp. all-talk
2. Mix of religious and infomercials
3. NPR(!)
4. All-sports
5,6. Spanish. If they played anything else than 24 hour a day salsa maybe I'd give 'em a listen.

Tom