Re: MESSAGE ID: 1EC610858

[Dan Strassberg <dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

At 05:52 PM 7/29/97 +0000, you wrote:

>(3) I have also read in your posts reports about WNRB being for sale. I think
> this might be the ideal acquisition for CBS. They could buy WNRB, buy WNLC
> in New London (to shut it down and turn-in the license) and also buy four
> or five AM's in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania on 1510, likewise
> to shut them down and turn-in the licenses. Once that were to happen,
> the 1510 night pattern could be improved to cover much of eastern New
> England. Were CBS to be the buyer, you'd see WBZ's talk and sports
> programming (as well as the Patriots and bruins) move to 1510, leaving
> WBZ as all-news, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
>
>In that regard, I wonder why the old WITS back in the late 1970's, didn't
> try to buy WNLC to shut it down. The WITS signal--especially at night--
> might have improved so much that WITS might still exist today.

The big problem for WITS (aside from WWKB and WTOP) was not WNLC, which you
might assume from the very short distance between the stations. Rather, the
problem was the AM 1510 in Sherbrooke, PQ. Sherbrooke is due north of
Boston. WITS's TX was located in Squantum (AKA, N Quincy), due south of
downtown Boston. Because of the Sherbrooke station, improving the signal
over Boston necessitated relocating the TX, and the site had to be pretty
much where it wound up--in Waltham, on the Belmont line. The site is in the
proper direction from Boston (mostly west--a little north) and is the right
distance from downtown (about eight airline miles). But that's the end of
the good news. The soil conductivity is poor. The area is quite built up,
which necessitated the expenditure of a fortune on interference abatement.
The rent on the land is high, and after the TX was built, the owner of the
industrial park built a large four-story office building right on top of the
ground system. Shortly before the move, the Squantum site had developed very
similar problems. An office park was built immediately to the west. The
buildings really screwed up the already pathetic 5-kw nighttime signal
except in downtown Boston and on the North Shore, which continued to receive
a decent signal thanks to the clear salt-water path.

Anyhow, the last time I checked, even though the Sherbrooke station had been
silent for several years, the allocation still existed. That meant that the
night pattern had to stay as it was. I don't know if that situation has
changed in the meantime. If Sherbrooke were to cease to be an issue, the
nighttime signal to the north, which is pathetic, could be improved. By day,
the pattern is a cardioid (with a little null fill-in to the southwest)
oriented on a 45-degree azimuth. In the absence of Sherbrooke, the night
pattern could be quite similar, except without the null fill-in.

As for the stations in New Jersey, if they left the air, it would do nothing
in particular for WNRB. WNRB must protect WLAC Nashville. Take away the
Jersey stations (one of which just moved to 1510 after Westinghouse bought
their facility on 1000 to allow improvement of WINS), and it still would not
be possible to improve the signal to the west and southwest.

Given the relaxation in the rules on signal over the COL, moving the TX
further west is theoretically possible. but finding suitable land would be
impossible. A move back to the South Shore would make sense if the
Sherbrooke problem could be made to disappear. But again, finding a suitable
tract of land would probably take a longer time than the AM band has left to
live. If CBS and ARS weren't competitors, the WRKO site would be a possibility.

- -------------------------------
Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205

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