Re: Salem in Seattle

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

At 08:18 AM 5/28/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>	I don't know how the move would affect 890 pattern....maybe someone here
could speak to that end, but it is fact that Salem prefers to own 2 AM's in
any metro market, and since the TX didn't go with 890, Dan is right, they
most likely unloaded it at a low cost for this market. Salem never wastes
money on expensive stations unlessthey can recoup it quickly, ALA 1260.

It's unlike Salem not to be thorough, but the idea of moving 890 to Medford
has all the earmarks of a half baked idea that was not clearly thought
out--not by a longshot. Unless Salem buys and silences the two AM 900s to
the north (Nashua NH and Brunswick ME), the 890 day pattern will be a real
joke. As far as I know, Salem has no history of buying AMs and taking them
dark to enable a power increase. Jacor, on the other hand, has done that a
few times as has CBS. The 890 day pattern will go east and west all right,
but the width of the pattern will have to be almost negligible. From its
current location in Ashland, WBPS radiates something like the equivalent of
20W to the north to protect WMVU. And because the array is in-line, there
has to be a symmetrical null to the south. WCLZ (or whatever the calls)
isn't a problem from WBPS's present location, because the Ashland site is
far enough inland that the path to Maine goes over land. But Medford is a
different story.

Medford is a trifle farther from Nashua than Ashland is, so the null toward
Nashua would not have to be quite as deep as the current one. But protecting
WCBS, which has a dynamite signal on Cape Cod, will just kill the signal
over Boston. Form the current site, protecting WCBS isn't a big problem
because the path from Ashland to Cape Cod is over land. But from Medford to
Cape Cod you have salt water all the way. The Boston Stations with the best
signals on Cape Cod are WEZE, WROL, WILD, WRKO, and yes, WXKS AM.

If Salem still owns WPZE's Milton site, and they can buy and silence the two
AM 900s, WBPS could probably operate daytime from Milton with 50 kW, sending
everything to the north. The daytime signal would be excellent to the
north--much better than WEZE's signal, which is excellent. At night, WBPS
would have to operate from Medford with much lower power and a severe null
to the west. The signal in parts of Boston and some north shore communities
would be adequate, but there would be no nighttime coverage of points west
of Wellington Circle.

The nighttime operation would require adding towers between WEZE's two
widely spaced towers. Three additional towers would fit and would make
possible a power of 2.5 kw or a bit more, but I don't think quite as much as
WBPS's present 3.4 kw night. The day operation from Milton could probably be
done with only two of WPZE's existing three towers. The towers are short for
890, but not too short.

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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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