Crawford, WPTR, AMFM, CNET, KNEW, and Me!

[Scott D Fybush <fybush@world.std.com>]

Hi all...

Responding to a bunch of threads at once while I pack for my
impending vacation (about which more in a moment):

I will be surprised if Crawford flips WDCW/1390 Syracuse to 
"Legends."  Here's why: In each of his markets, it appears that
the religious outlet(s) he runs (four of 'em now in Denver if
I count correctly!) are the cash cows.  I'm guessing he doesn't
reduce his brokered-time rates much, if at all, when he drops
the AM simulcast, so the cost of two warm bodies to voicetrack
the "Legends" AM (well, that's the staffing at WLGZ Rochester,
anyway), some TV spots (lots of them, on cable, for WLGZ), and 
some jingles can't be that much and is probably offset by whatever
small revenue stream the Legends format brings in.

But in Syracuse, there *is* no other Crawford station besides 
WDCW, so if he flips that, he loses whatever religion revenue he
now draws in that market, where he's one of just 3 brokered-relg.
players (WMHR-FM/Mars Hill and WVOA-WSIV are the other two).  Likewise
in Buffalo, where he has no AM to match with his superpower WDCX-FM,
the only religious station from the US that sorta reaches Toronto.

And, hey, didn't I tell all of you to listen to Legends on WLGZ when
*that* launched in early December?  I know you can hear it everywhere
except the mile-wide lobe of WALE -- if only because I used to listen
to the station (then WCMF-AM) in Waltham all the time!  

Ah yes -- that brings me to Dan's question about competitive signal
parity for Legends vs. other standards stations in the market.

So far:

DENVER - KLZ 560 (Crawford) vs. KEZW 1430 (still Tribune?): No
contest.  The old flamethrower on 560 wins, except perhaps along
the polar path to Scandinavia, where KEZW seems to be a regular.

DALLAS - KAAM 770 (Crawford) vs. A Bunch of Little Noncomm FMs: Again,
no contest.  The 770 is a monster signal, almost equal to WBAP or 
KRLD, by day, and even at night is OK in most of the Metroplex.

BIRMINGHAM - dunno...

ALBANY - WPTR 1540 (Crawford) vs. WUAM 900/WVKZ 1240 (Anastos): Hee,
hee...

ROCHESTER: WLGZ 990 (Crawford) vs. WEZO 950 (Entercom): A draw, at best.
The WLGZ signal gets out much better west-to-east by day, when it's
usable almost to Buffalo on that lobe and into the Finger Lakes on 
the eastern lobe.  At night, it aims 2500 watts eastward into 
Rochester from a six-tower array that's about 15 miles west of 
downtown.  It's OK in the city, but get at all to the south (like
where I live in Brighton), and you start hearing Philly and
Montreal and Winnipeg underneath.  Great in Boston, though :-)
WEZO is an old 1kw fulltimer, directional mostly north into Rochester
from a site about 5 miles south of downtown (and just down the
street from me)...so it's good in the city day and night but loses
the outlying suburbs at sunset.  WLGZ wins on programming: local
24/7 (albeit automated 7p-6a and weekends) versus all-satellite on
WEZO, which ditches standards weeknights from 7-9p for Espanol.

Ah yes...that vacation!  I leave Thursday night for San Francisco,
which means I'll get in (if all goes well) with 4 1/2 hours to spare
before the debut of CNET Radio on KNEW.  Tape *will* roll!

(And after that, it's southward I go into the blessed land where
KPIG and KOTR can be heard on the radio instead of the computer!
More tape...)

Back at NERW Central Sat. 1/22...more then!

-s