Soxless Boss

[Dan Strassberg]

But WEEI's pattern was designed to protect KOA; there was no CKVL until the
mid to late 1950s. When WHDH began operating at night sometime in the 1930s,
it was the ONLY AM in North America on (then) 830 at night other than KOA.
CKVL became possible only after the ill-fated WXKW Albany NY (which had been
slipped in between (then) WHDH and KOA) went dark. CKVL was allegedly
designed to protect WHDH. By the time WHDH moved from Saugus to Needham
(1947 or 1948), there were, however, many other 850s in the East (Reading
PA, Cleveland OH, not sure about Norfolk VA or Raleigh NC, definitely NOT
Altoona PA).

I believe that CKVL was never able to adjust its night pattern within specs
and always delivered a lot more signal to Boston than it should
have. In theory, when CKVL was built, it should have protected WHDH to the
same degree that WXKW was supposed to have--had IT ever been able to
properly adjust its (six-tower, in-line) array. That means that WHDH's NIF
SHOULD HAVE been 20 times KOA's 10% skywave value or 2.5 mV/m, whichever was
larger. My hunch is that, at some point, WHDH's NIF was refigured (and
greatly increased) based on the signal CKVL actually delivered to the Boston
area.

Anyhow, WEEI's night signal in the direction of Nashua is based on KOA's
having much greater nighttime coverage than the FCC now figures it has. Ten
or 15 years ago, the FCC changed the formulas by which it figures the
nighttime coverage of Class A (ex-Class I) AMs. The 0.5 mV/m 50% skywave
contour USED to average about a 750-mile radius from ND 50 kW AMs with
conforming Class I antennas. Now the radius is typically closer to 450
miles. KOA is more than 1500 miles from Boston. By the new formulas, KOA's
10% skywave here must be more like 0.2 mV/m. If the no-longer-used but
still-notified CKVL allocation were no longer on the books, WEEI would
probably be able to let out its night pattern somewhat--but all of the US
850s between here and Denver would prevent much change. Also, if the
"ratchet rule" weren't so onerous, WEEI could have moved to the WRKO site
and delivered a dynamite signal to Nashua day and night. ARS actually
considered such a move but apparently dropped the plan when its full
implications became clear.

I believe that under present rules, 850 daytimer WCPT Crystal Lake IL
(Chicago) could become a full-time Class B station if it could find land on
which to place the six-tower array it would need to protect KOA to the west
plus such stations as Muskegon MI and Cleveland to the east. WCPT had
applied to change its COL to a community much closer to Chicago from which
it actually could have served a lot of Chicago at night, but the FCC
rejected the application because the move would have deprived Crystal Lake
of its "only local broadcast service." Never mind that WSCR, WGN, WBBM, WLS
and maybe others (WYLL?) deliver city-grade signals round the clock to
Crystal Lake.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sid Schweiger" <sid@wrko.com>
To: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 7:14 PM
Subject: Re: Soxless Boss


> >>I just wish the FCC didn't feel like it had to protect whatever
> Canadian 850 AM station its protecting with WEEI's massively curtailed
> night pattern.<<
>
> You can believe me when I say that we wish it too, but it's hardly a
> "feeling."  It's a matter of:
>
> --a treaty to which the United States is a signatory, and
> --the fact that all Canadian AM's, even those which are permanently
> silent, are still "notified" to the NARBA countries, which means that
> the allocations must by the terms of the treaty be protected.
>
>
>
> Sid Schweiger
> IT Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
> WAAF - WEEI AM/FM - WMKK - WRKO - WVEI AM/FM
> 20 Guest St / 3d Floor
> Boston MA  02135-2040
> Phone: 617-779-5369
> Fax: 617-779-5379
> E-Mail: sid@wrko.com