Newspaper survival

[Scott Fybush]

Dan.Strassberg wrote:

> I would be foolish to try to attribute Renovo's clearly impovrished
> circumstances at the time of our visit to its lack of local radio, but
> it is clear that the newpaper was not enough of a force to change the
> town's circumstances. I wish I had taken pictures, but I did not even
> do that. Renovo's only industry appeared to be the railroad that
> passed through it. It was a place that history seemed to have
> completely passed by. In the early 60s, it was living in the late 20s
> or more likely, in the depression-era early '30s. It may not be a
> bustling place today, but I imagine it has changed profoundly. I'd
> actually be interested in going back--or at least in seeing pictures
> of how the place has changed.

I have never been in Renovo, though I've driven close to it.

I wonder about the claim of no daytime AM reception - WBPZ in Lock Haven 
is only about 18 miles away, and has been on the air since the thirties. 
It's been a class IV/class C station all that time.

The ground conductivity in that part of PA is bad enough that WBPZ 
indeed may not make it to Renovo with a usable signal. The Williamsport 
AMs, which are all graveyarders or worse, certainly don't. (They were 
all on the air even back in the sixties.)

As for the Renovo paper, it looks like what now exists there is a 
weekly, The Record, that's shared with Lock Haven. Interestingly, it's 
co-owned with WBPZ and WSNU-FM in Lock Haven.

http://www.recordclct.com/index.html

There is a class A FM signal licensed to Renovo, WZYY 106.9. I believe 
it targets the State College area 25 miles or so to the south.

s