Radio: KROQ has a problem, and here’s how to fix it
KROQ (106.7 FM) has been a big thing in Los Angeles for many years, longer than many fans even realize.
The station actually had its genesis in 1972 as an AM station at 1500 AM, home of the former KBLA. The new KROQ played top-40 music and included personalities such as Charlie Tuna, Sam Riddle, Shadoe Stevens, and Jimmy Rabbitt, among others. As with KBLA, in spite of big-name talent, the station was never able to compete against the big boys in town, primarily KHJ (930 AM). A limited signal didn’t help.
In 1973, KPPC-FM was purchased and became KROQ-FM, simulcasting the AM programming. But money was tight, and soon the staff was not being paid. By mid-1974, some of the personalities had resigned, the others went on strike, and the stations went off the air for about two years.
The KROQ most of us know picks ups from there. Back on the air in late 1975, the stations — under the direction of Stevens — were playing a format of rock music with an emphasis on some of the new music hitting the local scene … primarily punk and new wave.
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In 1980, the stations stopped simulcasting; the AM went Spanish and eventually off the air. The FM, though, was building momentum. Rick Carroll arrived to program the station and tweaked the format … still focusing on new music, but with a top-40 approach. Essentially, Carroll saw the station not as “alternative,” but as the place to hear new music and new bands first — no matter the genre.
Artists included The Ramones, The Police, The Cars, Duran Duran, Blondie, Sparks, The Runaways, Devo … and Prince, The Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys.
I bring up this history in order to maintain perspective. A recent story in Variety (tinyurl.com/RadioWaves0529) makes the claim that recent changes at the station mean the end of KROQ “as we know it.”
What recent changes? Several months after half of Kevin and Bean left for England at the end of 2019, the station got a new programmer, management fired Kevin Ryder and the rest of the morning show and started switching up the music. Ratings, for their part, tanked … to the point where the station now finds itself with fewer listeners than any time since the early 1980s.
But therein lies the problem. The KROQ that we “know” is not the station that we think we know. It has been over a decade, maybe two, since KROQ was actually a place to find new music and discover new bands. Over the years the station has gotten as predictable and stale as the stations it once beat.
The same thing that killed KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM) — complacency and an aversion to risk — was killing KROQ as well. The only reason it wasn’t noticed was the boost Kevin and Bean gave to the station’s ratings; it became painfully obvious this past month when KROQ earned a mere 1.4 share of the audience. KMET, by the way, had a 1.6 share when the decision was made to end its format.
Over the years, KROQ essentially painted itself into a corner. Yes, it did play music that was different than some of the music played on other stations. But it was predictable. Songs were slow to be added. New bands were missed. The focus was on “alternative,” limiting the sound unlike the early days when the focus was being the first to play what would later be heard elsewhere. Instead of excitement coming over the airwaves, it was boredom.
I have wondered for years why a station that still sold itself on being the place for new music was playing mostly “recurrents,” industry jargon for songs that have been around a while. I like Blink-182, for example, but I should not hear songs in regular rotation from an album now ten years old.
So in my opinion, KROQ has to die so that KROQ can live. I don’t know if new programmer Mike Kaplan has the ability — or the authority — to do what needs to be done, but KROQ absolutely needs to bring back the focus on finding new music, breaking new bands, and opening up the playlist. It needs to become a true alternative to Alt 98.7, which honestly suffers from many of the same problems as does KROQ, including over-reliance on the morning show and a stale playlist.
Call it “active rock” if you want, rather than “alternative.” But it needs to be done. Otherwise there really isn’t a reason for KROQ to exist at all.
COVID-19 hits Bean
Speaking of Kevin and Bean … when Gene “Bean” Baxter moved to England, it is doubtful that he ever expected to become a statistic. But he did. Earlier this month, Bean announced that he had been infected with the Coronavirus and was at a critical point in the illness.
“Well no one is more surprised than I to now have the Coronavirus,” he messaged on social media. “…locked down tight at home since 9 March, only venturing out to walk the dogs and if we needed prescriptions or the odd grocery in between food deliveries. Masks, gloves, disinfectants, hand-washing, we took it seriously. Yet somehow here I am …”
Last week came an update. He said he is doing fine, recovering, and telling friends that the worst is behind him. Spirits are good, and he has not had to go to the hospital…. “feeling stronger every day,” he writes.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Radio Waves Podcast #249
Radio: May 22, 2020
While Nielsen now releases ratings for our local radio stations every four weeks, I normally only report on them every quarter, or roughly three months. It’s not because I find the ratings boring, but if I reported them every month, it would be as if I was constantly reporting them and you’d assume I was lazy. Which I am, but I try to keep that a secret.
These are not normal times, however. We are in the middle of a pandemic-driven economic shutdown, encouraged/persuaded to stay home as much as possible, and that’s made huge changes to the ratings in a very short time. These are the COVID-19 days after all. The April book is the first book that was fully part of the shutdown; March was only partially affected. But the trends that began in March held in April.
For the first time in years, though not the first time since I’ve been writing this column, an AM station rules the Los Angeles airwaves. KFI (640 AM) did it, with a huge jump to a 5.5 rating, up from 4.2 last month and 2.9 back in December of last year. At the same time, usual (at least in the past year) leader KOST (103.5 FM) dropped to third at 4.5, from March’s 2nd place 5.1. KRTH stayed steady at 5.2, but dropped one place into second. Tied with KOST was KTWV The Wave (94.7 FM) which was down from March’s 4.9 and the 4.6 and 4.7 the station earned in February and March, respectively.
KFI was not the only AM station to benefit from these weird times. KNX (1070 AM) was down to 3.4 from last month’s 3.8, but that’s still higher that the 3.0 share the station earned in both January and February. Conservative talker KRLA (870 AM) came in the highest rating for the frequency in decades, 1.8 compared with 1.4 in March and its usual 1.1 or so prior. Even KABC (790 AM) got some love for a change, earning a solid 1.4 — the first time it has been above 1.0 in recent memory.
Two surprises? KAMP (97.1 FM) and KROQ (106.7 FM) … Amp was down to its lowest share ever (1.3 from March’s 1.9 and February’s 2.0) and KROQ was down to its lowest rating ever (1.4 from 2.0 in March and 2.5 in February). Seems that Entercom selling The Sound wasn’t such a bright idea after all. Actually it never was.
So what’s going on? Is everyone tuning into news and information stations to get COVID-19 information rather than listening to their favorite music? In a word, no, and that is because listenership is down. Way down. Some stations ended up in April with fewer than half the number of listeners than they had in February.
Ratings company Nielsen calls it “cume,” for the cumulative number of distinct listeners tuning into a station for at least five minutes in a rated quarter hour. Just to give a few examples, KRTH had a cume of 1,605,700 listeners in April, down from 2,889,100 in February. KOST was hit even worse, with a cume of 1,475,400; less than half the 3,025,000 listeners they had in February. KIIS-FM? 1,227,800 in April, 2,534,500 back in February.
That’s because they all went to the news and talk stations, right? Nope. KFI while at the top of the ratings was actually 18th in town when comparing cume, 671,900 compared with 841,000 back in February. KNX, one of the few stations with an increase in March was still down in April … with the three month trend of February through April being 1,018,400, 1,177,900, 770,400.
What gives? Driving. We’re not doing it, so a major time for radio listening is gone for many. Listening at work or in stores? Almost totally eliminated, meaning that stations that usually get an artificial boost in the ratings due to work/store background listening lost that advantage. And while every other station with one exception — KFWB (980 AM) — was down in cume, those that have more listeners who listen by choice, say at home, tended to fare better. The “forced” listening stations — stations with listeners who “hear” a station only because it’s background music while working or shopping — are the ones that lost the most.
This could be an important selling point if we ever get the economy rolling again. Stations that lost fewer listeners as a percentage might be worth more to advertisers, as they would tend to be the stations with a more actively involved audience.
DXing
I received more letter about the fun of long distance listening than I expected! Here is a sample …
“This brought back memories of picking up WWL from New Orleans and XERS from Del Rio Texas in the early 70s from the Lennox area!” — Marvin Johnson
“In the 50’s I had a multi band radio (from my grandparents) and listened to radio Australia in the mornings. I used a long wire and attached it to the aluminum shingle roof of our home. In 1969, sailing to Hawaii (Transpac), we picked up an AM station in New Orleans. And Oo course, we often listened to the Mighty 690 out of Rosarito Beach Mexico. I have heard KFI all over the West, usually around sunset.” — Alan Armstrong
“I'm 87 now; made my first crystal set at age 9. Wow! KNX, KFI, KHJ. Was stationed at Nome, AK during the Korean war spying on the Russians. Can't let you know too much but I had the run of the base and scrounged together a ham station where I could hear and work dx stations as far as the tip of Argentina.” — John Schellenbach
“Some time in the late 40's while a teenager growing up in Norwalk, CA, I received a small 3 or 5 tube Arvin radio, which was slightly smaller than a 2 slice toaster. It had an antenna some 12-15 ft long which I attached to the crown moulding at the ceiling in my upstairs bedroom. Wonder of wonders, I could pick up KSL/Salt Lake and also KOA/Denver every once in a while. Denver had some great country western (cowboy) music.” — Frank Hilarides
“Reading your column this morning brought back memories from my service time in the Army. I was stationed for about a year at Ft. Bliss, Texas (El Paso) and worked in the Initial Receiving Point (IRP) of the Ft. Bliss Reception Station. One evening around 7 pm I was trying to find music on a newly purchased radio when much to my surprise I hit KFI for a Dodger game. Oh boy, something really good! From that point on, every time I ‘had the duty,’ I would try to find the Dodgers. El Paso was just the right distance from L.A. to have near perfect reception (sometimes) with KFI. Probably didn’t hurt that KFI was a clear channel station either.” — Dan Curran
“Back in the early 60's, when I was living in the Memphis, TN, area, and was around 11-12 years old, I would sit up late at night with my $14 Hitachi pocket transistor radio, scanning for AM radio stations. I quite often pulled in stations from east of the Rockies, including Denver and WLS in Chicago. I recall one in Idaho, also. Don't recall ever getting one from west of the Rockies. My homework rarely got finished, but I had a lot of fun! Thanks for the memories!” — Terry Cramer
You are very welcome. I love letters like these. If you don’t mind, I’d like to feature a few more over the coming weeks … might take our minds off the COVID crisis!
While Nielsen now releases ratings for our local radio stations every four weeks, I normally only report on them every quarter, or roughly three months. It’s not because I find the ratings boring, but if I reported them every month, it would be as if I was constantly reporting them and you’d assume I was lazy. Which I am, but I try to keep that a secret.
These are not normal times, however. We are in the middle of a pandemic-driven economic shutdown, encouraged/persuaded to stay home as much as possible, and that’s made huge changes to the ratings in a very short time. These are the COVID-19 days after all. The April book is the first book that was fully part of the shutdown; March was only partially affected. But the trends that began in March held in April.
For the first time in years, though not the first time since I’ve been writing this column, an AM station rules the Los Angeles airwaves. KFI (640 AM) did it, with a huge jump to a 5.5 rating, up from 4.2 last month and 2.9 back in December of last year. At the same time, usual (at least in the past year) leader KOST (103.5 FM) dropped to third at 4.5, from March’s 2nd place 5.1. KRTH stayed steady at 5.2, but dropped one place into second. Tied with KOST was KTWV The Wave (94.7 FM) which was down from March’s 4.9 and the 4.6 and 4.7 the station earned in February and March, respectively.
KFI was not the only AM station to benefit from these weird times. KNX (1070 AM) was down to 3.4 from last month’s 3.8, but that’s still higher that the 3.0 share the station earned in both January and February. Conservative talker KRLA (870 AM) came in the highest rating for the frequency in decades, 1.8 compared with 1.4 in March and its usual 1.1 or so prior. Even KABC (790 AM) got some love for a change, earning a solid 1.4 — the first time it has been above 1.0 in recent memory.
Two surprises? KAMP (97.1 FM) and KROQ (106.7 FM) … Amp was down to its lowest share ever (1.3 from March’s 1.9 and February’s 2.0) and KROQ was down to its lowest rating ever (1.4 from 2.0 in March and 2.5 in February). Seems that Entercom selling The Sound wasn’t such a bright idea after all. Actually it never was.
So what’s going on? Is everyone tuning into news and information stations to get COVID-19 information rather than listening to their favorite music? In a word, no, and that is because listenership is down. Way down. Some stations ended up in April with fewer than half the number of listeners than they had in February.
Ratings company Nielsen calls it “cume,” for the cumulative number of distinct listeners tuning into a station for at least five minutes in a rated quarter hour. Just to give a few examples, KRTH had a cume of 1,605,700 listeners in April, down from 2,889,100 in February. KOST was hit even worse, with a cume of 1,475,400; less than half the 3,025,000 listeners they had in February. KIIS-FM? 1,227,800 in April, 2,534,500 back in February.
That’s because they all went to the news and talk stations, right? Nope. KFI while at the top of the ratings was actually 18th in town when comparing cume, 671,900 compared with 841,000 back in February. KNX, one of the few stations with an increase in March was still down in April … with the three month trend of February through April being 1,018,400, 1,177,900, 770,400.
What gives? Driving. We’re not doing it, so a major time for radio listening is gone for many. Listening at work or in stores? Almost totally eliminated, meaning that stations that usually get an artificial boost in the ratings due to work/store background listening lost that advantage. And while every other station with one exception — KFWB (980 AM) — was down in cume, those that have more listeners who listen by choice, say at home, tended to fare better. The “forced” listening stations — stations with listeners who “hear” a station only because it’s background music while working or shopping — are the ones that lost the most.
This could be an important selling point if we ever get the economy rolling again. Stations that lost fewer listeners as a percentage might be worth more to advertisers, as they would tend to be the stations with a more actively involved audience.
DXing
I received more letter about the fun of long distance listening than I expected! Here is a sample …
“This brought back memories of picking up WWL from New Orleans and XERS from Del Rio Texas in the early 70s from the Lennox area!” — Marvin Johnson
“In the 50’s I had a multi band radio (from my grandparents) and listened to radio Australia in the mornings. I used a long wire and attached it to the aluminum shingle roof of our home. In 1969, sailing to Hawaii (Transpac), we picked up an AM station in New Orleans. And Oo course, we often listened to the Mighty 690 out of Rosarito Beach Mexico. I have heard KFI all over the West, usually around sunset.” — Alan Armstrong
“I'm 87 now; made my first crystal set at age 9. Wow! KNX, KFI, KHJ. Was stationed at Nome, AK during the Korean war spying on the Russians. Can't let you know too much but I had the run of the base and scrounged together a ham station where I could hear and work dx stations as far as the tip of Argentina.” — John Schellenbach
“Some time in the late 40's while a teenager growing up in Norwalk, CA, I received a small 3 or 5 tube Arvin radio, which was slightly smaller than a 2 slice toaster. It had an antenna some 12-15 ft long which I attached to the crown moulding at the ceiling in my upstairs bedroom. Wonder of wonders, I could pick up KSL/Salt Lake and also KOA/Denver every once in a while. Denver had some great country western (cowboy) music.” — Frank Hilarides
“Reading your column this morning brought back memories from my service time in the Army. I was stationed for about a year at Ft. Bliss, Texas (El Paso) and worked in the Initial Receiving Point (IRP) of the Ft. Bliss Reception Station. One evening around 7 pm I was trying to find music on a newly purchased radio when much to my surprise I hit KFI for a Dodger game. Oh boy, something really good! From that point on, every time I ‘had the duty,’ I would try to find the Dodgers. El Paso was just the right distance from L.A. to have near perfect reception (sometimes) with KFI. Probably didn’t hurt that KFI was a clear channel station either.” — Dan Curran
“Back in the early 60's, when I was living in the Memphis, TN, area, and was around 11-12 years old, I would sit up late at night with my $14 Hitachi pocket transistor radio, scanning for AM radio stations. I quite often pulled in stations from east of the Rockies, including Denver and WLS in Chicago. I recall one in Idaho, also. Don't recall ever getting one from west of the Rockies. My homework rarely got finished, but I had a lot of fun! Thanks for the memories!” — Terry Cramer
You are very welcome. I love letters like these. If you don’t mind, I’d like to feature a few more over the coming weeks … might take our minds off the COVID crisis!
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Radio Waves Podcast #248
While Nielsen now releases ratings for our local radio stations every four weeks, I normally only report on them every quarter, or roughly three months. It’s not because I find the ratings boring, but if I reported them every month, it would be as if I was constantly reporting them and you’d assume I was lazy. Which I am, but I try to keep that a secret.
These are not normal times, however. We are in the middle of a pandemic-driven economic shutdown, encouraged/persuaded to stay home as much as possible, and that’s made huge changes to the ratings in a very short time. These are the COVID-19 days after all. The April book is the first book that was fully part of the shutdown; March was only partially affected. But the trends that began in March held in April.
For the first time in years, though not the first time since I’ve been writing this column, an AM station rules the Los Angeles airwaves. KFI (640 AM) did it, with a huge jump to a 5.5 rating, up from 4.2 last month and 2.9 back in December of last year. At the same time, usual (at least in the past year) leader KOST (103.5 FM) dropped to third at 4.5, from March’s 2nd place 5.1. KRTH stayed steady at 5.2, but dropped one place into second. Tied with KOST was KTWV The Wave (94.7 FM) which was down from March’s 4.9 and the 4.6 and 4.7 the station earned in February and March, respectively.
KFI was not the only AM station to benefit from these weird times. KNX (1070 AM) was down to 3.4 from last month’s 3.8, but that’s still higher that the 3.0 share the station earned in both January and February. Conservative talker KRLA (870 AM) came in the highest rating for the frequency in decades, 1.8 compared with 1.4 in March and its usual 1.1 or so prior. Even KABC (790 AM) got some love for a change, earning a solid 1.4 — the first time it has been above 1.0 in recent memory.
So what’s going on? Is everyone tuning into news and information stations to get COVID-19 information rather than listening to their favorite music? In a word, no, and that is because listenership is down. Way down. Some stations ended up in April with fewer than half the number of listeners than they had in February.
Ratings company Nielsen calls it “cume,” for the cumulative number of distinct listeners tuning into a station for at least five minutes in a rated quarter hour. Just to give a few examples, KRTH had a cume of 1,605,700 listeners in April, down from 2,889,100 in February. KOST was hit even worse, with a cume of 1,475,400; less than half the 3,025,000 listeners they had in February. KIIS-FM? 1,227,800 in April, 2,534,500 back in February.
That’s because they all went to the news and talk stations, right? Nope. KFI while at the top of the ratings was actually 18th in town when comparing cume, 671,900 compared with 841,000 back in February. KNX, one of the few stations with an increase in March was still down in April … with the three month trend of February through April being 1,018,400, 1,177,900, 770,400.
What gives? Driving. We’re not doing it, so a major time for radio listening is gone for many. Listening at work or in stores? Almost totally eliminated, meaning that stations that usually get an artificial boost in the ratings due to work/store background listening lost that advantage. And while every other station with one exception — KFWB (980 AM) — was down in cume, those that have more listeners who listen by choice, say at home, tended to fare better. The “forced” listening stations — stations with listeners who “hear” a station only because it’s background music while working or shopping — are the ones that lost the most.
This could be an important selling point if we ever get the economy rolling again. Stations that lost fewer listeners as a percentage might be worth more to advertisers, as they would tend to be the stations with a more actively involved audience.
Stiller Passes
While he is better known now as George Costanza’s father on Seinfeld, you may remember when he was all over first radio and then television with his wife Anne Meara in the 1970s and ‘80s advertising for Blue Nun wine, along with other companies and public service campaigns. Their pun-filled ad-libs made for some very entertaining commercials, based in part on the banter they developed as stand-up comedians in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Jerry Stiller passed away May 10th at the age of 92. His son, actor-comedian Ben Stiller announced the passing on Twitter, writing “I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad.”
Meara died in 2015.
I have great memories of the Blue Nun Stiller and Meara ads … it seems they were heard constantly when I was young. I recently heard one on an aircheck of (probably) KHJ, but they were national. Hearing it at my current age, I was able to more appreciate the puns and double entendre found throughout the ads … they were quite clever and something missing from much of radio advertising today.
Giving a Hug
Paul McGuire from Castaic low-powered KHUG sent an update:
“After reading your column where you mentioned KHUG, a listener from Alhambra, Paul Kenedy, wrote into the station and suggested a female blues DJ — Irene B., the Mississippi Moonshine Mama, from Cairns, Australia — would be a great addition to and a great match with the station.
“Kenedy copied Irene on his note to KHUG (received by owner/DJ Henry Urick), and she wound up volunteering to do a show for KHUG despite never having heard of the station, not to mention living on another continent!
“Her show, "Drivin' Home with the Blues," premiered May 4th in its new weekly time slot, Mondays, 7-8 p.m. P.T. You can hear it online at www.khug.rocks.
Long Distance Travels
I had many responses to my column last week on long-distance (DX) listening, and will feature some of your responses next week … just to give me time to sort through all the emails! But one in particular included a link that you might find helpful if you are DXing yourself.
It’s a list of every AM station on every frequency in the United States. You can print it out or keep it handy on your computer. Just make sure you don’t have your computer nearby as you try to DX any AM stations. The link was sent to me by Victor D’Agostino and compiled by “Mesa Mike.” Find it at tinyurl.com/radiowaves0515
These are not normal times, however. We are in the middle of a pandemic-driven economic shutdown, encouraged/persuaded to stay home as much as possible, and that’s made huge changes to the ratings in a very short time. These are the COVID-19 days after all. The April book is the first book that was fully part of the shutdown; March was only partially affected. But the trends that began in March held in April.
For the first time in years, though not the first time since I’ve been writing this column, an AM station rules the Los Angeles airwaves. KFI (640 AM) did it, with a huge jump to a 5.5 rating, up from 4.2 last month and 2.9 back in December of last year. At the same time, usual (at least in the past year) leader KOST (103.5 FM) dropped to third at 4.5, from March’s 2nd place 5.1. KRTH stayed steady at 5.2, but dropped one place into second. Tied with KOST was KTWV The Wave (94.7 FM) which was down from March’s 4.9 and the 4.6 and 4.7 the station earned in February and March, respectively.
KFI was not the only AM station to benefit from these weird times. KNX (1070 AM) was down to 3.4 from last month’s 3.8, but that’s still higher that the 3.0 share the station earned in both January and February. Conservative talker KRLA (870 AM) came in the highest rating for the frequency in decades, 1.8 compared with 1.4 in March and its usual 1.1 or so prior. Even KABC (790 AM) got some love for a change, earning a solid 1.4 — the first time it has been above 1.0 in recent memory.
So what’s going on? Is everyone tuning into news and information stations to get COVID-19 information rather than listening to their favorite music? In a word, no, and that is because listenership is down. Way down. Some stations ended up in April with fewer than half the number of listeners than they had in February.
Ratings company Nielsen calls it “cume,” for the cumulative number of distinct listeners tuning into a station for at least five minutes in a rated quarter hour. Just to give a few examples, KRTH had a cume of 1,605,700 listeners in April, down from 2,889,100 in February. KOST was hit even worse, with a cume of 1,475,400; less than half the 3,025,000 listeners they had in February. KIIS-FM? 1,227,800 in April, 2,534,500 back in February.
That’s because they all went to the news and talk stations, right? Nope. KFI while at the top of the ratings was actually 18th in town when comparing cume, 671,900 compared with 841,000 back in February. KNX, one of the few stations with an increase in March was still down in April … with the three month trend of February through April being 1,018,400, 1,177,900, 770,400.
What gives? Driving. We’re not doing it, so a major time for radio listening is gone for many. Listening at work or in stores? Almost totally eliminated, meaning that stations that usually get an artificial boost in the ratings due to work/store background listening lost that advantage. And while every other station with one exception — KFWB (980 AM) — was down in cume, those that have more listeners who listen by choice, say at home, tended to fare better. The “forced” listening stations — stations with listeners who “hear” a station only because it’s background music while working or shopping — are the ones that lost the most.
This could be an important selling point if we ever get the economy rolling again. Stations that lost fewer listeners as a percentage might be worth more to advertisers, as they would tend to be the stations with a more actively involved audience.
Stiller Passes
While he is better known now as George Costanza’s father on Seinfeld, you may remember when he was all over first radio and then television with his wife Anne Meara in the 1970s and ‘80s advertising for Blue Nun wine, along with other companies and public service campaigns. Their pun-filled ad-libs made for some very entertaining commercials, based in part on the banter they developed as stand-up comedians in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Jerry Stiller passed away May 10th at the age of 92. His son, actor-comedian Ben Stiller announced the passing on Twitter, writing “I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad.”
Meara died in 2015.
I have great memories of the Blue Nun Stiller and Meara ads … it seems they were heard constantly when I was young. I recently heard one on an aircheck of (probably) KHJ, but they were national. Hearing it at my current age, I was able to more appreciate the puns and double entendre found throughout the ads … they were quite clever and something missing from much of radio advertising today.
Giving a Hug
Paul McGuire from Castaic low-powered KHUG sent an update:
“After reading your column where you mentioned KHUG, a listener from Alhambra, Paul Kenedy, wrote into the station and suggested a female blues DJ — Irene B., the Mississippi Moonshine Mama, from Cairns, Australia — would be a great addition to and a great match with the station.
“Kenedy copied Irene on his note to KHUG (received by owner/DJ Henry Urick), and she wound up volunteering to do a show for KHUG despite never having heard of the station, not to mention living on another continent!
“Her show, "Drivin' Home with the Blues," premiered May 4th in its new weekly time slot, Mondays, 7-8 p.m. P.T. You can hear it online at www.khug.rocks.
Long Distance Travels
I had many responses to my column last week on long-distance (DX) listening, and will feature some of your responses next week … just to give me time to sort through all the emails! But one in particular included a link that you might find helpful if you are DXing yourself.
It’s a list of every AM station on every frequency in the United States. You can print it out or keep it handy on your computer. Just make sure you don’t have your computer nearby as you try to DX any AM stations. The link was sent to me by Victor D’Agostino and compiled by “Mesa Mike.” Find it at tinyurl.com/radiowaves0515
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Radio Waves Podcast #247
So you’re stuck at home.
You don’t want to get COVID-19, nor do you want to be a carrier and give it to grandpa. But the weather is so darn nice … what to do, what to do? …
How about trying to DX radio stations?
DX? Distance. The idea is to see how far away you can pick up a radio station, and the perfect weather we have right now happens to be the perfect weather for DXing both AM and FM stations. You don’t need a special radio to do this, but there are various models that work better than others.
For AM radio, signals travel quite far at night. Without getting too technical, the signal bounces off the atmosphere at night, travels back to earth, bounces up again, and so forth until it lands in your radio. This doesn’t happen during the day because the energy of the sun tends to absorb the signals (program note: technical people – correct me if I’m wrong), so night time is the best time for AM DXing.
An interesting aspect of this is what is called “critical time,” a time in which the sun has gone down but it is still light enough that a station has not had to switch to its night-time power; often stations need to power down somewhat — or a lot, depending on the situation — to avoid interfering with other stations. During this critical period, you can often hear stations from quite far away because they are still at full power.
As I said, any radio can work. For AM you need to get it away from things that might interfere with the signal: dimmers, some LED lights, computers, cable boxes, cheap “wall wart” power supplies. If it runs on batteries, try taking it outside. Turn the radio different directions and tune up and down the dial. Most of the better AM radios have large ferrite antennas — something that looks like a long bar with wires wrapped around it, — something that is often lacking in modern radios. Sometimes they are inside the case as they are in the old GE SuperRadio line.If your radio has a terminal to connect an external antenna, generally speaking, the longer the better. Super long runs of wire can aid reception. Unfortunately, that is often impractical. So a compromise can be made: a large run or wire wrapped around a large spool. See one such design on my web page, at socalradiowaves.com/columns/am_antenna.html. This design gives a combination of length and direction, which can aid in the reception of distant signals.
FM is a bit different. It is a signal that travels in a straight line and can be blocked by hills. For FM, height is paramount, both from a transmission standpoint and a reception standpoint. That’s why so many of the Los Angeles radio and television stations use Mount Wilson as their transmitter sites and why your roof antenna — if you still have one — works so much better than an indoor antenna.
Weather also plays a part: generally speaking, the better and clearer the weather the better the reception. However, that clear weather can also be a curse … sometimes distant stations can come in so clearly they interfere with local stations and both have reception issues. Sometimes multiple signals from different cities can hit at the same time and spoil reception as well. So the best way to do FM, if you are able, is to have a roof-mounted antenna that you can turn, or a really good indoor antenna that is directional and movable.
Some of the better FM tuners (and AM for that matter) have selectable sensitivity. Some recent tuners, including those from Sangean designed for HD radio reception, have FM sections that are quite good. But any radio can be tried.
I have to admit it has been years since I actively DXd … the dates on my list are 1980 and ’81. But the AM stations I was able to tune from my home near San Pedro back then include KBOI/Boise, Idaho, KTAR/Phoenix, KOA/Denver, the late-great KFRC/San Francisco, and KSL from somewhere in Utah. My prizes, though, were WLS/Chicago and WCCO/Minneapolis-St. Paul.
I never did much FM DXing, but in regular listening was often able to pick up stations from San Diego and Mexico quite easily, due in part to the signal traveling up the Pacific Ocean undisturbed. What was fun to get, though, were the stations from Santa Barbara and beyond, rare though they were due to my location blocked somewhat by a hill. I think FM DXing from my car was actually more successful!
A new twist on DXing, both on AM and FM, is the ability to detect and decode HD signals when a station broadcasts the system. For a time I was able to get KCBS/San Francisco in AM HD for very small periods, just a few seconds perhaps. But the radio — a Sangean tuner — was at least able to detect the signal was there. On FM, I can get KGB/San Diego’s HD signal often, but the old KFMB — which just changed call letters to the absolutely dreadful KFBG — rarely gets its HD signal locked. At least where I live.
The only problem with DXing these days, especially on AM, is the lack of anything you’d actually want to hear. But it can still be fun. If you try it, let me know how far you were able to pick anything up. At least it’s a diversion from the virus!
You don’t want to get COVID-19, nor do you want to be a carrier and give it to grandpa. But the weather is so darn nice … what to do, what to do? …
How about trying to DX radio stations?
DX? Distance. The idea is to see how far away you can pick up a radio station, and the perfect weather we have right now happens to be the perfect weather for DXing both AM and FM stations. You don’t need a special radio to do this, but there are various models that work better than others.
For AM radio, signals travel quite far at night. Without getting too technical, the signal bounces off the atmosphere at night, travels back to earth, bounces up again, and so forth until it lands in your radio. This doesn’t happen during the day because the energy of the sun tends to absorb the signals (program note: technical people – correct me if I’m wrong), so night time is the best time for AM DXing.
An interesting aspect of this is what is called “critical time,” a time in which the sun has gone down but it is still light enough that a station has not had to switch to its night-time power; often stations need to power down somewhat — or a lot, depending on the situation — to avoid interfering with other stations. During this critical period, you can often hear stations from quite far away because they are still at full power.
As I said, any radio can work. For AM you need to get it away from things that might interfere with the signal: dimmers, some LED lights, computers, cable boxes, cheap “wall wart” power supplies. If it runs on batteries, try taking it outside. Turn the radio different directions and tune up and down the dial. Most of the better AM radios have large ferrite antennas — something that looks like a long bar with wires wrapped around it, — something that is often lacking in modern radios. Sometimes they are inside the case as they are in the old GE SuperRadio line.If your radio has a terminal to connect an external antenna, generally speaking, the longer the better. Super long runs of wire can aid reception. Unfortunately, that is often impractical. So a compromise can be made: a large run or wire wrapped around a large spool. See one such design on my web page, at socalradiowaves.com/columns/am_antenna.html. This design gives a combination of length and direction, which can aid in the reception of distant signals.
FM is a bit different. It is a signal that travels in a straight line and can be blocked by hills. For FM, height is paramount, both from a transmission standpoint and a reception standpoint. That’s why so many of the Los Angeles radio and television stations use Mount Wilson as their transmitter sites and why your roof antenna — if you still have one — works so much better than an indoor antenna.
Weather also plays a part: generally speaking, the better and clearer the weather the better the reception. However, that clear weather can also be a curse … sometimes distant stations can come in so clearly they interfere with local stations and both have reception issues. Sometimes multiple signals from different cities can hit at the same time and spoil reception as well. So the best way to do FM, if you are able, is to have a roof-mounted antenna that you can turn, or a really good indoor antenna that is directional and movable.
Some of the better FM tuners (and AM for that matter) have selectable sensitivity. Some recent tuners, including those from Sangean designed for HD radio reception, have FM sections that are quite good. But any radio can be tried.
I have to admit it has been years since I actively DXd … the dates on my list are 1980 and ’81. But the AM stations I was able to tune from my home near San Pedro back then include KBOI/Boise, Idaho, KTAR/Phoenix, KOA/Denver, the late-great KFRC/San Francisco, and KSL from somewhere in Utah. My prizes, though, were WLS/Chicago and WCCO/Minneapolis-St. Paul.
I never did much FM DXing, but in regular listening was often able to pick up stations from San Diego and Mexico quite easily, due in part to the signal traveling up the Pacific Ocean undisturbed. What was fun to get, though, were the stations from Santa Barbara and beyond, rare though they were due to my location blocked somewhat by a hill. I think FM DXing from my car was actually more successful!
A new twist on DXing, both on AM and FM, is the ability to detect and decode HD signals when a station broadcasts the system. For a time I was able to get KCBS/San Francisco in AM HD for very small periods, just a few seconds perhaps. But the radio — a Sangean tuner — was at least able to detect the signal was there. On FM, I can get KGB/San Diego’s HD signal often, but the old KFMB — which just changed call letters to the absolutely dreadful KFBG — rarely gets its HD signal locked. At least where I live.
The only problem with DXing these days, especially on AM, is the lack of anything you’d actually want to hear. But it can still be fun. If you try it, let me know how far you were able to pick anything up. At least it’s a diversion from the virus!
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