Buffalo/Niagara Falls is #1 radio market for AM

[PromoTheRobot]

Highest listenership to AM radio stations, thanks to WBEN, WGR, maybe WECK too. Chicago #2, Milwaukee #3.

 

https://www.insideradio.com/free/here-are-the-markets-with-the-largest-proportion-of-am-radio-listeners/article_83a95ef8-0117-11ee-be56-63d806f6c01d.html

[BillsPride12]

That doesn't surprise me...they say Buffalo is always stuck living a little behind the times.  I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing either.  

[PromoTheRobot]

6 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

That doesn't surprise me...they say Buffalo is always stuck living a little behind the times.  I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing either.  

 

It also helps a heritage station like WBEN never got crappy. It maintained the standard of service (news and information) that people expected. WBEN, and to a degree WGR, never gave people a reason to stop listening.

 

Unlike WWKB 1520. The one-time monster of the ratings, pulling over 60% of Buffalo listeners in their heydey as "KB," has been just a satellite-fed repeater for decades. And had no detectible audience rating.

Edited June 11, 2023 by PromoTheRobot

[Augie]

37 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

That doesn't surprise me...they say Buffalo is always stuck living a little behind the times.  I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing either.  

 

I’m with you here.   It doesn’t surprise me, and I don’t intend for that to sound mean at all. 

 

On a related note, we came in #2 in slide rule sales as well. 

 

 

.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Augie

[boyst]

In many places here in Greensboro I can pick up wgr. 

 

Sometimes the station on 550 am out of Statesville North Carolina overpowers it, and that station is only 70 mi away straight line. The most the time wgr can be heard

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

32 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

I’m with you here.   It doesn’t surprise me, and I don’t intend for that to sound mean at all. 

 

On a related note, we came in #2 in slide rule sales as well. 

 

 

.

And we took #1 on abacus sales 

[Augie]

14 minutes ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

And we took #1 on abacus sales 

 

We got it goin’ on, for sure! 

 

I can’t just tease, so I’ll add this positive: a neighbor is a renowned architect and author. He was at our house and noted my Bills gear. He said his wife was taking a beach vacation, but he wasn’t into beaches. He was going to Buffalo to explore our architecture. He sent me photos to show he also explored our wings, beer and pizza! 

[Jrb1979]

I do wonder if the lack of changes in on air talent helps with keeping people to tune in to the radio. I have noticed a lot of the Buffalo stations have the same morning shows for as long as I can remember. I know in Toronto their stations seem to change morning shows a lot

[Another Fan]

I could tell you WFAN Sports radio AM 660 in NY/NJ sucks now IMO.  Growing up I'd listen to it a bit.  

 

 

1450 AM was a good station for a while in central NJ but I believed it turned into some Fox News conglomerate for a while now.  

Edited June 12, 2023 by Another Fan

[Draconator]

3 hours ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

And we took #1 on abacus sales 

 

I used to work for a company called "Abacus 21", located on Delaware Ave in Kenmore. 

 

They closed.

[ExiledInIllinois]

4 hours ago, Augie said:

 

On a related note, we came in #2 in slide rule sales as well. 

Who you kidding?  We couldn't have possibly come in at #2.  We don't know much about geography, don't know much trigonometry, don't know much about algebra and most certainly don't know what a slide rule is for!

 

😉😜 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Interesting... Answered one of my questions. Topography and AM signals.

 

"The top three markets for AM are all cities on the Great Lakes. And Westwood One’s analysis of the new data shows markets with the largest proportion of AM listeners tend to be from the upper Midwest. In addition, regions with hilly terrain, such as San Jose, San Francisco, and Sacramento, have traditionally been big AM markets due to the challenges their topography causes for FM signals."

 

The Niagara Escarpment plays a role around the Great Lakes helping AM signal as well as hilly terrain around Bay Area impedes FM signal. 

[Augie]

5 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Who you kidding?  We couldn't have possibly come in at #2.  We don't know much about geography, don't know much trigonometry, don't know much about algebra and most certainly don't know what a slide rule is for!

 

😉😜 

 

 

….and I thought that was going to break out into a Paul Simon song at some point…..

[ExiledInIllinois]

Just now, Augie said:

 

 

….and I thought that was going to break out into a Paul Simon song at some point…..

Actually... Sam Cooke. 😉 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Nice AM quote!

[PromoTheRobot]

21 hours ago, Draconator said:

 

I used to work for a company called "Abacus 21", located on Delaware Ave in Kenmore. 

 

They closed.

 

"Bah, those fancy-shmancy battery calculators! What happens when the battery runs out?? The abacus was good enough for the pharaohs and they'll never be replaced, my boy!"

20 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Interesting... Answered one of my questions. Topography and AM signals.

 

"The top three markets for AM are all cities on the Great Lakes. And Westwood One’s analysis of the new data shows markets with the largest proportion of AM listeners tend to be from the upper Midwest. In addition, regions with hilly terrain, such as San Jose, San Francisco, and Sacramento, have traditionally been big AM markets due to the challenges their topography causes for FM signals."

 

The Niagara Escarpment plays a role around the Great Lakes helping AM signal as well as hilly terrain around Bay Area impedes FM signal. 

 

Moist ground helps AM transmissions be more efficient. I bet you didn't know that when you see an AM tower, you're only looking at about 5% of the entire system. There are copper straps, as long as the tower is tall, buried in the ground, radiating from the tower. One strap every 3 degrees. Copper thieves are a huge problem. And most AM transmitter sites are in the middle of nowhere.

[PromoTheRobot]

20 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Nice AM quote!

 

Why does that happen? Because AM frequency wavelengths are so long (300 meters at 1,000 kHz) they don't fit under bridges.

[ExiledInIllinois]

8 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Why does that happen? Because AM frequency wavelengths are so long (300 meters at 1,000 kHz) they don't fit under bridges.

And FM....Frequency modulation goes out in tall cities and mountains, right?

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, ExiledInIllinois said:

And FM....Frequency modulation goes out in tall cities and mountains, right?

 

FM is a much shorter wavelength, only about 31 inches. But it's line-of-sight, while AM sort of radiates from the ground. But FM is susceptible to multipath interference in urban areas as well, where signals bounce off tall buildings and where they meet, if they are out of phase, they cancel out.

[BUFFALOKIE]

On 6/11/2023 at 6:57 PM, Augie said:

 

We got it goin’ on, for sure! 

 

I can’t just tease, so I’ll add this positive: a neighbor is a renowned architect and author. He was at our house and noted my Bills gear. He said his wife was taking a beach vacation, but he wasn’t into beaches. He was going to Buffalo to explore our architecture. He sent me photos to show he also explored our wings, beer and pizza! 

Now your just making stuff up.