KRKO‘s format at the time (1993) was classic oldies. Originally posted by Bill Harms to Tophour
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Mike Cherry
retired broadcaster: on-air, MD, PD, asst PD, Prod Mgr, IT, station technician/engineer, pioneer Internet webcaster, station installation/maintenance; 12 years in commercial radio, 17 years volunteer in campus/community radio in B.C., Alberta & Wash. Amateur radio operator & "DXer" specializing in AM night-time DX, short-wave DX/listening & remote SDR DXing/listening
With so many AM station’s broadcasting in stereo, why did they go back to mono? Because they were 10 percent less (or some figure) lower in volume. Why don’t they ask the FCC to let them go up? Most stations still have their AM. Just turn them on.
Hi @mikepurdy and @mikecherry, regarding AM Stereo, there are many reasons why it would have been preferred to where AM radio ended up with digital. However, AM Stereo was effectively killed by the FCC because the agency refused to choose between a system advanced by Leonard Kahn and a separate system advanced by Motorola. KRKO had the Motorola system. When I purchased a Carver home tuner and heard AM Stereo in 1993, I was blown away at the incredible sound fidelity. Then I attended NAB the following year and the people at the AM Stereo booth threw cold water all over me and told me AM Stereo was dead and they wouldn’t even be in the show the following year. We shut off AM Stereo when we switched to Talk Too Hot for Seattle because we were able to achieve a loudness boost that gave us a larger perceived coverage area. Loudness overcomes a lot of static and road noise, if done properly.
Regarding the Legal ID in this thread, I’m warmed to hear it again as it was the first new legal ID produced after I joined KRKO as a salesperson. Athan James had George Johnson, aka “Bru Masters,” produce this for the station along with a prep football promo called “Autumn Leaves.” So much content has been lost to the ether including a massive trove of archival audio that died with our hard drive and second hard drive backup at almost the same time. Thank you, Mike Cherry, for preserving this piece of audio history. George Johnson is still alive and producing sound.
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November 15, 2020 at QZVX
Mike Purdy says:
With so many AM station’s broadcasting in stereo, why did they go back to mono? Because they were 10 percent less (or some figure) lower in volume. Why don’t they ask the FCC to let them go up? Most stations still have their AM. Just turn them on.
Mike Purdy
mike@mikepurdy.com
March 20, 2022 at QZVX
Andrew Skotdal says:
Hi @mikepurdy and @mikecherry, regarding AM Stereo, there are many reasons why it would have been preferred to where AM radio ended up with digital. However, AM Stereo was effectively killed by the FCC because the agency refused to choose between a system advanced by Leonard Kahn and a separate system advanced by Motorola. KRKO had the Motorola system. When I purchased a Carver home tuner and heard AM Stereo in 1993, I was blown away at the incredible sound fidelity. Then I attended NAB the following year and the people at the AM Stereo booth threw cold water all over me and told me AM Stereo was dead and they wouldn’t even be in the show the following year. We shut off AM Stereo when we switched to Talk Too Hot for Seattle because we were able to achieve a loudness boost that gave us a larger perceived coverage area. Loudness overcomes a lot of static and road noise, if done properly.
Regarding the Legal ID in this thread, I’m warmed to hear it again as it was the first new legal ID produced after I joined KRKO as a salesperson. Athan James had George Johnson, aka “Bru Masters,” produce this for the station along with a prep football promo called “Autumn Leaves.” So much content has been lost to the ether including a massive trove of archival audio that died with our hard drive and second hard drive backup at almost the same time. Thank you, Mike Cherry, for preserving this piece of audio history. George Johnson is still alive and producing sound.
March 20, 2022 at QZVX
Andrew Skotdal says:
And, by the way, the KRKO AM/PM ad is actually circa 1985 and did not run in print when the legal ID was running.
March 20, 2022 at QZVX
J Remington says:
Thanks, Andrew, we have those dates updated.