16th Edition ATLAS By Bruce F Elving 88 92 96 100 104 106 108 A guide for travelers, hi-fi listeners, media people and hobbyists www.americanradiohistory.com www.americanradiohistory.com FM Atlas SIXTEENTH EDITION By Bruce F. Elving, Ph.D. CONTENTS: FMusings 2 Key to Symbols 8 FMaps (FM Atlas) 9 Station Directory,PartI (FM stationsand translators by geography) 116 Station Directory, Part II (by frequency) 163 Selected FM Dial History (Portland OR) 221 FMemoranda 222 Other FM references, 17th Edition Notify Coupon 224 Copyright© Bruce F. Elving, 1995 International Standard Book Number: 0-917170-12-1 FM Atlas Publishing P. O. Box 336 Esko MN 55733-0336, U.S.A. Historic Address: 2 Unit 1, Adolph MN 55701-9701, U.S.A. www.americanradiohistory.com FMusings There Are More Stations to Hear on FM but Less Program Diversity Continuing the theme of the last edition "FM Atlas," stations are taking full advantage of liberalized FCC rules to form duopolies. A duopoly is when, for example, two FM stations in one city have the same ownership. In Minneapolis popular rocker KQRS-FM 92.5, owned by ABC, bought another rocker, KEGE 93.7, "93.7 The Edge." In Jacksonville FL Paxson Broadcasting owns WROO 107.3 and WAIA 93.3 [licensed Callahan] , which have a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Todd Communications'WFSJ 97.9 St. Augustine. All operate out of studios at 8386 Baymeadows Blvd., Ste. 107, ZIP 32256. Almost all major markets in the U.S. have duopoly situations, resulting in economies of scale for the stations, but An almost always in reduced employment opportunities for V managers, announcers, news people and sales reps. Most COUNTRY months my FMedia! newsletter has mentions of stations entering into LMAs or duopolies. The financial picture looks better for radio this year than last year, with less reason for broadcasters to seek out duopolies to save financially weak radio stations. Duopolies and LMAs are typically entered for efficiency of operation and to reduce competition. And it is easier for FM stations to obtain financing now. The Small Business Administration, at the urging of the National Association of Broadcasters, changed its rule which forbade loan guarantees to radio stations and newspapers. This rule change allows banks and other lenders to make SBA -backed loans to media outlets. Lack of diversity in media ownership can manifest itself in sameness of formats from one station to another. It is not just commercial radio where common ownerships can be found. Public and religious FM also share the benefits and problems of duopolies. On public FM you might hear "All Things Considered" or "Morning Edition" on two commonly -owned stations in the same city. This can be on a time-shft basis, or, less logically, at the same time on both stations. Northwestern College of Roseville MN operates KDNI *90.5 and KDNW *973 Duluth, with most late night and weekend hours the programming being the same on both stations. WAJC *104.5 Indianapolis, owned by Butler University, was sold in 1993 to Susquehanna Broadcasting Co. for $7 million; it is now WGRL. A reverse situation is Xavier University of Cincinnati expanding and buying former commercial station WMTE-FM 97.7 (now WVXM) Manistee MI, and WNDY 106.3 Crawfordsville IN. As this book goes to press is word that the owner of WKBZ-FM 95.3 -AM Whitehall -Muskegon MI is donating the stations to Grand Valley State College, licenseee of WGVU *88.5 Allendale -Grand Rapids MI and an AM. College officials say they will study program options and talk to area residents to help decide stations' formats. It is not known if WKBZ-FMight be operated commercially or as a public station. The Tyranny of Talk Radio With mounting interest in FM, both by broadcasters and listeners, it is natural that talk radio finds its way onto the static -less FM band. Talk has been a mainstay of public radio, with some of the earliest stations being for in -school instruction or for use by homebound students. Thus, *91.5 stations WNYE New York, KSLH St. Louis and WBEZ Chicago, owned by their respective school boards, have been around for decades; KSLH is still monophonic, now "Jazz 2 www.americanradiohistory.com 91.5," while WNYE is toying with stereo for its instructional and ethnic schedule, about which more will be said later. Relgious stations, too, have had talk and teaching programs for decades, exemplified by "Back to the Bible Broadcast" and "Voice of Prophecy." Lately, call -in talk programs have come to Christian FM, including Vic Eliason's from the VCY America network based in Milwaukee, and Randall Terry's daily program voicing his Operation Rescue anti -abortion rhetoric. WGNV *88.5 Milladore WI, in a controversial move, cancelled Terry's program in 1994, asserting it was too divisive for a Christian station to carry. AM talk radio has been mentioned as helping to bring out voters who elected conservative candidates in 1994. However, with FM in the lead nationwide, talk stations have not helped AM all that much. Most markets have one or two AM news -talk stations that may be in the top ten. Even such once great AM stations as WCCO 830 Minneapolis and WGN 720 Chicago have been nudged from the top positions by other outlets, notably KQRS-FM 92.5 Minneapolis and WGCI-FM 107.5 Chicago. Several commercial FM stations have embraced talk radio, either fulltime or parttime. KPIX-FM 95.7 San Francisco is now all talk or news, except for some weekend music programs, as is the pioneer in FM talk radio, WWDB 96.5 Philadelphia. WWDB removes its $[tereo] carrier when broadcasting talk, reserving stereo for weekend big -bands music. All stations, when not broadcasting music or drama that calls for stereo, should remove their stereo generator and broadcast monophonically, thereby ensuring a better signal in fringe areas and a more honest presentation to the listener. WLS-FM 94.7 Chicago is another talk station with some musical elements, such as in themes, that results in this book listing them as a stereo station. WTAZ 102.3 Morton IL, in the Peoria area, went all talk, and lost its status as a stereo station. Howard Stern is the king of sleaze -talk in NY and many other markets which carry his morning show. Infinity Broadcasting, owner of WXRK 92.3 New York, has to date, refused to pay any of the $1 million in fines assessed against it because of Stern utterances. He must have mellowed lately; no recent fines have been assessed, even though the Gore administation is keeping the anti -indecency pressure on Stern and others. Rush Limbaugh, known as the king of the talkers on AM radio, is heard in a few markets on FM. WGMO 95.3 Shell Lake WI and KSKK 94.7 Staples-Wadena MN both carry him-in pseudo stereo! This trend to all talk is, to me, disturbing, especially when stations that formerly offered music have chosen to become monophonically restrained. It is good that broadcasters recognize FM as important enough that they want their talk fare to be on the medium where most listening now is, but much of FM radio's appeal is diminished as a result. A compromise is what KPIX-FM and WWDB are doing, and that is to make use of their transmitters for stereo music at least part of the week. A better arrangement would be for the public to have FM-SCSubcarrier Limbaugh radios in large numbers, and then a popular music station could have its talk programming on an SCS. In that way, all the major broadcasters in a given area would be offering a variety of music or dramatic programs in true stereo virtually all the time. FM Listening Hits 80%! The latest RADAR (Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) figures show FM as reaching fully 80 percent of the radio audience (ages 12 and over). This compares to 77 percent in late 1993, and represents a continuing upward trend 3 www.americanradiohistory.com in FM audience since this publication began in 1971. The total reached by each band, AM and FM, varies by age of respondent. As many as 83 percent of teens listen solely to FM, compared to 31 percent of those 55 and over. About 25 percent of those 55 and over listen only to AM, while 32 percent of that group listens to both FM and AM. A more ominious FM or statistic is that only four percent of those 12 and over listen to neither AM, but as the age levels rise, the use of radio declines. Two percent of those 25-54 don't use radio, but in the 55 and over group 10 percent of the men and 13 percent of the women do not listen to radio. I call this ominious, for changes in programming, such as less easy listening music or more program sameness from one station to another, might contribute to this audience decline among the over 55 group-a growing segment of the American population. Although the Rush Limbaughs have gained a lot of media attention, the fact remains that AM has only a limited ability to caputure a mass audience, talk or no talk, and that the growth of FM appears to be unstoppable. NY's W NYC -FM to go Commercial? WFUV stuck with Unbuilt Tower In late 1994 speculation was ripe that WNYC-FM *93.9 New York would be sold by its owner, the City of New York, and go commercial. Such a sale would bring in $50 to $55 million, and the leading prospect mentioned was Infinity Broadcasting, which would gain a duopoly partner to its WXRK.