"Alternative" music on the AM dial.
The Mighty Wimp
Lately, I've run across 3 AM stations playing such music. The first
was WDJX (1080 kHz) from Louisville, KY, which I discovered one night last fall
while in college in Rochester, NY. I think the station must have accidentally
not switched to their night pattern that evening because WTIC is normally heard
on 1080 at night in Rochester. Here, in Auburn, AL, WDJX can be heard nightly,
although somewhat intermittently (there is a station from Texas on that
frequency that can be nulled out by proper positioning of the receiver's
ferrite rod antenna).
There is this other station I discovered on 1430 kHz that IDs as
"14-X". Its format is similar to that of WDJX, but I don't know what its call
letters are or its city of license. The signal can only be heard
intermittently, and it never seems to completely overcome all the other signals
on that frequency.
Also, a couple of nights ago (the same night I discovered 14-X), I
heard techno music on 860 kHz. Mostly, though, what I heard on this frequency
was a strong bassline under a CBC broadcast (yes, the SRF-42 has good frequency
response at the low end of the audio spectrum, too, but that's another story!).
The reason for putting quotes around the word alternative in the
subject heading is that both WDJX and 14-X play the MTV version of alternative
music (i.e. Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, et al...No independent label stuff). I
don't know that much about the music on 860, though.
If you know about any alternative AM radio stations or you have one in
your area, please don't hesitate to share the information with us.
Big Al
Charles R. Azer
In article <2ue4rh$5...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> Big Al wrote:
> Lately, I've run across 3 AM stations playing such music. The first
Ann Arbor, Mich. has a really good adult-oriented alternative station,
WAMX, AM 1290. From what I can discern, the station isn't doing well
in terms of advertising revenue, but because they're the sister station
of a very successful mainstream rock station (WIQB, 102.9 FM), even
if they have mediocre ratings, the combo has to be doing better than
when they were simulcasting the FM station on AM.
I really enjoy the station a lot. Their jocks are credible and have
a good amount of knowledge about the music. I would best describe
their format as "classic progressive," meaning that it's probably what
the early progressive stations such as WBCN (Boston) and WABX (Detroit)
would have evolved to, had they not given up their progressive formats.
A sample of WAMX's music:
Crash Test Dummies
Genesis
Kate Bush
The The
Traffic
Joan Armatrading
Bruce Cockburn
E
Tracy Chapman
Talking Heads
k.d. lang
Howard Jones
Linda Ronstadt
I think the station has a chance to become more successful commercially
with the right kind of off-air promotions. Just as account executives
have to convince potential advertisers that radio is an important part
of the advertising mix--that the other forms of advertising alone are not
enough--those in charge of promotions need to use other media to promote
their stations.
For a city of 100,000+, Ann Arbor has diverse demographics, including
a large student population--all of which means that there's no reason
WAMX can't be highly successful. Personally, I hope the station will
stick it out for the long term.
Charles R. Azer <az...@garnet.msen.com>
Strategic Radio Consulting
Paula Bailey
regular listener to that station... :) (BTW: they do play some local
bands on that station) THe modern rock format is from 4pm-6am local time;
the rest of the time, it simulcasts WDJX-FM 99.7 (an AC/dance station;
wouldn't really call 'em top 40).
I'm rather suprised you heard it as far away as you did, as WDJX-AM is
not a hyperstrong station...(It's only about 10 KW...) If you want the
address for a QSL I'll be glad to send it to you.
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Aaron L Dickey
>Ann Arbor, Mich. has a really good adult-oriented alternative station,
>WAMX, AM 1290.
Is it just me, or has this set of calls really bounced around for the last
few years? WAMX used to be a great AOR FM station in Huntington, WV...all
the greater for the fact that market could support an AOR at all. (This
was a long time ago, since they called themselves "94 WAMX" when the
station is at 93.7.) Then in the early 80s they adopted a
format-of-the-week, most of them bad: all oldies, MOR, oldies MOR, lite
rock, on and on. About a year into the lurch they dropped WAMX for WRVC
(and their sister station dropped a 60-year-old set of calls, WGNT, for
WTKZ). Two great stations annihilated, a big part of the reason I moved
to New York. :)
Just rambling,
Aaron
--
Aaron Dickey kie...@world.std.com
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