KXNO Re-hired everyone....

[Tenacious E]

He was getting pressure from ownership. He decided the only way to protect his staff was to have Clay Travis fill-in for them. All their jobs are now safe forever.

The owner pressured a change to the automated national format, so he fired the morning and evening crew to save his job and people in his immediate circle? But then ownership saw the resultant shit show with advertisers pulling out forcing the owner's hand to reinstate everyone?

 

[ottumwan in tx]

He was getting pressure from ownership. He decided the only way to protect his staff was to have Clay Travis fill-in for them. All their jobs are now safe forever.

never say forever in that business , they are not safe for the next month

 

[mnole03]

The owner pressured a change to the automated national format, so he fired the morning and evening crew to save his job and people in his immediate circle? But then ownership saw the resultant shit show with advertisers pulling out forcing the owner's hand to reinstate everyone?

I was just ripping on Clay Travis. I do think iHeart probably pushed the cheaper national format hard, and the resultant shit-show saved the local team’s jobs.

They’re doing it everywhere.

 

[steelrain]

I remember the night after Iowa lost the outback bowl to Florida I was able to re-listen to the painful broadcast of 1040 as I drove back down to Ft. Hood, TX. I think I lost the signal just north of Oklahoma City. I was surprised it went that far that night but it was overcast the whole way. I wish I would have lost it sooner as I'm a glutton for punishment evidently.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

I remember the night after Iowa lost the outback bowl to Florida I was able to re-listen to the painful broadcast of 1040 as I drove back down to Ft. Hood, TX. I think I lost the signal just north of Oklahoma City. I was surprised it went that far that night but it was overcast the whole way. I wish I would have lost it sooner as I'm a glutton for punishment evidently.

it used to come in all the way down here to Austin and san Antonio a lot back in the jim Zabel and hayden fry days . not so much any longer. only if the clouds are right

 

[McLovin32]

 

[Scott559]

it used to come in all the way down here to Austin and san Antonio a lot back in the jim Zabel and hayden fry days . not so much any longer. only if the clouds are right

You can get a AM radio that is designed for pulling in long distance stations. I have a couple and they do a pretty good job.

 

[bagdropper]

I can listen to 620 KMNS out of Sioux City all the way to the outskirts of Des Moines yet any FM station starts to fizzle out an hour or so down the road.

1000 watts day and night, class B AM station.

Here's the coverage maps. Pretty much exactly what you're saying.

Daytime...

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KMNS&service=AM&h=D

Nighttime, a little less coverage, must be directional - which figures considering 620 out of Milwaukee is a fairly high power station in the upper midwest.

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KMNS&service=AM&h=N


FM by design isn't going to reach as far by comparison to "some" AM stations, but many high watt FM stations can go up to almost 100 miles. It's all in the licence, frequency, directional allowances and power allowances for AM radio.

For example, I can receive KGYM up as far north in daytime as Guttenberg IA...but I go west on 80 and I lose it around Williamsburg. They seem to aim their daytime signal north and east, but not west and south.

You can't just own 1460 AM in Des Moines and decide to ramp up to 50,000 watts like WHO - or for that matter ramp up to even 10,000. Chances are, there's another 1460 AM in a neighboring state that KXNO might infringe on.

So...you get an FM frequency that may serve a larger surrounding area or at least a better overall local signal like KGYM did. It mean for them that at night, they blanket the CR/IC metro area well up as far north as Manchester, whereas one can drive outside CR and 1600 AM becomes spotty at best.

 

[bagdropper]

You can get a AM radio that is designed for pulling in long distance stations. I have a couple and they do a pretty good job.

I'm a tuner snob - and specifically an AM tuner snob. I still enjoy radio very much and there is such a thing as a great AM and FM tuner. I own a Kenwood "holy grail" FM tuner that is an outstanding piece of audio electronics. Yes, I actually get great audio quality out of it.

I own several standalone AM/FM tuners. Analog units made in the 60's and 70's, plus one Grundig digital unit that is outstanding. All my Kenwood analogs (4 of them) have outstanding AM tuners in them - and good to outstanding FM tuners too.

I also own a Select-a-tenna from CC Radio that's an AM antenna booster that zones in on specific frequencies and removes the clutter of other surrounding stations. It's fantastic for low power local stations in daytime. I can sometimes pull in KXNO using it and the Grundig.

Here in CR, I can reach as far as these with the CC Radio gizmo and any of my standalone tuners...

650 Nashville
670 Chicago
700 Cincinnati
720 Chicago
740 Toronto
750 Atlanta
760 Detroit
780 Chicago
820 Ft. Worth
830 Minneapolis
840 Louisville
850 Denver
860 Toronto
870 New Orleans
890 Chicago
990 Winnipeg
1000 Chicago
1010 Toronto
1020 Pittsburgh
1100 Cleveland
1120 St. Louis
1140 Richmond
1200 San Antonio
1210 Philadelphia
1500 Washington

What's interesting is I cannot ever pull in 1110 out of Omaha...as well as a handful of stations in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas. Seems like that's a dead spot for eastern Iowa. I think 1110 gets stomped on by 1100 and 1120 being as strong as they are. I get much better reception to the east/northeast than I do west, southwest and southeast.

 

[Scott559]

I'm a tuner snob - and specifically an AM tuner snob. I still enjoy radio very much and there is such a thing as a great AM and FM tuner. I own a Kenwood "holy grail" FM tuner that is an outstanding piece of audio electronics. Yes, I actually get great audio quality out of it.

I own several standalone AM/FM tuners. Analog units made in the 60's and 70's, plus one Grundig digital unit that is outstanding. All my Kenwood analogs (4 of them) have outstanding AM tuners in them - and good to outstanding FM tuners too.

I also own a Select-a-tenna from CC Radio that's an AM antenna booster that zones in on specific frequencies and removes the clutter of other surrounding stations. It's fantastic for low power local stations in daytime. I can sometimes pull in KXNO using it and the Grundig.

Here in CR, I can reach as far as these with the CC Radio gizmo and any of my standalone tuners...

650 Nashville
670 Chicago
700 Cincinnati
720 Chicago
740 Toronto
750 Atlanta
760 Detroit
780 Chicago
820 Ft. Worth
830 Minneapolis
840 Louisville
850 Denver
860 Toronto
870 New Orleans
890 Chicago
990 Winnipeg
1000 Chicago
1010 Toronto
1020 Pittsburgh
1100 Cleveland
1120 St. Louis
1140 Richmond
1200 San Antonio
1210 Philadelphia
1500 Washington

What's interesting is I cannot ever pull in 1110 out of Omaha...as well as a handful of stations in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas. Seems like that's a dead spot for eastern Iowa. I think 1110 gets stomped on by 1100 and 1120 being as strong as they are. I get much better reception to the east/northeast than I do west, southwest and southeast.

I have the original GE Supertuner, A Sangean PR-D15 and a small portable CCrane Skywave. I live in central Iowa. Don’t believe I have ever picked up 1500 Washington, A couple for you to try, WBZ 1030 Boston, WGY 810 Schenectady N.Y.
Like you I have much better luck East and SE, NE, Back when KLA was a 50,000 watt station out of LA I could get it occasionally on cold, clear winter nights. I also used to listen to Beaker Street on KAAY Little Rock, One of the original “underground” radio shows back in the late 60’s.
I will have to give the antenna you listed a try!

 

[ottumwan in tx]

I'm a tuner snob - and specifically an AM tuner snob. I still enjoy radio very much and there is such a thing as a great AM and FM tuner. I own a Kenwood "holy grail" FM tuner that is an outstanding piece of audio electronics. Yes, I actually get great audio quality out of it.

I own several standalone AM/FM tuners. Analog units made in the 60's and 70's, plus one Grundig digital unit that is outstanding. All my Kenwood analogs (4 of them) have outstanding AM tuners in them - and good to outstanding FM tuners too.

I also own a Select-a-tenna from CC Radio that's an AM antenna booster that zones in on specific frequencies and removes the clutter of other surrounding stations. It's fantastic for low power local stations in daytime. I can sometimes pull in KXNO using it and the Grundig.

Here in CR, I can reach as far as these with the CC Radio gizmo and any of my standalone tuners...

650 Nashville
670 Chicago
700 Cincinnati
720 Chicago
740 Toronto
750 Atlanta
760 Detroit
780 Chicago
820 Ft. Worth
830 Minneapolis
840 Louisville
850 Denver
860 Toronto
870 New Orleans
890 Chicago
990 Winnipeg
1000 Chicago
1010 Toronto
1020 Pittsburgh
1100 Cleveland
1120 St. Louis
1140 Richmond
1200 San Antonio
1210 Philadelphia
1500 Washington

What's interesting is I cannot ever pull in 1110 out of Omaha...as well as a handful of stations in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas. Seems like that's a dead spot for eastern Iowa. I think 1110 gets stomped on by 1100 and 1120 being as strong as they are. I get much better reception to the east/northeast than I do west, southwest and southeast.

when I am home in Iowa I try at night to get 1200 San Antonio and it comes in sometimes

 

[bagdropper]

I can get 810 and 1030 occasionally. Fades in and out. I've gotten 770 out of NYC at times too.

Since I posted the above post, I've been listening to the Toronto station on 740 - classic adult contemporary I'd call it. One of the few clear channel stations that still plays mostly music. I think 650 out of Nashville is the same.

There are a lot of times I can pull in a lot more of the clear channel stations, but the above list are ones I can get fairly well either here in CR or at my cabin in Guttenberg (which being on the river bluff, it's all eastern stations...but brings in others I cannot get here all the time).

I've always wanted to try a CC Radio, but I have the Grundig and a Zenith Transoceanic so I don't really need another portable. I've read good things about that Sangean too.

The select-a-tenna - that thing is voodoo magic and helps any AM radio with reception. It's a bit clunky to use, but if you're looking for one station only, it's tremendous. I tend to use the Grundig to figure out if reception is even possible (being able to rotate it easily really helps), then use one of my Kenwoods (usually a KT-615 or KT-7300) with the CCR gizmo to listen to it on a stereo(s).

My darn near unobtainium tuner is a Kenwood KT-917 highly modded by an expert from the fmtunerinfo.com site. I got a full grand in that tuner overall and oh my does it deliver awesome FM. It's in my main rig though since it's FM only.

 

[Tenacious E]

The KXNO GM was on the radio this afternoon, and to give him credit he explained the situation pretty well and took accountability

So what did the GM say?

 

[Pinehawk]

So what did the GM say?

He said national corporate directed him to look at the analytics. He did and made a recommendation to fire everyone which was approved and went forward. Then said the feedback was overwhelming. He realized he'd made a mistake and it was more than just numbers. He called corporate back up, told them he'd made a mistake, made his case, and they let him reverse course.
I appreciated he came on air, said it was his decision, realized it was a mistake, was humble about it, and worked to correct it.

 

[Tenacious E]

He said national corporate directed him to look at the analytics. He did and made a recommendation to fire everyone which was approved and went forward. Then said the feedback was overwhelming. He realized he'd made a mistake and it was more than just numbers. He called corporate back up, told them he'd made a mistake, made his case, and they let him reverse course.
I appreciated he came on air, said it was his decision, realized it was a mistake, was humble about it, and worked to correct it.

It's not like I think KXNO "owes" anyone a job but when your product is talk shows with local interaction, you fire the producer of the show of your two most prominent personalities, your hosts are tightly integrated with major sponsors like Jethros, the Full Court Press establishments (El Bait Shop et al), your hosts have weekly round table sessions with Jess Settles/Jake Sullivan and Chuck Long/Sage Rosenfels, the national shows you replaced them with aren't great, and some of the stiffs you kept like Emory Songer aren't entertaining/can't carry a show, what in the hell did he think the response was going to be? It's not like this is an FM station that just plays music. These are programs based on taking callers and discussing things interesting to people within the reach of a 5,000 watt AM station.

 

[SoDakHawk]

I'm a tuner snob - and specifically an AM tuner snob. I still enjoy radio very much and there is such a thing as a great AM and FM tuner. I own a Kenwood "holy grail" FM tuner that is an outstanding piece of audio electronics. Yes, I actually get great audio quality out of it.

I own several standalone AM/FM tuners. Analog units made in the 60's and 70's, plus one Grundig digital unit that is outstanding. All my Kenwood analogs (4 of them) have outstanding AM tuners in them - and good to outstanding FM tuners too.

I also own a Select-a-tenna from CC Radio that's an AM antenna booster that zones in on specific frequencies and removes the clutter of other surrounding stations. It's fantastic for low power local stations in daytime. I can sometimes pull in KXNO using it and the Grundig.

Here in CR, I can reach as far as these with the CC Radio gizmo and any of my standalone tuners...

650 Nashville
670 Chicago
700 Cincinnati
720 Chicago
740 Toronto
750 Atlanta
760 Detroit
780 Chicago
820 Ft. Worth
830 Minneapolis
840 Louisville
850 Denver
860 Toronto
870 New Orleans
890 Chicago
990 Winnipeg
1000 Chicago
1010 Toronto
1020 Pittsburgh
1100 Cleveland
1120 St. Louis
1140 Richmond
1200 San Antonio
1210 Philadelphia
1500 Washington

What's interesting is I cannot ever pull in 1110 out of Omaha...as well as a handful of stations in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas. Seems like that's a dead spot for eastern Iowa. I think 1110 gets stomped on by 1100 and 1120 being as strong as they are. I get much better reception to the east/northeast than I do west, southwest and southeast.

I loved pulling in far flung radio stations on AM radio. With the ability to stream practically any station in the world it's kind of taken the excitement out of randomly pulling in a station out of Denver or Texas. Still, pretty cool that some of the regular stations I can listen to while streaming are from places like Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Buffalo, Ft Worth, Edmonton, Nashville, you pick a city.

 

[Tenacious E]

He said national corporate directed him to look at the analytics. He did and made a recommendation to fire everyone which was approved and went forward. Then said the feedback was overwhelming. He realized he'd made a mistake and it was more than just numbers. He called corporate back up, told them he'd made a mistake, made his case, and they let him reverse course.
I appreciated he came on air, said it was his decision, realized it was a mistake, was humble about it, and worked to correct it.

Pretty cool follow up article by Rolling Stone. Mad respect for fales and Murph.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/iheartmedia-radio-layoffs-murph-andy-937985/

 

[iafan44]

I'm a tuner snob - and specifically an AM tuner snob. I still enjoy radio very much and there is such a thing as a great AM and FM tuner. I own a Kenwood "holy grail" FM tuner that is an outstanding piece of audio electronics. Yes, I actually get great audio quality out of it.

I own several standalone AM/FM tuners. Analog units made in the 60's and 70's, plus one Grundig digital unit that is outstanding. All my Kenwood analogs (4 of them) have outstanding AM tuners in them - and good to outstanding FM tuners too.

I also own a Select-a-tenna from CC Radio that's an AM antenna booster that zones in on specific frequencies and removes the clutter of other surrounding stations. It's fantastic for low power local stations in daytime. I can sometimes pull in KXNO using it and the Grundig.

Here in CR, I can reach as far as these with the CC Radio gizmo and any of my standalone tuners...

650 Nashville
670 Chicago
700 Cincinnati
720 Chicago
740 Toronto
750 Atlanta
760 Detroit
780 Chicago
820 Ft. Worth
830 Minneapolis
840 Louisville
850 Denver
860 Toronto
870 New Orleans
890 Chicago
990 Winnipeg
1000 Chicago
1010 Toronto
1020 Pittsburgh
1100 Cleveland
1120 St. Louis
1140 Richmond
1200 San Antonio
1210 Philadelphia
1500 Washington

What's interesting is I cannot ever pull in 1110 out of Omaha...as well as a handful of stations in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas. Seems like that's a dead spot for eastern Iowa. I think 1110 gets stomped on by 1100 and 1120 being as strong as they are. I get much better reception to the east/northeast than I do west, southwest and southeast.

My dad has a couple 78 and 79 kenwood and pioneer matching tuners and amps. They are awesome.