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Pirates dump KDKA after 51 years


NoHoJoe

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After 51 seasons, The Pittsburgh Pirates announced yesterday that they are severing their radio relationship with KDKA, and will move to 104.7, a station owned by Clear Channel next season :mad:

CLEAR CHANNEL SUCKS!!!!!

BRING BASEBALL BACK TO MONTREAL!!!!

MON AMOURS SIEMPRE!!

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If they mirror what the Braves did, you should be quite happy.

1. The games will be on FM now (assuming they aren't now). You can actually hear the games, static-free, in the suburbs at night, if you're out driving during the evening.

2. More coverage: The stations that are picking up Pirates games are going to be advertising Pirates all throughout the winter, and will probably increase the pre- and post-game show lengths, especially home games. For example, a Friday night Braves game starts at 7:30...I can listen to the pre-game show starting at 6, and they won't end the Braves coverage until around 11, 11:30 that night.

3. Does it really matter what station it's on? You'd probably be listening to Pirates broadcasts, regardless of what station it's on.

4. How did a Pittsburgh station get the call letters of "KDKA"? If you're east of the Mississippi River, your call letters would begin with W. If you're west of the Mississippi, your call letters begin with K.

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4. How did a Pittsburgh station get the call letters of "KDKA"?  If you're east of the Mississippi River, your call letters would begin with W.  If you're west of the Mississippi, your call letters begin with K.

Why KDKA has a K- call sign

To sum up: It's a really old radio station, and the W-K distinction wasn't always strict.

Also note that Pittsburgh has KQV, as that Philadelphia has KYW and KYW-TV.

48142444846_3aa6afbd89_m.jpgNCAA Baseball Champions | 2014, 2019 

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If they mirror what the Braves did, you should be quite happy.

1. The games will be on FM now (assuming they aren't now). You can actually hear the games, static-free, in the suburbs at night, if you're out driving during the evening.

But AM has the stronger signals at night. I can pick up KMOX and WLW in greater Chicago in the evening due to that wacky ionosphere, though of course the former doesn't matter since the Cardinals also dumped their old station. Yeah, FM generally has a clearer signal, but I don't think any FM stations can broadcast as 50,000-watt clear channels the way KMOX, WLW, WGN, WTMJ, and other traditional AM baseball flagships can.

Personally, I kinda like the idea of teams being synonymous with their stations, and even as a Cubs fan, learning that the Cardinals gave up KMOX was kind of a bummer, just as a tradition fan.

Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about with regard to AM reception, but in reality, none of this stuff matters. With network affiliates, satellite radio, and the Internet, fidgeting around with your radio at night to pick up a distant baseball game is a thing of the past for most people.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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If they mirror what the Braves did, you should be quite happy.

1. The games will be on FM now (assuming they aren't now).  You can actually hear the games, static-free, in the suburbs at night, if you're out driving during the evening.

But AM has the stronger signals at night. I can pick up KMOX and WLW in greater Chicago in the evening due to that wacky ionosphere, though of course the former doesn't matter since the Cardinals also dumped their old station. Yeah, FM generally has a clearer signal, but I don't think any FM stations can broadcast as 50,000-watt clear channels the way KMOX, WLW, WGN, WTMJ, and other traditional AM baseball flagships can.

Personally, I kinda like the idea of teams being synonymous with their stations, and even as a Cubs fan, learning that the Cardinals gave up KMOX was kind of a bummer, just as a tradition fan.

Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about with regard to AM reception, but in reality, none of this stuff matters. With network affiliates, satellite radio, and the Internet, fidgeting around with your radio at night to pick up a distant baseball game is a thing of the past for most people.

It's the wave of the future. The Cards, the Pirates, and the Twins (leaving WCCO-AM for the first time since comming to Minnesota in 1962 after this year) all leaving traditional flagships for greener pastures. One thing about this is that they are leaving because of the better non over-the-air options out there. Internet (Gameday Audio, XM Satelite Radio, and Sprint Mobile MLB P-B-P, just to name a few.

Now, as far as the Cubs are concerned, I'm not too worried they're going to leave WGN anytime soon. As long as the Tribune Co. doesn't sell the team, they'll stay on WGN Radio and TV...

Moose

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If they mirror what the Braves did, you should be quite happy.

1. The games will be on FM now (assuming they aren't now).  You can actually hear the games, static-free, in the suburbs at night, if you're out driving during the evening.

But AM has the stronger signals at night. I can pick up KMOX and WLW in greater Chicago in the evening due to that wacky ionosphere, though of course the former doesn't matter since the Cardinals also dumped their old station. Yeah, FM generally has a clearer signal, but I don't think any FM stations can broadcast as 50,000-watt clear channels the way KMOX, WLW, WGN, WTMJ, and other traditional AM baseball flagships can.

Personally, I kinda like the idea of teams being synonymous with their stations, and even as a Cubs fan, learning that the Cardinals gave up KMOX was kind of a bummer, just as a tradition fan.

Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about with regard to AM reception, but in reality, none of this stuff matters. With network affiliates, satellite radio, and the Internet, fidgeting around with your radio at night to pick up a distant baseball game is a thing of the past for most people.

Not all of the AM stations become clearer at night.

The Braves' AM flagship station, WGST, goes to crap outside of 25 miles once the sun goes down, as well as the Thrashers' and Hawks' flagships (WCNN and WQXI, respectively), but WSB gets stronger.

I can hear AM stations from Dallas, Chicago, and New York, but be damned if I can't hear a Thrashers game on the drive home from work......

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I stopped being bitter over the Cards move pretty quickly.

Losing the tradition and signal sucked (well the signal doesn't effect me, and they do have tons of affiliates), but it really wasn't that big of a deal.

The Cards own a majority share of the new station, so they're making more money to invest in the team and the coverage is greater.

I also realized that as much as anything, it was KMOX's fault. They're not what they used to be. They need a local owner to return them to prominensce, but the chances of that are slim.

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If they mirror what the Braves did, you should be quite happy.

1. The games will be on FM now (assuming they aren't now). You can actually hear the games, static-free, in the suburbs at night, if you're out driving during the evening.

2. More coverage: The stations that are picking up Pirates games are going to be advertising Pirates all throughout the winter, and will probably increase the pre- and post-game show lengths, especially home games. For example, a Friday night Braves game starts at 7:30...I can listen to the pre-game show starting at 6, and they won't end the Braves coverage until around 11, 11:30 that night.

3. Does it really matter what station it's on? You'd probably be listening to Pirates broadcasts, regardless of what station it's on.

4. How did a Pittsburgh station get the call letters of "KDKA"? If you're east of the Mississippi River, your call letters would begin with W. If you're west of the Mississippi, your call letters begin with K.

You obviously don't know much about Pittsburgh, KDKA, and the relationship between the two...

(1)

You can't hear :censored: on FM radio out of Pittsburgh for more than about a 20 mile radius unless either (A) its on AM, or (B) the station's not only got 50,000 watts of power, but is also fortunate enough to have a tower atop Mt. Washington or in a suburb. I know this from my own days of working at stations there only to have friends question not whether I worked at the stations, but whether they even existed...

(2)

There's no way the station becoming the new flagship could possibly do more Pirate-related promotions than KDKA short of going with wall-to-wall 24/7 coverage of the team (not a good thing even I admit), buying every empty seat at PNC. KDKA promoted the hell out of the Pirates through PirateFest and a bunch of other regional tours and events.

(3)

It ABSOLUTELY matters. If you're in the Burgh you listen to KDKA for news/talk/Pirates, period. Everyone else is a distant second. When I worked in Pittsburgh radio, you knew KDKA's ratings were going to be double-plus what the #2 station in the market's were (WDVE at the time), and if you were on the air in the area, you'd cut off your left testicle with a pair of pinking shears to work there. They're that dialed in to the area.

(4)

Because KDKA was first - as in the first regularly broadcast commercial radio station, hitting the air in 1920. The W/K split didn't happen until KDKA had been on the air quite some time.

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I am sad to hear that KDKA is not going to have the braodcast rights, but it is all about revenue for small market teams.

As for AM signals, the 50,000 watts of many "clear-channel stations" (not the company, but in reference to the tramsmission) do not necessarily broadcast in all directions. some have more power directionally, or not to interfere with close bands. WJR and KMOX broadcast to the south; WABC to the west (going over the Atlantic is not a great audience), and WBAP to the north and west.

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You obviously don't know much about Pittsburgh, KDKA, and the relationship between the two...

(1)

You can't hear :censored: on FM radio out of Pittsburgh for more than about a 20 mile radius unless either (A) its on AM, or (B) the station's not only got 50,000 watts of power, but is also fortunate enough to have a tower atop Mt. Washington or in a suburb. I know this from my own days of working at stations there only to have friends question not whether I worked at the stations, but whether they even existed...

(2)

There's no way the station becoming the new flagship could possibly do more Pirate-related promotions than KDKA short of going with wall-to-wall 24/7 coverage of the team (not a good thing even I admit), buying every empty seat at PNC. KDKA promoted the hell out of the Pirates through PirateFest and a bunch of other regional tours and events.

(3)

It ABSOLUTELY matters. If you're in the Burgh you listen to KDKA for news/talk/Pirates, period. Everyone else is a distant second. When I worked in Pittsburgh radio, you knew KDKA's ratings were going to be double-plus what the #2 station in the market's were (WDVE at the time), and if you were on the air in the area, you'd cut off your left testicle with a pair of pinking shears to work there. They're that dialed in to the area.

(4)

Because KDKA was first - as in the first regularly broadcast commercial radio station, hitting the air in 1920. The W/K split didn't happen until KDKA had been on the air quite some time.

You're right.....I don't know much about Pittsburgh. I've only been there twice: Once driving through on the way to Erie, and the other time when I was changing flights. The only things I know about Pittsburgh is that it's a blue-collar town, and they have ugly women.

I only mentioned these statements because the Braves recently switched from an AM-only flagship to a ClearChannel-owned AM/FM flagship station. All I can say is that the Braves now have an FM flagship that has a decent listening range for when the AM station fades out at night (or under bridges or power lines), and they've been exponentially pimped year-round, not just during the season.

And if you're in Pittsburgh, and you're wanting to listen to the Pirates game on radio in 2007, people will listen to it, regardless of it's being broadcasted on KDKA or not. Sure, it'll be strange at first for the frequent listeners, but by May, you're not focusing on which station is broadcasting games. Braves games aren't being called on WGST any differently than they were on WSB.

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If they mirror what the Braves did, you should be quite happy.

1. The games will be on FM now (assuming they aren't now).  You can actually hear the games, static-free, in the suburbs at night, if you're out driving during the evening.

But AM has the stronger signals at night. I can pick up KMOX and WLW in greater Chicago in the evening due to that wacky ionosphere, though of course the former doesn't matter since the Cardinals also dumped their old station. Yeah, FM generally has a clearer signal, but I don't think any FM stations can broadcast as 50,000-watt clear channels the way KMOX, WLW, WGN, WTMJ, and other traditional AM baseball flagships can.

Personally, I kinda like the idea of teams being synonymous with their stations, and even as a Cubs fan, learning that the Cardinals gave up KMOX was kind of a bummer, just as a tradition fan.

Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about with regard to AM reception, but in reality, none of this stuff matters. With network affiliates, satellite radio, and the Internet, fidgeting around with your radio at night to pick up a distant baseball game is a thing of the past for most people.

Not all of the AM stations become clearer at night.

The Braves' AM flagship station, WGST, goes to crap outside of 25 miles once the sun goes down, as well as the Thrashers' and Hawks' flagships (WCNN and WQXI, respectively), but WSB gets stronger.

I can hear AM stations from Dallas, Chicago, and New York, but be damned if I can't hear a Thrashers game on the drive home from work......

This is in part because many AM stations are directional. For example WBBM in Chicago's signal is directional so as to not intefere with WABC in New York (both 50,000 watt stations 10khz apart.) WRVA in Richmond is 50,000 watts and can be heard quite clearly at night in places such as Chicago and Bermuda but not at all in Washington, DC. You couldn't get WCAU (or whatever they are now) the Phillies flagship in New York only about 100 miles away.

The reason you have trouble hearing Braves games at night is because WGST is a 50,000 watt daytime station but reduces their power to 1,000 watts at night. This drastically reduces the signal strength.

Sad to hear the Twins are also leaving their 50,000 watt flagship. When I was younger I used to tune the radio so I could listen to out of town games and would listen to the Braves on WSB; Orioles on WTOP; Pirates on KDKA; Cardinals on KMOX; Reds on WLW, etc. John Miller and I had a long conversation about doing this a few years ago at the Giants homecoming lunch.

Out west I can get Mariners games on KOMO fairly clearly but can't gat A's games at all and they're only 90 miles from here. I had an Angels game on the radio in the car from LA to just south of Fresno during the day but the Dodgers station crapped out before I got over the Grapevine.

Does KDKA still carry the Penguins or did they leave too?

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If they mirror what the Braves did, you should be quite happy.

1. The games will be on FM now (assuming they aren't now).  You can actually hear the games, static-free, in the suburbs at night, if you're out driving during the evening.

But AM has the stronger signals at night. I can pick up KMOX and WLW in greater Chicago in the evening due to that wacky ionosphere, though of course the former doesn't matter since the Cardinals also dumped their old station. Yeah, FM generally has a clearer signal, but I don't think any FM stations can broadcast as 50,000-watt clear channels the way KMOX, WLW, WGN, WTMJ, and other traditional AM baseball flagships can.

Personally, I kinda like the idea of teams being synonymous with their stations, and even as a Cubs fan, learning that the Cardinals gave up KMOX was kind of a bummer, just as a tradition fan.

Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about with regard to AM reception, but in reality, none of this stuff matters. With network affiliates, satellite radio, and the Internet, fidgeting around with your radio at night to pick up a distant baseball game is a thing of the past for most people.

Not all of the AM stations become clearer at night.

The Braves' AM flagship station, WGST, goes to crap outside of 25 miles once the sun goes down, as well as the Thrashers' and Hawks' flagships (WCNN and WQXI, respectively), but WSB gets stronger.

I can hear AM stations from Dallas, Chicago, and New York, but be damned if I can't hear a Thrashers game on the drive home from work......

As mentioned before, that's because most AM stations are forced to power-down or stop operating between sunset and sunrise to avoid interference.

edit: It's also kinda sad because KDKA is a landmark station. They were the first to air regular radio programming.

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