- tvguy
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Re: CKSL London
The cost of an HD transmitter upgrade would depend on whether the entire transmitter is being replaced, or an upgrade to HD can be facilitated. I think ballpark $150k to $250K is probably a safe estimate - but there may be STL upgrades to handle programming stream transmission to the FM site, antenna replacement to handle higher Transmitter Power Output and engineering fees. On the other hand, shutting down an AM transmitter and using the HD2 or HD3 signal on FM would cut costs for the AM station by tens of thousands of dollars a year in electrical costs, land rental and of course eventual replacement of towers and transmitter. And of course many AM stations are facing end of life for expensive transmitters so those replacement costs which would most likely exceed the one-time HD upgrade costs of an FM transmitter. The problem is, for many AM stations absent a good base of cars with HD radios, their tuning numbers will be very slim....
- johnsmith
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Re: CKSL London
Being the Geek I am, I was listening live to 1410 AM when they shut the transmitter off. They waited till slightly after midnight for one last bit of comedy to end, and as the comic's name was being spoken, turned the transmitter off... nothing else said, no station ID, etc. (the last station ID being played about 10 mins before). I guess yes, they figured no one was probably listening anyhow... and yes, the online version lasted about another 5 minutes.
Someone asked about how old the transmitter was. I seem to recall Bill Post put a new transmitter sometime in the 1980s.