[BC] Frequency changes

[David Reaves]

IIRC, in the earliest days, the small number of radio stations were
concentrated onto just a handful of shared frequencies.

Almost every time I read about the history of any pioneering AM radio
station, I learn of multiple frequency changes throughout its early
history. These changes were due to one or several reasons, such as
ownership change, power level increase, international treaty,
politics, or simply the growth of the population into areas where it
hadn't been.

 From the perspective of individual stations, sometimes the change
was clearly beneficial, creating for them a better signal to more
people. But many times the frequency changes were forced upon them to
their ultimate detriment. Sometimes the change only affected one or
two stations; other times (e.g., NARBA?) there were massive numbers
of changes in one fell swoop.

Much of this general information is on Barry's and Scott's websites;
great references!

One thing that rarely seems covered in the brief history articles I
have read is just how much the change impacted (or didn't) the
audience levels (station-specific and overall) and therefore the
success of the affected stations. A lot of stations had been at a
certain dial position for long enough to be identified closely with a
particular frequency. What did the locals think of the change? I
can't imagine that asking the audience to retune was always a loss- 
free proposition, and there must be some examples where previously
dominant stations failed due to it. In some cases, I'm sure it was
devastating. (Looking for a key marker to gauge success, the advent
of detailed local ratings may be relatively recent, but profit/loss
statements, while not always public, go back to the beginning.)

And what about stations that changed frequency, never mind call
letters, several times? (For example, IIRC WNYC, one of my old
stations, has been on maybe a half-dozen frequencies in its
lifetime.) That can't be a good thing.

I'd be really interested in reading a scholarly book that goes into
depth about the fluidity of station frequency assignments in the
first few decades of broadcasting, and how some organizations went
about promoting the change (or in some cases, making lemonade) in the
attempt to maintain/improve their success as much as was possible,
and how some simply didn't make it. Who the wolves and sheep were,
where the political pressures came from...

Of course, all the primary personalities from the early days are long
gone, so any journalism for such a book would have to be second or
third source at best and the reality is that, in most cases, if it
hasn't been documented yet the information simply no longer exists.
But I'm still curious. :-)


David P. Reaves, III