Two Las Vegas AM Stations Going Dark on February 28th

[David]

Audacy has announced that KDWN 720 and KXST 1140 will be signing off for good at Midnight, February 28, 2023. For the members of this board who are also DX'ers, KDWN 720 will be conducting a brief (10 minute) DX test at full 25 kW daytime power beginning at 23:59 Pacific Time (00:59 Mountain Time) on February 28th. The DX test information came from a post by the CE of Audacy Las Vegas in another radio discussion forum. If you don't have KDWN in your log because of adjacent channel interference from KSVN, February 28th will be your last (and probably best) chance to add it to your AM DX logbook.

radioinsight.com/headlines/248648/audacy-to-sign-off-pair-of-las-vegas-ams/

[CAwasinNJ]

I haven't seen anything yet that indicates 720 and 1140 are signing off permanently. To me that wouldn't make sense. Outside of a radius of 15 miles from the Strip there is absolutely nothing. (For reference, that's about the same distance as Temple Square is to Sandy.) I don't see how Audacy couldn't find some desolate patch of land somewhere and build a new facility in the future. They could put it pretty much anywhere (even out in Pahrump) and cover the market just fine.

[David]

I guess we'll just have to wait and see if the licenses for 720 and 1140 are surrendered to the FCC after March 1st. Everything that I've read in Radio Discussions and the posts from Audacy's Las Vegas CE in another radio discussion group have indicated that Audacy has no plans to move the transmitting sites, or diplex 720 and 1140 from another tower site. The audience for AM radio continues to shrink, and the number of AM stations is shrinking along with the dwindling audience numbers. There's also the perception among advertisers that "no one listens to AM radio anymore", and it's certainly not easy to shake that perception. Moreover, I'm sure it's not cheap to pay the electric bill for a 25 kW (days) station like KDWN. The ROI from 720 and 1140 may not be enough for Audacy to justify the cost of building new towers, or diplexing the signals from another location. I'm sure we'll know more about Audacy's plans after March 1st.

[David]

Apparently the shutdown of KDWN has been delayed, at least for a day or two. 720 and 1140 were supposed to shut down on February 28th, but as of 3:30 AM Thursday March 2nd, both stations were still on the air. In fact, there was another DX test on KDWN at 1:00 AM Mountain Time Thursday 3/2, and I heard there was also a DX test on KXST 1140 as well. Tracy Teagarden, the CE for Audacy Las Vegas, is a "radio geek" and DX'er as well, and I've been told he's the one responsible for coordinating the DX tests. Stay tuned: There may be one more DX test on 720 around 1:00 AM Mountain Time Friday morning. 🙂

[seattlefollower]

KDWN-AM sign off recorded from the strip in HD radio:


It goes back into programming, so my guess is that Audacy is no longer billing the station but ran the transmitter with satellite for a few more days?

KXSD-AM:

[CAwasinNJ]

You did play the 2nd clip all the way to the end, right? The goodbye and "plates off" of KDWN was the 2nd half of that video.

[amanuensis]

What was in the Morse code at about the 10 minute mark of the second video? Never mind, I now see that the video shows it being decoded in real time.

[David]

Mar 5, 2023 10:59:25 GMT -6 amanuensis said:

What was in the Morse code at about the 10 minute mark of the second video? Never mind, I now see that the video shows it being decoded in real time.

The Morse Code was part of the KDWN DX test arranged by the chief engineer for Audacy Las Vegas. I read in one of my radio DX'ing groups that slow scan TV (SSTV) images were part of the DX test as well.

[seattlefollower]

Mar 5, 2023 0:42:46 GMT -6 CAwasinNJ said:

You did play the 2nd clip all the way to the end, right? The goodbye and "plates off" of KDWN was the 2nd half of that video.

Yes, but foolishly after I posted.