"David Eduardo" wrote in message
...
How many of those studies were done outside huge metros?

Almost every county in the US is part of some metro. The non-measured
counties are only a couple of percrent of the total US population... and
they are not measured because the ability to get a sample is very hard.


You do realize that 2% of 300 million people is a substantial 6,000,000
people?


I've lived in towns with their own FM's where the 64 dBu contour didn't
cover the transmitter site parking lot. One example was KLER-FM in
Orofino, ID. Their tower was BELOW average terrain, and they were running
100 watts, and couldn't cover a significant portion of the very small
town they are located in. Since then, they have raised their tower height
and power, but given the terrain, probably don't have a much better
coverage. It may be an exaggeration, but not much of one, to say that
some educational stations wouldn't have a 64 dBu signal if you connected
the meter directly to the transmitter..

And it would not be an exaggeration to say nobody listens, but finding out
if it is because the station has lousy programming or no coverage is a
different and subjective issue.

The 64 of KLER covers less than 9000 people, but it does cover the
market... such as it is.


Is that the current stats, or the old ones under the 100 watt signal 300'
HBAT? Gads, that was TERRIBLE.. and their engineering was atrocious... the
stereo balance severely favored the left channel.