How does wattage effect radio signal strength?

Question

I see 100w antennas sold at Walmart, but local radio stations have 40w antennas, am I missing something about signal strength?

In: 1

Answer 1

A typical radio station might have a signal power of 40 kW, not 40 W. 40 kilowatts is 40,000 W. That’s 400x more powerful than the Walmart thing you’re looking at.