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Goforth translator shuffle in the works.

tomservo

tomservo

Goforth has some translator moves afoot that were recently approved by the FCC.

The first will see the existing translator they run on 103.5 MHz from the WBHY-FM tower in Spanish Fort move to Mobile, from a site west of I-65. The power will go up from 99 to 195 watts, non-directional.

The second move involves reviving the dormant 103.7 MHz translator they have in Loxley. They're going to move it to the WBHY-FM tower in Spanish Fort, change frequency to 103.3 and boost power to 250 watts, with a massive directional antenna with one lobe pointed towards Fairhope.

Both translators will relay WBHY-AM 840's programming.

Seems like an interesting move if they manage to pull it off. They've have reliable coverage on both sides of the bay with this setup. The way it works now the 103.5 translator usually gets swamped by RF crossing the Bayway and is too weak to be worth it once you're in Mobile-proper.

Goforth also operates another translator, on 106.9 MHz. It's mounted on the WABF AM tower in Fairhope. I'm kind of hoping this new dual-TX setup will allow them to lease or sell off the 106.9 translator to WABF so they can gain an FM presence.
 
Reviving this old thread because all these changes have occurred,

The oddity here is redundant coverage of the 106.9 translator in Fairhope from the WABF tower.

GoForth has done well with their translators and created a nice "network" to cover both sides of the bay on adjacent frequencies for WBHY AM

But what about GoForth's red headed stepchild, Southern Gospel WLPR 960?
Why no translator for it? Would 106.9 be a nice home for Southern Gospel?
Could GoForth be moving another one, two, three, or four of their translators into the area for WLPR or a third frequency to actually extend FM coverage for WBHY 840 and we just haven't noticed yet?

WBHY-FM 88.5 is obviously a non-com. Is WBHY 840 licensed as a commercial operation? Sweet setup if they are... now that they have the FM simulcast for 840 AM.
 
I think the AM is run as a non-commercial as well. They carry Dave Ramsey and the "commercial breaks" are a lot different than they are on news/talk type stations from what I have heard.

I'm really impressed with the kind of coverage they've accomplished with their two translators. I can much more easily hear the Spanish Fort broadcast now in Foley and Fairhope than before and I can fairly easily hear the Mobile translator, too. They don't seem to interfere with one another at all, at least not from my limited listening.

At some point they ought to either get rid or repurpose the 106.9 signal. Sell or give it to WABF would be my obvious pick. I don't think it could be moved into Mobile due to the proximity of that Lucedale country station.

Mobile has so many "also-rans" in the religious category I'd be curious to know if anyone listens to anything other than 88.5 and 840. 540, 960, 1110 (Bay Minette), 1360 and 1480 could probably all disappear tomorrow without anyone noticing.
 
What other translators do they have? I always forget who owns what down here.

If someone were a visionary they could easily get a brand new station on the air by pairing up one of the unbuilt translators with one of those "unloved" AM stations I listed in an earlier post... One of them is for sale. ;)
 
Could W258AQ in Citronelle be pulled into Mobile on a different frequency (98.9) with a Racoon waiver married to WLPR 960?

I thought they also had (old) translators for 88.5 in Andalusia and Jackson, but it appears I was wrong.
 
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seedless said:
Could W258AQ in Citronelle be pulled into Mobile on a different frequency (98.9) with a Racoon waiver married to WLPR 960?

I thought they also had (old) translators for 88.5 in Andalusia and Jackson, but it appears I was wrong.
Click to expand...

*shrugs*

Maybe. If they could make a good argument for why it needs to jump more than three channels. Which it would have to, if it were to move.
 
99.5 - 3 channels = 98.9 ? Am I that bad at math?

Work out something with Edgewater to move W258AY to 98.9 and move in W258AQ as is on 99.5? If that would be easier? What the hell is GoForth going to use a translator in Citronelle for anyway?
 
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seedless said:
99.5 - 3 channels = 98.9 ? Am I that bad at math?

Work out something with Edgewater to move W258AY to 98.9 and move in W258AQ as is on 99.5? If that would be easier? What the hell is GoForth going to use a translator in Citronelle for anyway?
Click to expand...

That translator in Citronelle wasn't active last time I was there, but that was several years ago.

98.7 would be too close to Cat Country. I know it's not much of a signal in Mobile but it's probably too close for FCC acceptance. Maybe 99.3 would work but that would still mean Edgewater would have to move and that is getting too complex to be feasible.
 
Another potential simulcast. 99.3 from Spanish Fort. 99.5 from Mobile.

Could that Citronelle translator be holding up the APP/CP for the 99.5 we've been expecting to hear WNTM on?
 
After making several trips to to Mobile since the GoForth translator simulcast went live I must say they have impressive coverage of both sides of the bay. Now I wonder just how much more the new station WBHY has created is worth?

The trimulcast of 840/103.3/103.5 seems like to would make a great sports station. Maybe even better than 105.5?
GoForth has WLPR 960, W295BB 106.9 Fairhope & W258AQ 99.5 Citronelle kinda sitting unloved in their back pocket to replace WBHY if they sold off this nice new station they have created.
If Edgewater's translators are already contracted, would any locals want to add the new WBHY to their portfolio?
Is GOForth's new WBHY 840's FM presence worth more to Goforth than any others?
 
I don't know much about Goforth's intentions but I get the impression they are happy with their current setup as a noncommercial operator.

With Wilkins selling WASG, someone could replicate WBHY's setup - or at least half of it - relatively easily.
 
thinking the FCC might make it easier for a religious broadcaster that was simply moving around translators they already owned to get such a network up and running. The adjacent channels is a plus. I think their might only be one more option for adjacent translator channels for Mobile and Spanish Fort. If you build it someone will want to buy it if the price is right.
Hale, down in FWB, has made a living moving and upgrading stations to make them attractive enough for Cumulus or Clear Channel to buy.
 
How important is it really to reach both sides of the bay? I don't see why a micro-station couldn't be successful serving just the Mobile side or just the ES communities. Frankly, I don't know anyone who goes to Mobile from Baldwin County unless they either a) work over there or b) have no other choice. Most seem to avoid the trip through the tunnels like the plague.

Me personally I really like Mobile's central city charm and it doesn't seem any worse than Birmingham crime-wise, but I understand the majority white suburbs on the Eastern Shore are probably growing like gangbusters for a reason. ;)

Of course I'm a lot more centrally-located than someone in Daphne or Montrose… and if I have to go to A city it's Pensacola because it's even more interesting to me. But I just don't see why a well-targeted and well-programmed station couldn't eek out a living without that coveted cross-bay signal.

WHEP seems to still be alive and kicking (somehow) and WDXZ in Robertsdale hasn't gone permanently dark yet… An LPFM is planned for Fairhope and it'll be lucky to actually reach Fairhope's downtown from their rural transmitter site but it may well prove that a small signal is viable here. Somehow I think even Sunny 105.7 could survive if they suddenly couldn't be heard in Pensacola anymore. I'm just not getting why serving both sides of the bay is such a big issue for a smaller signal.
 
Seems to me that translators are most useful for in car radio listening.
The Bayway is the most used road in Mobile.
Coverage from Loxley to Fairhope to west of I-65 somewhere is the best case scenerio for simulcasting translators.
Translators simucasting from north Mobile County and south Mobile County in order to give "double coverage" of Mobile... eh, would that be a good thing?
I like WEBY's 103 FM setup.

I do wonder if anyone (besides WABF) will try an east side oriented station on a translator. Format, eh... Nash Icons? Smooth Jazz? Classic/Variety Hits? (my non-corporate guess).
 
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