WILD granted 106.1 translator

[EastCoastRadio]

Haven't seen any posts mentioning this, but WILD has been granted the 106.1 translator in Boston that multiple stations filed for. With 99 watts at a decent height, W231BI 106.1 FM will likely have decent coverage in the immediate Boston metro. Hopefully Radio One ends their LMA with the Asian radio company and starts doing local programming again, or else this translator seems like kind of a waste...

Source: http://radio-locator.com/info/W231BI-FX

 

[Wbzfm2010]

they just might considering up the dial they started a similar format.

 

[Wimmmex]

WILD has been granted the 106.1 translator in Boston... Hopefully Radio One ends their LMA with the Asian radio company and starts doing local programming again

Any programming in English would be an improvment. ;-)

Here's a quick question....does an FM translator have to carry every minute of the AM station?

Say, could the FM translator continue a music format, while the AM runs, say, a talk show for an hour at 6PM.

Does it have to be a simulcast for every minute (every second) of the day?

 

[Deleted User]

Here is my gripe with this allocation:

Radio One had a very good FM signal in the 97.7 frequency they owned,that they sold off to Entercom which became WKAF a complete waste and duplication of WAAF in a good part of the market.

So now they are crying that they need a translator?

IMHO they should have been disqualified from consideration because of that sale.

 

[CTListener]

Any programming in English would be an improvment. ;-)

Here's a quick question....does an FM translator have to carry every minute of the AM station?

Say, could the FM translator continue a music format, while the AM runs, say, a talk show for an hour at 6PM.

Does it have to be a simulcast for every minute (every second) of the day?

Yes. Here in Connecticut we have a translator on 96.1 that simulcasts WNTY 990 Southington. This station is part of a small classic hits network with stations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts 24/7 Monday through Saturday, but on Sunday it has long-running local programming -- a Catholic Mass, Italian talk and music, Christian preaching -- that the other stations on the network don't carry. As a result, the FM translator for WNTY must carry these programs while the translator for the Rhode Island station continues with the golden oldies.

I'd also submit that programming in another tongue would be an improvement over English-language propaganda from another country, maybe not for English-only speakers like you and me but for ethnic communities who would appreciate quality info and entertainment on an FM signal.

 

[blackgold]

Yeah, get rid of the Mandarin shit from Commie Radio International in Beijing and replace it with soul music weekdays and ethic programs on weekends! Maybe when WJIB gets its FM translator, it can put ethnic programs on weekends, too.

 

[Wimmmex]

Radio One had a very good FM signal in the 97.7 frequency they owned,that they sold off to Entercom

Radio One was in trouble financially (might still be), and they were offerred a kings ransom for 97.7. There wasn't much choice. They didn't have a say in how Entercom was going to run/program it.

Here is my gripe with this allocation:

So now they are crying that they need a translator?

Radio One doesn't need a translator. The facility of 1090AM needs a translator. This is an effort to help AM stations that are struggling. AM 1090 is on AM....and is a daytimer. There's 2 strikes.

Now let's just hope they do some programming, and not lease the time.

 

[CTListener]

Radio One was in trouble financially (might still be), and they were offerred a kings ransom for 97.7. There wasn't much choice. They didn't have a say in how Entercom was going to run/program it.



Radio One doesn't need a translator. The facility of 1090AM needs a translator. This is an effort to help AM stations that are struggling. AM 1090 is on AM....and is a daytimer. There's 2 strikes.

Now let's just hope they do some programming, and not lease the time.

What incentive could they have to stop leasing? Surely, the Chinese government would have no problem with having its programming on a stronger signal. It might even pay Radio One even more money for the upgrade, don't you think?

 

[Wimmmex]

What incentive could they have to stop leasing? Surely, the Chinese government would have no problem with having its programming on a stronger signal. It might even pay Radio One even more money for the upgrade, don't you think?

Well, the WILD facility is now worth more, and has to pay for itself. In order for an asset to substantiate itself, it has to throw off X amount of return.

*possibilities?

1.) Chinese might not be seeing a return on their investment (however, they measure it), and decide to end the arrangement. (One might remember Christian Science Monitorradio, Radio France and others...somewhere someone looks at the books and says can this money be better spent elsewhere?)

2.) Radio One raises the lease price and Chinese decide they are not coughing up more money for something giving them a dubious response.

3.) Radio One decides they can make more money doing their own programming, either locally to some extent, or clearing one of their national formats.

4.) Radio One decides that in order to keep the value (re-sale?) of the new facility....they have to do something mainstream.

5.) Charles Clemons or some other local operator/pirate leases the time for much more money to do local programming.

Personally, I didn't mind when they were running CRI in English. I enjoy hearing World Services from other countries....as long as it is in English! (and the modulation level is reasonable! LOL!) ;-)

 

[Eli Polonsky]

What incentive could they have to stop leasing? Surely, the Chinese government would have no problem with having its programming on a stronger signal. It might even pay Radio One even more money for the upgrade, don't you think?

The 99 watt translator will not be a stronger signal in the daytime, when 1090 transmits 5000 watts (1900 watts during "critical hours"), but it's on a currently more popular band (FM versus AM).

The translator will be a stronger signal in the nighttime, when 1090 transmits 0 watts.

 

[CTListener]

The 99 watt translator will not be a stronger signal in the daytime, when 1090 transmits 5000 watts (1900 watts during "critical hours"), but it's on a currently more popular band (FM versus AM).

The translator will be a stronger signal in the nighttime, when 1090 transmits 0 watts.

Correct, of course. Maybe I should have written "more effective." On a band more people listen to, and concentrated in Boston proper, where most of the Mandarin speakers are. You can get WILD(AM) in the daytime down in Sharon or up in Danvers, but where is the potential audience for Mandarin programming there?

 

[Wimmmex]

You can get WILD(AM) in the daytime down in Sharon or up in Danvers, but where is the potential audience for Mandarin programming there?

We're all hoping it won't be Mandarin for long!

The translator will be a stronger signal in the nighttime, when 1090 transmits 0 watts.

LOL! Eli!

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Correct, of course. Maybe I should have written "more effective." On a band more people listen to, and concentrated in Boston proper, where most of the Mandarin speakers are. You can get WILD(AM) in the daytime down in Sharon or up in Danvers, but where is the potential audience for Mandarin programming there?

WILD 1090 AM comes in well in Boston proper. The transmitter is on the Medford/Everett line, five miles from downtown Boston, and it's non-directional. It was an effective daytime signal for serving Boston and its urban neighborhoods during the decades of the stations R&B heyday.

 

[CTListener]

WILD 1090 AM comes in well in Boston proper. The transmitter is on the Medford/Everett line, five miles from downtown Boston, and it's non-directional. It was an effective daytime signal for serving Boston and its urban neighborhoods during the decades of the stations R&B heyday.

Never said it wasn't. And there were people in the 'burbs listening to the r&b WILD played back in the day -- I was one of them. But there's no reason for a Chinese-language WILD to be reaching that far. It's a wasted signal. An FM that gets a solid signal into Chinatown is really all WILD and its puppetmasters in Beijing need if the lease agreement continues.

 

[Wimmmex]

But there's no reason for a Chinese-language WILD to be reaching that far. It's a wasted signal.

Oh, if only we had Central Planning like the Chinese do...we could fit the perfect formats, on the perfect station, with the perfect radiation/coverage pattern, for the right price!

 

[JIBGUY]

any programming in english would be an improvment. ;-)

here's a quick question....does an fm translator have to carry every minute of the am station?

Say, could the fm translator continue a music format, while the am runs, say, a talk show for an hour at 6pm.

Does it have to be a simulcast for every minute (every second) of the day?

yes, no, yes.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Any programming in English would be an improvment. ;-)

Here's a quick question....does an FM translator have to carry every minute of the AM station?

Say, could the FM translator continue a music format, while the AM runs, say, a talk show for an hour at 6PM.

Does it have to be a simulcast for every minute (every second) of the day?

It has to duplicate every minute of the station it's duplicating, or "translating," but I don't think it could use 1090 unless it plans to be off the air after sundown. The FM translator could lease an HD channel of one of the other FM stations and then duplicate that.

 

[Wimmmex]

...I don't think it could use 1090 unless it plans to be off the air after sundown.

Huh? The Translator can stay on 24 hours....even when the daytimer signs off...right Bob Bittner?

 

[justgladtobehere]

Why would a Mandarin speaker in Boston want to listen to a format broadcast by the Chinese government when 99% of them are here because they don't care for the Chinese government?

 

[VoiceofWayne]

Translators must be a 100% duplicate of the originating station. In the case of an AM, the translator could remain on all night even if the AM goes off at sunset. Now another interesting question. What if the AM is talk during the day could the translator run a music format at night (or vice versa) when the AM is off the air? Some AMs do change format in the evening....... How "different" could the format be? Talk during the day, sports at night, etc.