• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Future of WZGX

passtheword

passtheword

I've been wondering if WZGX had been left to "die on the vine" since the station was sold and the plans to simulcast it on 99.1 were scrapped. 99.1, of course, is now broadcasting WQEN-HD3 as "ALT 99.1". Red Mountain Ventures applied for an FM translator at 101.7, but this was dismissed back in December. Found this new app though this morning, this time for an FM translator at 92.3 with 250 watts, to be located on Red Mountain and to rebroadcast WZGX. Proposed coverage area is mostly to the northeast of Red Mountain. Not sure how this one is gonna fit in the picture, with Summit Media's 92.3 translator (W222BK) licensed to Birmingham but serving/located in Pelham, rebroadcasting WPYA-HD2 "Birmingham Mountain Radio" and how this will affect (if at all) WXJC-FM in Cordova at 92.5. W222BK at 92.3 has only 10 watts, so maybe this is a nonissue, even being co-channel?



Here is proposed facilities for the translator at 92.3:
https://fccdata.org/?facid=203273

WXJC-FM coverage area:
https://fccdata.org/?facid=&call=wx...zip=&arn=&party=&party_type=LICEN&latd=&lond=



WZGX has been off the air for at least a month now. An app for an STA to remain silent was filed on 1/29, citing damage from a fire in the transmitter building.
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...ext=25&appn=101777458&formid=910&fac_num=4926
 
Shame to see the station in the predicament it's in. Although I don't think it ever had much of an impact on the Birmingham radio scene, or even really in Bessemer, I actually have fond memories of it in a weird way. I used to live in Tuscaloosa and had family in Midfield. As a kid, seeing the 1450 tower from I-20/59 meant I was almost at grandma's house! I never really listened, though, because it was country music back then.

The two 92.3's can exist peacefully if they can get the right directional antenna. Ideally Red Mountain Ventures would wheel and deal with Summit to either acquire or shut off the Pelham translator, or find a way to network them into one continuous service that covers as much of Birmingham as possible.
 
tomservo said:
The two 92.3's can exist peacefully if they can get the right directional antenna. Ideally Red Mountain Ventures would wheel and deal with Summit to either acquire or shut off the Pelham translator, or find a way to network them into one continuous service that covers as much of Birmingham as possible.
Click to expand...

Very astute observation, Zach! :) I know Summit Media and Great South Wireless and (add other names GSW goes by here) have done business together. Great South Wireless sold WHPH to that shell company of Summit Media's a few years ago and the Peach moved into the Summit Media studios. The two groups have swapped calls at various time, too, including WEZZ (on 97.3 and 97.7) and WZNN (on 97.3 and 106.3), among others. Not sure what the story is on that relationship between the two groups but there is one, obviously.

btw, I did read the update on your almediapage.info about WKDG in Sumiton. I noticed Kingdom Radio filed for an FM translator at 97.7 to rebroadcast WKDG there. I was laughing when I read that, bc the AM has been off the air for what now...five years? TOO funny!
smiley-laughing004.gif
 
passtheword said:
btw, I did read the update on your almediapage.info about WKDG in Sumiton. I noticed Kingdom Radio filed for an FM translator at 97.7 to rebroadcast WKDG there. I was laughing when I read that, bc the AM has been off the air for what now...five years? TOO funny!
smiley-laughing004.gif
Click to expand...

It's not just them. WCOX has applied for one, and they haven't been on the air in years, either. And someone hipped me to WQMS Quitman, MS applying for one, too. They also haven't been on the air in years. The vultures are out and I guess speculating they can get away with this. Or think they can get these old claptrap stations up and running again.
 
You're giving WKDG more credit than they deserve. 5 years? No. More like 8 or 9 years. Sometime in 2009-10 is my best guess. They do not own the tower site (the tower is gone) nor do they have a lease to be there. Some years back, there was a way to upgrade this facility, and another nearby. I investigated, but could not put the pieces together with the characters involved. I am shocked that the "Rams" spectrum speculators never caught on to it.
 
Guess that leaves WZGX with no options for an FM unless they can lease/buy an existing translator?
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom