WSAT was an AM station which was not co-owned with any other stations. The owner bought WTIX, which was a simulcast partner in a nearby town and no longer had its own studios because a separate format did not work, so its former owner moved it back in with its other stations and put the same format on two stations. The WSAT owner did not have separate studios for WTIX, so the broadcast must have been coming from the WSAT studios. And yet it's the same music, mostly from Good Time Oldies. The local morning show seems to be the same on both stations. But other than that, WSAT is always identified simply as "Memories 103.3" (the translator was added about the same time as the WTIX purchase) and WTIX as "Memories 98.3" (translator also added around the same time). I guess one way to interpret this is that Good Time Oldies is being received on one dish, but it's like two separate stations are getting their own broadcast, as if they had two different formats.
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How do you simulcast if you don't simulcast?
- Thread starter vchimpanzee
- Start date
I know it's satellite content. I'm trying to understand how this would be done. It's like there are two entirely separate stations in the building, which doesn't seem to have an advantage.
The equipment required to take one satellite feed and insert two sets of jingles, liners, and ads is not very large. Just a computer and some kind of audio switch, on top of the gear that receives the satellite for the main station.
There's a popular model of audio switches which is only 1 inch tall by 18 inches wide. And you know how small computers can be these days. I could probably do the whole setup in less than the size of four cases of copy paper.
The advantage is probably a business one. Suppose their rate for simulcast ads is $20, or ads on each station individually is $15. If there's a grocer in Concord who does not have a store in Salisbury, they can save $5 an ad by only buying time on WEGO. And then the owner can take that sixty seconds and sell it on WSAT to a business which is only in Salisbury, netting revenue of $30 for that minute instead of $20.
And the only cost to the station owner is to do traffic for two stations instead of one each day -- a task that uses very little labor with modern technology.
There's a popular model of audio switches which is only 1 inch tall by 18 inches wide. And you know how small computers can be these days. I could probably do the whole setup in less than the size of four cases of copy paper.
The advantage is probably a business one. Suppose their rate for simulcast ads is $20, or ads on each station individually is $15. If there's a grocer in Concord who does not have a store in Salisbury, they can save $5 an ad by only buying time on WEGO. And then the owner can take that sixty seconds and sell it on WSAT to a business which is only in Salisbury, netting revenue of $30 for that minute instead of $20.
And the only cost to the station owner is to do traffic for two stations instead of one each day -- a task that uses very little labor with modern technology.
I guess that's sort of the answer I was looking for.
To be clear, WTIX got the WEGO letters back recently.
I found a quote for a similar situation on another thread:
The only issue is that a high percentage of streams are not simulcasts... they are "similarcasts" with the stopsets being very different in content. If a signal falls back to a stream, the content may be interrupted.
To be clear, WTIX got the WEGO letters back recently.
I found a quote for a similar situation on another thread:
The only issue is that a high percentage of streams are not simulcasts... they are "similarcasts" with the stopsets being very different in content. If a signal falls back to a stream, the content may be interrupted.
Simulcasting two stations on the same band, some miles apart, is not entirely unknown. For a few years, Cumulus had two FM country stations in New Hampshire, 97.5 WOKQ Dover and WPKQ 103.7 North Conway (with its tower on Mount Washington). The DJs, music and news were the same on both stations. But at break time, WOKQ advertised sponsors in Southern New Hampshire and WPKQ concentrated on Northern New Hampshire.
WPKQ now has its own DJs and music. But the two might still simulcast some late night and weekend hours.
WPKQ now has its own DJs and music. But the two might still simulcast some late night and weekend hours.
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