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WNBM 103.9

R

Radio-Bored-Op

Cumulus has stated the exit of the market "was" happening; then CoViD did happen, putting those plans " on hold"

After big 'Rona is a non- factor, hopefully sooner than later, what will become of
WNBM. Curious to know of the coverage for the city in relation to the asking price -
( "asking " for a friend ) .... stay frosty.
 
Radio-Board-Op said:
the map shows it legit covering NY,
this isn't true ?
Click to expand...
The 65 dbu covers about 1/4 of the market population. And in areas with so much vertical real estate, a signal below 65 dbu is not going to be effective.

Remember, all this is the NYC market: Fairfield, CT Bergen, NJ Essex, NJ Hudson, NJ Middlesex, NJ Monmouth, NJ Morris, NJ Passaic, NJ Somerset, NJ Union, NJ Union, NJ Bronx, NY Kings, NY Nassau, NY New York, NY Putnam, NY Queens, NY Richmond, NY Rockland, NY Suffolk, NY Westchester, NY.

103.9 only covers a small portion. And with a relatively weak signal.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
Isn't Cumulus just hanging onto this station so they can claim to be clearing their syndicated Westwood shows in "New York"?
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Not really... they are doing an Urban AC format. That does not cover most of the Westwood product. They still have it because nobody wants to buy it.
 
Even WFUV 90.7, which broadcasts from the same location with far greater power, is weak in certain parts of the immediate area. 'FUV tries to counter that by using a booster, and rebroadcasting its morning show on WNYE 91.5.
With regard to classic hip hop, IIRC WNBM had been offering it on weekends, a few years ago. If that had been really popular, it seems reasonable to expect that the station would have flipped to the format full-time.
 
Depends on your definition of New York. The signal gets into the City, but does not cover the entire city, or the entire New York market.
"They still have it because nobody wants to buy it." I would add at their current asking price. Like everything else, it will sell at the right price.
 
Even if it was purchased an urban format is really the only format that would make sense given it's location. Incidentally despite what the contours show 103.9 comes in well in most of Manhattan barring west Chelsea and has a phenomenal signal in Brooklyn, Queens and far into NJ traveling south..obviously points north have no issues
 
Jeffrey said:
Even if it was purchased an urban format is really the only format that would make sense given it's location. Incidentally despite what the contours show 103.9 comes in well in most of Manhattan barring west Chelsea and has a phenomenal signal in Brooklyn, Queens and far into NJ traveling south..obviously points north have no issues
Click to expand...

I agree, their signal gets out a lot farther than people think. I have heard them loud and clear all the way south past exit 10 on the Turnpike. I also get them loud and clear in Morris County, NJ.
 
They come in loud and clear on the Taconic up to Jefferson Valley on any car radio especially as the terrain height increases. Is Cumulus actively selling WNBM?
 
WFUV 90.7, which broadcasts from the exact same location with much higher power, needs a booster and a morning simulcast on WNYE 91.5 to reach its audience, and still has signal issues in many parts of the area. So I'm very skeptical that WNBM has a good signal throughout most of the Metro area. A station may be received OK in a car, but can be unlistenable in an office or home.
 
There are parts of eastern Westchester...say I-684 heading north of White Plains...where 103.9 in Riverhead steps all over WNBM. Sure, there are spots where 103.9 works in NJ...just like there are places where NYC stations can be received way up in the Poconos. The point is, that it is a narrowly focused signal when compared to a full market signal. As Barry said, even the Class B signal from the same stick struggles to get decent coverage. A buyer of this signal would need to be pretty desperate, or have a well defined purpose. Buying it to have a NYC full market signal is not going to cut it.
 
ThePowerCow said:
So how did Cumulus end up with this station?
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It was part of a $219 million deal when Cumulus acquired Frank Osborne's Aurora Communications. Osborne also got warrants for about a million more Cumulus shares.
 
DavidEduardo said:
It was part of a $219 million deal when Cumulus acquired Frank Osborne's Aurora Communications. Osborne also got warrants for about a million more Cumulus shares.
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When acquired, it was actually a suburban White Plains station (WFAS-FM). Cumulus had the city of license changed to Bronxville and moved the transmitter to the Bronx. On paper, it wasn’t a terrible idea. We can see how it actually worked out in the real world.
 
Barry said:
WFUV 90.7, which broadcasts from the exact same location with much higher power, needs a booster and a morning simulcast on WNYE 91.5 to reach its audience, and still has signal issues in many parts of the area. So I'm very skeptical that WNBM has a good signal throughout most of the Metro area. A station may be received OK in a car, but can be unlistenable in an office or home.
Click to expand...
Agreed but my point was that while the signal has major challenges it covers outer boroughs very well. Infavt it's signal is clearer in downtown Brooklyn than Chelsea for example
 
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