I understand that being talk WNIR has no need for a stereo signal. I'm just wondering that if their transmitter is capable of broadcasting in stereo or would it have to be replaced if someone bought the station....not even sure what a radio station transmitter costs nowadays.
-
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
What Is Going On At WNIR
- Thread starter fayfare
- Start date
As did CKLW in their final years as a hit music station in the early 80s. Doubt it remained when they switched to Big Band music in the Mid-80s or when they went to their current Talk Radio format.
I had a used Pontiac in the late 80s that had an AM Stereo in it, but I don't ever think I heard any AM Stereo music formats by that time.
Re: WNIR having a more stronger signal using FM Mono: I believe they were limited in their coverage area, with at least another 100.1 FM down in the Mansfield area. It *might* have helped their signal in their fringe areas south and west of Akron.
Would that be WSWR? Both stations "fringe" signal overlaps a bit just to the southwest for WNIR and for WSWR it would be to their northeast.
I haven't been listening in the afternoons lately but I did tune in today and it was really weird because it sort of sounded like Couch but it didn't, and I couldn't figure out who it was. But at the end (signoff) he said it was him (Couch). So I wondered if he was doing the show remote?
Bill Hall took over the night time spot that Jim Isabella had, but it only lasted a couple months. I assumed he agreed to take the spot permanently but after doing it for a while, decided it wasn't for him. A few months ago I happened to stumble upon his and Joey's estate sale online. They were selling some really cool memorabilia. I hope Bill Hall is ok--maybe they decided to just sell everything and move to the beach.
Really bummed about what's going on at WNIR. I like that channel and listen every day. Don't know what happened to Isabella...I still wonder what happened to Angela. All I could get from her FB page is she had some medical problems. Then she came back briefly, and I remember listening to her the last day she was there. I think she was reading a spot and she all of a sudden seemed to be unable to speak coherently. I've never heard anything like it on the radio, and I've been listening to radio for a long time. It sounded to me as if she had a stroke. It was kind of scary. Then she disappeared from the station.
EMF comes to mind right away. They already bought full-power 90.9 in Wooster and have been adding several translators for K-Love, including one in Hinckley (it formerly relayed WGAR but was moved to the non-comm side) and 90.7 in Wadsworth.
Is that translator you mentioned the one that's on 101.7 that's been messing with my reception of WHOF for the last several years? I'm surprised it was allowed to overlap so much with them, but then again, iHeart likely signed on that repeater, and WHOF is also iHeart as well, so they probably consented to the interference. Another such case was when 106.1 signed on in Cleveland, which wiped out my reception of WBBG from Youngstown.
If WNIR ever gets sold, I hope some local operator buys it and puts a decent music format on it. Soft AC or oldies.
One that's similar to the old Soft Rock 102.1 and My 101.7, ranging from the 70s to late 2000s.
WAKR's soft hits fills in the soft AC format void as well, but its signal is mostly limited to the Akron area, and they have more variety when it comes to softer songs from the 70s & 80s, with nothing really going beyond that. Not that this is a bad thing, but I do like some songs from the 90s and 00s as well.
Could WNIR end up with more syndicated product if more local personalities leave?
Never really been the Kluas M.O. to go to heavy on syndicated stuff...being local is what makes WNIR WNIR.
Can you believe this is actually Couch Burner's 10th anniversary on the station, after coming in as the replacement for the late Howie Chizek.
They can say 90.7 is in Wadsworth but it's not even close. The antenna is located in Akron on the Akron/Norton border, on the same tower that houses antenna for 91.3 The Summit, the FM signal for WAKR & WONE, W237BL-FM 102.5 [Air1]......AKA WKDD HD-2, and the antenna for WVPX until it moved across the street to the old WDLI tower.
The only operators who seem to be buying radio stations these days are religious groups. Sooner or later WNIR will be sold and you can bet that it will probably go to a religious group.
I don't think it will. There might be enough independent radio groups out there that might take a crack at it [RCRG?] if it went up for sale. But then again, the religious groups wouldn't care what it costs them. After all, it's not their money they're giving away. And whomever buys them are sorta stuck with the wattage they have since there's a 100.1 WSWR down in Shelby and both their "fringe"signals overlap so no wattage increase would be possible.
RCRG does not need any more stations for the Akron market. Plus it may push them over the market cap, I don't know. Nevertheless, it remains a fact that religious groups are buying up stations all over the country with their deep pockets of God money. And the Akron market is ripe for the picking. As far as the WNIR signal is concerned, it covers the Akron Nielsen market (Summit and Portage counties) just fine and that is the orbit in which an Akron station operates. I will point out that WONE and WKDD, with full power, barely make a blip in the Cleveland ratings. They sell the Akron book.
Maybe let RCRG decide if they need more stations. One thing they could do is throw in the towel on WAKR AM and the FM translator and purchase WNIR and move the format there although I think it would need a major refresh and update of the "Soft Hits" format. WKDD probably doesn't give a crap about Cleveland ratings because iheart already has stations there so either way they're getting the ad dollars [what little is left] anyways. WNCX is a legacy Classic Rock [since 87] station in Cleveland that has [or had] all of the most well known personalities in the area for decades that people are familiar with. With the retirement of Jeff Kinzbach, the only two I know are Tim Daugherty, who has been there since Day 1, & Kathy Vogel on WONE [since Jan 1 1985, so Happy late Birthday].
As far as station ownership limits, this from the FCC:
- In a radio market with 45 or more stations, an entity may own up to eight radio stations, no more than five of which may be in the same service (AM or FM).
- In a radio market with between 30 and 44 radio stations, an entity may own up to seven radio stations, no more than four of which may be in the same service.
- In a radio market hosting between 15 and 29 radio stations, an entity may own up to six radio stations, no more than four of which may be in the same service.
- In a radio market with 14 or fewer radio stations, an entity may own up to five radio stations, no more than three of which may be in the same service, as long as the entity does not own more than 50 percent of all radio stations in that market.
radiofollower: these radio stations are for sale to anybody. It's these religious groups that are stepping up and laying down the cash. You complain about it. Maybe instead of complaining, you work in finding others and form a company that buys stations and run them as secular stations? With all the religious stations it's sure easier to get the advertising because that religious station no longer needs their share of the advertising pie.
Never complained about religious groups buying up stations. Simply stating the fact that religious groups seems to be just about the only groups aggressively pursuing radio station purchases these days, since they often are flushed with cash from supporters.
"WKDD probably doesn't give a crap about Cleveland ratings" Yes, that's essentially what I said in response to the statement that WNIR has a limited signal. It is not limited in terms of how Akron stations sell advertising. WNIR covers the Akron Nielsen book (Portage and Summit counties) just fine. WONE and WKDD probably wouldn't lose a single ad dollar if they had the geographic coverage of WNIR.
Last edited:
For many, if not most, religious groups, it's more about getting their Spiritual message out than just buying radio stations because they are flushed with cash from supporters.
Additionally, they have business partners (advertisers?) who donate/buy time and get what is, essentially, commercials on-the-air.
I listen some to WCCR (Cleveland Catholic Radio). Recently on one of their syndicated programs, the live hosts were talking about how Catholic radio is not as far along as is Protestant radio. I took that to mean that Catholic radio needs to grow, presumably with bigger signals and more stations.
The Christian broadcasters are helping to keep AM radio alive, although that's not their expressed mission.1x6
- Status