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All-Access : WLFP (94.1 The Wolf)/Memphis To Move To 99.7, 'Sunsetting' Hot AC WMC (FM 100)

RoddyFreeman said:
I too am baffled by this move. While all we see are the 6+ numbers, they are large enough that FM 100's demos have to be excellent. And WMC-FM's demo is an attractive one for advertisers.
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If the rumors I had heard are true, part of the reason this seems so baffling may be because this was a Plan B that wasn't ever supposed to happen. The rumblings I had heard were that Cumulus would contribute a station, or a few stations, in this deal and would ultimately end up with WLFP and WTSS. As Cumulus would've contributed an underperforming station in a much larger market and the intellectual property of both would've ended up with Cumulus, both Cumulus and Audacy would've also ended up with some additional cash.

The new CEO at EMF may have decided airing K-Love in said much larger market didn't make sense given its saturation with CCM stations and that it's one of Air 1's most successful markets.
 
speer360 said:
It originally had 515,000 watts!

They were licensed before the FCC standard was set.
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Yikes!

WMIT in Black Mountain I think had 75,000 watts. As high as its tower is (on a peak near Mt. Mitchell, hence the letters) I'm guessing the reduction to 36,000 watts was to give the station the equivalent of 100,000 watts at 2000 feet above average terrain.
 
All that wattage may not give them much more distance than 102.7, 104.5 and 105.9 especially these days with the FM dial so crowded, but it does give FM 100 more penetration into buildings. You could have the cheapest portable radio made and be in a bunker and 100 would come in clearly.
 
Does EMF only air K- Love radio formats or do they operate other formats? Seems like the state of Tennessee doesn’t know how to hold onto hot AC formats like other states do.
 
EMF only operates their religious music formats.
 
Horizontal Effective Radiated Power290,000 Watts
Vertical Effective Radiated Power96,000 Watts
Height above Avg. Terrain277 meters (909 feet)
Height above Ground Level287 meters (942 feet)
Height above Sea Level362 meters (1188 feet)
If you compare the Local dBa on the radio-locator maps you will see the difference is slight at best in signal distance from the transmitter. I am shocked they are giving up WMC call letters. But, not surprised.
 
This is a really dumb move! FM 100 bills better than the Wolf according to recent ratings found on the All Access site with a free login. Audacy should have cut the Wolf. Memphis already has enough country stations. If KLove is non commercial how is it making money buying all these stations? I will have to do a last web check.
 
icycool7227 said:
Why have a bigger coverage area for EMF when people can listen live online everywhere on the klove format?
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It's easier to get it on the radio than online. That's the same argument people use to ask "why does Coast to Coast AM have to be on my local station when listeners can get it on skywave from Des Moines, Louisville and Detroit? Because listeners want it on a local station
 
icycool7227 said:
This is a really dumb move! FM 100 bills better than the Wolf according to recent ratings found on the All Access site with a free login.
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AllAccess does not show billing. It shows ratings, not revenue. There are many cases of higher rated stations having lower billing than others with lesser ratings.
icycool7227 said:
Audacy should have cut the Wolf. Memphis already has enough country stations. If KLove is non commercial how is it making money buying all these stations? I will have to do a last web check.
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EMF, the owner of K-Love, is listener supported. They get enough in donations to run two national networks, buy more stations and to extend their local outreach programs.

The EMF owned stations are non-commercial.
 
briancraig said:
All that wattage may not give them much more distance than 102.7, 104.5 and 105.9 especially these days with the FM dial so crowded, but it does give FM 100 more penetration into buildings. You could have the cheapest portable radio made and be in a bunker and 100 would come in clearly.
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Where I used to live (in n.w. TN) 99.7 is now the frequency of a local translator station. Granted, not in FM 100's protected coverage area, but I used to listen to them from there all the time. Now, I'm not so sure if I could do that from out there anymore.
 
gr8oldies said:
It's easier to get it on the radio than online. That's the same argument people use to ask "why does Coast to Coast AM have to be on my local station when listeners can get it on skywave from Des Moines, Louisville and Detroit? Because listeners want it on a local station
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And stations have to fill (particularly overnight hours) with SOMETHING!
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
EMF only operates their religious music formats.
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Air-1 is the other one but it isn't on as many stations, or at least not strong ones.

It was more like CHR if K-Love could be considered AC, while now it is worship music, or what is played in contemporary worship services.
 
A few thoughts on the EMF side of the issue: I know that they'll be blamed by some for causing the loss of FM 100. But Audacy chose to sell 94.1 and EMF was able to buy it. It's also Audacy that is making the decision to kill FM 100, so they deserve the blame, not EMF. I actually wish EMF could have bought 98.9 instead, but that opportunity probably never happened.

The main purpose of EMF buying 94.1 is to improve the signal of Air 1 which is only on HD2 and a translator, and 96.1. I don't know whether it will end up on 94.1 or on 94.9 and move K-LOVE to 94.1. Where I live in Alamo both stations only have fringe signals at best. K-LOVE doesn't matter so much because they also have signals in Dyersburg and Selmer that I can receive with no problem. But the only other Air 1 signals receivable in West TN are from Union City and Bloomfield, MO in the NW corner of the state. But I wish they were still doing the Christian CHR format instead of the praise and worship format they do now.
 
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