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WORD to 98.9, Magic to 106.3

vchimpanzee said:
They shouldn't come to Charlotte. We already have What-a-Burger and if they try to locate here they're going to have problems.

Unless it's the same chain that's already here, which I doubt from your description.
Click to expand...

Different chain from what you think:

amp.charlotteobserver.com

Is a Whataburger opening in Charlotte? Here’s what we know.

The Texas-based chain with a strong fan base has been expanding to new markets.
amp.charlotteobserver.com amp.charlotteobserver.com

www.wcnc.com

A possible Whataburger in Charlotte has residents drooling

Plans have been submitted to the city to bring the Texas burger chain to the Tyvola Square shopping center in south Charlotte.
www.wcnc.com www.wcnc.com
 
genius said:
Did Audacy even do a good and effective of advertising the change? Reason I ask I saw the other day in a Facebook group there was some confusion over what happened to both stations, as a few confused listeners thought both stations had folded 😂.

Hopefully that’s just an isolated case but still strange. Someone else contacted us as they were confused why Magic’s “new morning show” was being so hateful (gee I can only imagine) and we politely told them about the change to wish they were thankful as they had no idea about the change and had taken 98.9 off their radio settings 🤣
Click to expand...
I felt like WYRD promoted it on air during commercial breaks, but that was it really other than social media. Magic ran that one 30 second spot per hour about moving, both didn’t really promote it a lot on air between the initial announcement and then on the day before the switch. It’s just a tough thing to do well at all, considering how different the stations and their formats are. I didn’t feel like the Magic DJ’s really mentioned it all, I’m not sure about WORD.
Also, 106.3 has been news/talk for most of its existence in the market so a lot of people don’t think of it as a music station. It moved in to the market in 2002 and other than the quick stint as Charlie FM from 2007-2008 has been talk since 2006. And before that, a low rated Christian station for a year or so. So I would bet a lot of the Magic listeners never listened to 106.3 regularly or paid attention to it.
 
Regarding 106.3 I wanted to add I hope Audacy puts it in HD. After 101.1 and 103.9 switched to HD in 2020 there are very few FM’s left in the market that aren’t other than some of the religious stations, of course the translators, 90.1 (SCPR only has one signal in HD), 98.1 (I’m not sure why this facility never got upgraded in the Cox days), 103.3 (HD on an A isn’t going to get out that far) and 106.3 which has been a talk station since most upgraded. There is definitely an upgrade in sound quality when the HD signals lock in, at least in the vehicles I’ve had.

The audio processing issue has been resolved on 106.3 but I wonder if part of the problem with 98.9 HD2 sounding bad is it’s in mono? It seems to be slightly better sounding but not great. I don’t think HD overrides mono because the carrier for 98.9 was turned off yet it’s still in HD.
 
KyleAndMelissa22 said:
106.3 makes sense for an HD upgrade,
but for Earth FM 94.5 HD-2 takes care of that.
Same for 98.1 on Jamz HD-4
Click to expand...
True, but the secondary HD channels don’t have the sound quality/bitrate of the primary. Earth FM and Hot 98.1 still sound better on their main signals in analog than the lower bitrate they seem to be running on those HD sub frequencies
 
vchimpanzee said:
Maybe the mountains there blocked it but I'm surprised. Now that I think of it the tower was farther north, I think right off I-40 on one of those mountains, at the time I heard the station west of Asheville.
Click to expand...
WXRC (95.7 The Ride) DID have a tower in eastern Burke County on a mountain near Valdese from 1986 through maybe 1990? No, it wasn't in Burke County too long. Then it moved to its present location just west of Denver in eastern Lincoln County.
 
eacalhoun1 said:
WXRC (95.7 The Ride) DID have a tower in eastern Burke County on a mountain near Valdese from 1986 through maybe 1990? No, it wasn't in Burke County too long. Then it moved to its present location just west of Denver in eastern Lincoln County.
Click to expand...
I'm going to look it up because one of the libraries I go to gives me access.

Didn't need to but I made improvements to Wikipedia anyway. The article had it wrong that WXRC was top ten for more than a year. Once WRFX came along, they were out of the running.

But there were good sources already stating when the tower was moved. It was actually 1985, about the time the station switched to rock. None of the Charlotte FMs were doing rock, but one little daytime AM was doing well with it and listeners protested when it changed. But it had to!
 
Maybe 103.3 / 95.9 can upgrade to HD but it won't reach far, maybe after 95.9 moves to 95.5 it might make sense, but then 103.3 should upgrade their signal further east as well.
 
KyleAndMelissa22 said:
Maybe 103.3 / 95.9 can upgrade to HD but it won't reach far, maybe after 95.9 moves to 95.5 it might make sense, but then 103.3 should upgrade their signal further east as well.
Click to expand...
I’ve noticed the WJMZ HD channels sound the best. WGTK’s have a metallic/tin-like sound and the bitrate sounds lower. X and Awesome don’t promote being on 107.3’s HD’s at all other than ID’ing WJMZ, but 103.3 advertises 94.5 HD2. People like to say “nobody has HD radio” but it’s more common than many think. It shouldn’t be totally shunned.
 
https://ratings.****************/content/arb191

Latest 12+ for March. Magic was down, and WORD was slightly up - both were still on their former frequencies for the majority of that period and still within their normal ranges. I couldn’t help but notice 94.5 hit a 3 share which is the highest I remember ever seeing them be. I wonder if some of that could be from displayed WORD listeners scanning around after the format change?

The Planet and The Block are both not doing well for Audacy at all.
 
101tm said:
I’ve noticed the WJMZ HD channels sound the best. WGTK’s have a metallic/tin-like sound and the bitrate sounds lower. X and Awesome don’t promote being on 107.3’s HD’s at all other than ID’ing WJMZ, but 103.3 advertises 94.5 HD2. People like to say “nobody has HD radio” but it’s more common than many think. It shouldn’t be totally shunned.
Click to expand...
I think HD Radio may be more common in more car radios by default, but there are still limited choices for a home radio. Mainly several Sangean models. I have a Sangean, a Sparc radio from Amazon, and an older Accurian from Radioshack. There may still be a portable Insignia model at Best Buy. They need to be marketed and promoted better. I have rabbit ears connected and it pulls in all the HD Radio signals from Charlotte at my location in Spartanburg County, which is nice for listening to WBT on 107.9-HD2 and 99.3, and WFNZ sports radio on 107.9-HD3.
 
vchimpanzee said:
They shouldn't come to Charlotte. We already have What-a-Burger and if they try to locate here they're going to have problems.

Unless it's the same chain that's already here, which I doubt from your description.
Click to expand...
There is a local What-A Burger chain around Concord and Kannapolis which has been popular for decades, with the burgers, onion rings, crinkle cut fries and Cherry Lemon Sundrop. I know and remember it fondly. The newly expanding Whataburger also has a very devoted following and is expanding from Texas.
 
101tm said:
https://ratings.****************/content/arb191

Latest 12+ for March. Magic was down, and WORD was slightly up - both were still on their former frequencies for the majority of that period and still within their normal ranges. I couldn’t help but notice 94.5 hit a 3 share which is the highest I remember ever seeing them be. I wonder if some of that could be from displayed WORD listeners scanning around after the format change?

The Planet and The Block are both not doing well for Audacy at all.
Click to expand...
The Block needs to be running a different morning show in my opinion. Steve Harvey is older leaning. They need to switch to Dede In The Morning. I suspect their new competition "Streetz 99.5" will be picking up The Morning Hustle.
 
bmasters1981 said:
I'd like to read about those protests-- where did you find such things?
Click to expand...
I don't know that it was really fun to read. If this is available anywhere online,

"Mike Vassy takes a call during his radio show recently. WSPA change strands older listeners," Herald-Journal, April 13, 1991.

That's all I can legally do. I might be able to post some brief quotes.

Otherwise, you have to have access to one of the sources. I have a library card that grants me access.
 
It's not in GSP, but as if its an ironic coincidence,
The Planet just landed on 106.3
(in Cape May NJ - WJSE)

radioinsight.com

WJSE Relaunches As Planet 106.3

Regional Media has relaunched Alternative 106.3 WJSE North Cape May NJ as "Planet 106.3". The new brand was developed by
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

Would also be nice if The Planet (WTPT) lands on 106.3 in GSP and swaps with Magic (WSPA) to 93.3
 
KyleAndMelissa22 said:
It's not in GSP, but as if its an ironic coincidence,
The Planet just landed on 106.3
(in Cape May NJ - WJSE)

radioinsight.com

WJSE Relaunches As Planet 106.3

Regional Media has relaunched Alternative 106.3 WJSE North Cape May NJ as "Planet 106.3". The new brand was developed by
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

Would also be nice if The Planet (WTPT) lands on 106.3 in GSP and swaps with Magic (WSPA) to 93.3
Click to expand...
They should have put WORD on 93.3, Planet on 106.3 and Magic left alone. All I can think is the morning show May bring in $$$ and ratings since it’s popular enough for Audacy to carry it on other rock stations now.

I’m disappointed Audacy hasn’t apparently made any effort to put WSPA-FM in HD. The new WLTE is in HD, WSHP and WROQ added HD in 2020, and WRTH is planning to add HD eventually. WEPR, WHZT and WSPA-FM are the only stations in the market seemingly with no HD plans. The initial audio problems with 106.3 were improved but it still doesn’t sound very good, 103.3 and even the 96.9, 98.5 and 99.5 translators in analog sound much better. 106.3 just sounds off.
 
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