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13 WMVO to Go Dark

T

The Diamond

End of an era................. Shame to have another AM go dark, but do understand...........

1300 AM to go off air​



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News release
Subject: Major change to 1300 WMVO-AM
Date: May 1, 2023

Over the last several years 1300 AM WMVO has experienced major engineering issues. In fact, 1300 AM has been on low power (25watts) for over two years. We spent tens of thousands of dollars consulting with multiple engineering firms conducting field work and extended research. We received multiple solutions costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to correct. Even after making the investment these firms could not guarantee 1300 AM WMVO would be back on the air at full power and within FCC rules and regulations. This put us at a crossroads. As you may know 1300 AM (parent) shares programming with 100.9FM (translator) both delivering the WMVO brand programming. There is a solution, but it required us to go HD. This meant turning 1300 AM off but keeping the same great programming on 100.9FM. The next step is to now share that same programming with both 100.9 FM (translator) and 93.7 HD-2 WQIO (new Parent). How does this work? WQIO has a new digital transmitter allowing us to broadcast multiple signals on the same frequency. In other words, like local TV stations we have 93.7 HD-1, 93.7 HD-2 93.7 HD-3 and so on. Making this switch made sense financially and is a real solution long-term taking WVMO into the future, which is now. So here is the lineup….
100.9 FM and 93.7 HD-2 (WMVO programming the same) Good Time Oldies! News, Sports
93.7 FM and HD1 – Biggest Hits of the 80’, 90’s and today!
So, we are about to make this move! You will also naturally be able to get wmvo.com on any digital device with our free streaming app. However, listeners will not hear any difference, as this moves WMVO into a new era of the digital world. It upgrades the technology, so it will be innovative. We are happy to have the opportunity to offer this modern technology to you. Over the next several months we will be featuring sixty-second features on WMVO that will help listeners understand more about HD & our HD2 signal at 100.9 FM. We believe with all our hearts that this was fully thought out, weighing all our options, and ultimately knowing and understanding that this is the best for the community, best for WMVO and its employees. Thank you so much. If we can answer any questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected] . Thank you all for being such loyal listeners to WMVO and we hope you will continue to do so.

TK
Tom Klein
BAS Broadcasting Inc
Owner/President/CEO
 
I'm a little surprised no actual date was given.
Also agree it's a shame to see this continue to happen, but clearly it's the smartest move going forward. There's not much to gain from a 25-watt station on 1300 or anywhere else on the dial.
 
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As I remember WMVO AM was a two tower directional. I'm surprised that can't be fixed. Is there more technical information to the story?
 
I can't add anything on the technical side, but yes WMVO is directional with a null toward Cleveland's WJMO (nee WERE).
The 100.9 signal probably amply covers the entire local area, including that which falls into WMVO's null. 93.7's HD2 signal probably will reach some of the Columbus area.
 
Without knowing the underlying cause of the pattern non-compliance, it’s difficult to tell if it was an untamable pattern or the need to replace equipment that would have made the pattern tameable but likely had little to any ROI. Someone who may have knowledge said they needed to replace a tower. If that’s the case, then they have largely said the ROI for AM isn’t there.

If the above is the real underlying situation, and the same has happened with other AM stations, while screaming AM is a necessary service ownership at the same time is treating the service differently.
 
Found myself up along I-71 near the Mount Gilead exit today around noon and remembered to check 1300 AM. Couldn't pull anything out, although if I turned the volume way up, it sounded like there was extremely faint co-channel interference. If WMVO is still on the air with only 25 watts, I might have been too far out to pick anything up. I also could have been hearing the last remnants of WJMO.
 
That would certainly explain it then.
I'm in or reasonably near Mount Vernon maybe three times a year (if that), and live far enough away that I wouldn't know whether they were silent or broadcasting with only 25 watts. With that low power that high on the dial, I wasn't sure I was hearing at 20 miles or so yesterday.
 
The tower is at their studio site so I fail to see how or why they couldn't resolve their issues but then again, I do not know all the details. (and all they really said was there issues and they couldn't cheaply fix them basically but did not go into details to what caused this) With that said clearly, they realize they can save money by killing off the AM and feeding the translator (which is likely where most listeners are anyways) via WQIO's HD-2. QIO and MVO are heavily automated/voice tracked anyways. They are not any more "local" then when they were owned by Clear Channel years ago. BAS utilizes automation as much as the near by iHeart cluster in Mansfield or Columbus does.
 
xmusicmatt said:
The tower is at their studio site so I fail to see how or why they couldn't resolve their issues but then again, I do not know all the details. (and all they really said was there issues and they couldn't cheaply fix them basically but did not go into details to what caused this) With that said clearly, they realize they can save money by killing off the AM and feeding the translator (which is likely where most listeners are anyways) via WQIO's HD-2. QIO and MVO are heavily automated/voice tracked anyways. They are not any more "local" then when they were owned by Clear Channel years ago. BAS utilizes automation as much as the near by iHeart cluster in Mansfield or Columbus does.
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I did not check, but some translators were granted with the provision that they had to retain association (rebroadcast) the underlying AM for a number of years. If this is one of those, they have to keep the AM on the air.
 
xmusicmatt said:
The tower is at their studio site so I fail to see how or why they couldn't resolve their issues but then again, I do not know all the details. (and all they really said was there issues and they couldn't cheaply fix them basically but did not go into details to what caused this)
Click to expand...
They've operated from the same studio/transmitter site since 1951. It is possible that the ground system simply fell apart due to a lack of maintenance, or something similar that would have rendered WMVO with being only able to have an output of 25 watts. AM 1470 in Toledo died largely due to the same issues of neglect over the course of time.
xmusicmatt said:
QIO and MVO are heavily automated/voice tracked anyways. They are not any more "local" then when they were owned by Clear Channel years ago. BAS utilizes automation as much as the near by iHeart cluster in Mansfield or Columbus does.
Click to expand...
They adopted the Waitt localized voice-tracking methods c. 2011? At least there's some attempt to have the far-away talent sound sorta close to home.
 
In a previous STA request, they blamed the problem not on the station's own towers, but rather "the upper/lower detuning skirts on a nearby tower that is causing reradiation effects to the 20 degree monitor point".
 
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