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New upstate station

@KyleSmith1988 there were indeed CP’s in the mid-late 00s to put WJMZ on the WROQ/WMYA tower and to move WHZT to a tower near the I-85/US-29 split near Piedmont, going very directional to the east at 93kw but nothing ever came of it. I’ve attached the 60dbu WHZT would have had and the 60dbu WJMZ would have had from fccdata.org.

The 94.1 translator simulcasting WJMZ-HD4 (WHZT) can’t be moved any further east as the translator’s 60dbu must remain inside the 60dbu of the originating station (WJMZ) except for non-comm stations.

99.5 is the highest antenna on the Paris Mtn. stick. 97.7 is below it, then 98.5. 105.9 and 107.7 translators are on the same stick. 94.1 hangs out over at the trash dump (literally) north of Greer on the WLTS 103.3 tower.

I realized earlier that this isn’t the first Star in the market. The 103s were briefly “Star 103” as all-80s around 2002.
 

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How far east can WJMZ move, if they were to do so? I was thinking about at least one of the full power signals consider moving to the nearly 1000 foot tall huge tower (SCETV - Former WRET-TV site) which is about 10 miles Southeast of Spartanburg, near the town of Pacolet.

97.5's Spartanburg Translator (W248DD) for WAHT-AM & WCCP, is already up there, and their signal easily makes it up to GVL, even with 97.7 nearby & adjacent...and at times I think 97.5 sounds better or stronger in parts of GVL, than the parent station 105.5 from Clemson...Nr only 250 Watts, it pretty much eliminates almost any chance of listening to WCOS from Columbia in this area.

I think the redundant 98.3 Translator for WSPG-AM has (or had) a CP to move up there as well, hut AFAIK, they Haven't...Well it's 99% duplicate / Simulcasting the programming (still!) From / of WROO 104.9 also from GVL, whose signal does a but better, reaching a few miles further, than the Summit Translators on 98.5 / 99.5. ... Maybe Summit would consider making a trade / deal with "👀 ❤️ 📻" (Ihart) for the Stale-Neglect / Man "Down" 😅 Signal of 104.9 ... Perhaps A Swap Witn 98.5 in GVL Makes Alotta Sense for Both Companies (It Would Put the Rock Format back on there, X104.9 ... Finally "Manning" Up Once Again 🤣🤠) ... It Would Be A Complement to their "Beloved" Brand Child FoxPorts (Man "Down" / Zombie), while also already on 98.3 in SPG, adding 98.5 would be cool for the 0.2 share they enjoy,...but that setup would be more competitive / like the 97.1 & 97.7 Upstate "Fan-less" Signals also Carrying Sports, Already do.


Tho I'm not a big sports fan, or Southern Rooted, I (This Dam Yankee ⚾😂) Would Rather Hear Live NY Yankees Baseball Games, on one of those many Sports Stations, not ATL Braves, tho I know its kinda Semi Local, closest Baseball Team, but still almost 200 Miles Away...I Guess I'm so used to listening to the AM Signals in NYC, 660/770/880, at night via Skywave, even tho the few distant listeners aren't their priority, I guess affiliated broadcasts are tough or impossible/not important when this far fom home, I guess...TV or Radio...🤠🤔🤷‍♂️😅 But it least maybe some acknowledgment of distant former locals, yet still loyal listeners, is a good thing (QL Cards?) ...Well I think...Anything is better, than Always Being Stuck With Too Much / Too Many Big Tigers/ Cox 🐅🐓🏈😂🤔 Everywhere ..Oh My😅😮 .. Very Over-Saturated in this area, and perhaps also Over-Stimulated as well 🤔😂 (referring to their programing & attitude of the Sportscasters.) It reminds me of the Talkers on WORD - Especially after/since moving to 98.9..Well Heck, even since they gave up on AM & took their Flavor with them to FM many years ago even on 106.3...(Can't believe they still do [Wanna?] call themselves WORD, instead of their Namesake...I mean Perhaps, Phonetic / Callsign of WYRD (They're Usually Very Wired) 🤔😂 ... If they like their Label "WORD" so much, then why not Take that Callsign from their competition Salem, using WORD on one of their Talk Stations in Pennsylvania (there's also a WURD -AM in Philly as well. 😅 or...Put Temselves back to where they came from - to their amazing starting location, yes, where they left their WORD for the World....WORD-Less And became "Weird" in the process ... Searching for News that wasn't New Enough, Becoming Old Again So Quickly in the Process, which Took a Bunch of Other Stations Away the process...Like Magic/Awesome/Answer/Earth FM...
 
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Summit is cross promoting Star on their other stations. Smart move. They have a good mix of Christmas music. A few novelties, “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas” and “Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer” but quite broad based and not desperate sounding like Magic was. I like the imaging as well.

I’ll be curious to see when the segue to AC happens (on the iHeart app, it already has the non-Christmas logo and “80s to today” as the slogan). Will they do a flip to AC right at 12:01 on 12/26, like most stations - or all the way to New Years (or after) like Magic’s later years? A few years ago I remember Magic started on November 1st and went all the way to the first Monday after New Years.

Unlikely, but it’d be ironic but fitting if the first non-Christmas song was Lifehouse’s “You and Me.”
 
So, I tuned in this morning to just see what they were doing. (Actually, I streamed it on Tune-in.) I pressed play at 7:16 am. It's now 7:23 am and they are STILL running commercials.

Okay, they now ran a sweeper "now back to the music."

That's insane! I'm done. What another wasted signal by a big media company. They couldn't suck it up and do some promotion to run.....oh, I don't know.... 99 songs in a row. Or commercial free through Jan 2?
 
The Murphy Sam and Jodi show has a heavy spot load. Listening now, I hear about 5-6 minute stops twice an hour. Hot and X run heavy ad loads too, but none of them seem any different than at least iHeart's stations in the market.

Music mix is good. Fresher than Magic was in its later years, more music from the 90s and 00s that Magic had forgotten. Not extremely aggressive with new stuff, seems to be a decent balance. I don't think it's a waste considering they're doing something other than being the third hip hop station in the market or the fourth or whatever classic hits station in the market. They're playing songs nobody else in the market is playing.
 
The music pitching on 99.5 is a bit interesting, especially for an AC. I grabbed a bit of the 8pm hour and the 9pm hour, here’s a music sample:

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are
Michael Jackson - Bad
Jelly Roll - I Am Not Okay
Green Day - Good Riddance
Fergie - Big Girls Don’t Cry
Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits
Tom Petty - Free Fallin
Katy Perry - Firework
Benson Boone - Beautiful Things
Shakira - Whenever, Wherever
Savage Garden - Truly Madly Deeply
Charlie Puth - See You Again
U2 - With or Without You
Elton John / Dua Lipa - Cold Heart
Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved
Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight
Justin Bieber - Let Me Love You
Wilson Phillips - Hold On
Michael Jackson - Human Nature
Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

May just be me, but also seems a bit softer than Magic did. Speaking of Magic, they’re still rolling with all Christmas 🤣
 
That playlist @101tm is definitely fresher than anything Magic had in its final years. Looks like a good mix of the new and old favorites.

Softer could work if done well. Playing some slow Chicago song or Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ at 8AM on a Monday morning is an egregious mistake both Magic and WMFX 102.5 in Columbia committed.
 
The Tempo & Pitch of Music on Star 99.5 is Noticeably Much Higher & Faster than Normal. (At least 3%). I Really don't like that ... Especially for too long; some songs just sound terrible ... Otherwise, Their Online Streaming Quality is ok ...
 
I tend to notice the pitching on some songs a lot more than others. I heard “The Reason” by Hoobastank and “Too Sweet” by Hozier earlier and it sounded really abnormal. Some songs I don’t notice it at all unless I’m listening for it. The last station in the market I know of that obviously pitched is WMYI back in the 2010s when they took on a more hot AC sound. I’m not sure why Star would be doing it?

Kiss 95.1 in Charlotte has been notorious for pitching for a long time.

That aside, I listened while out and about most of the time today. Music mix is good, still way better than what Magic did in this decade. I’ve heard a number of songs and thought “wow, I haven’t heard that since Magic played it years ago.” I like they play a few more new hits too. Just surprised it took this long for them to do this. I would have done it in April (I think I suggested that…).
 
101tm said:
I tend to notice the pitching on some songs a lot more than others. I heard “The Reason” by Hoobastank and “Too Sweet” by Hozier earlier and it sounded really abnormal. Some songs I don’t notice it at all unless I’m listening for it. The last station in the market I know of that obviously pitched is WMYI back in the 2010s when they took on a more hot AC sound. I’m not sure why Star would be doing it?

Kiss 95.1 in Charlotte has been notorious for pitching for a long time.

That aside, I listened while out and about most of the time today. Music mix is good, still way better than what Magic did in this decade. I’ve heard a number of songs and thought “wow, I haven’t heard that since Magic played it years ago.” I like they play a few more new hits too. Just surprised it took this long for them to do this. I would have done it in April (I think I suggested that…).
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To answer your question about the pitching, I believe Summit does that with all of their stations. In Knoxville at least. They even do it with the classic rocker. Do they do that with the other stations in the Upstate? Haven't been thru in a while.
 
Ktownradioman said:
To answer your question about the pitching, I believe Summit does that with all of their stations. In Knoxville at least. They even do it with the classic rocker. Do they do that with the other stations in the Upstate? Haven't been thru in a while.
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X98.5 sounds slightly pitched, but it’s not as noticeable as Star IMO. Same for Hot 98.1. I’m not familiar with much of what WJMZ plays to tell, but maybe it’s so obvious on Star because the songs are so familiar. I do know Summit is very top down and most stations are programmed (and basically run) out of market. Star 99.5 uses the exact same playlist as Star 104.5 in Omaha, and their Classic Rock stations all do too. Ditto for Hot 98.1 in Greenville and Hot 104.5 in Knox.
 
pitching has been around since the early 80s and as pointed out can get out of hand. it is not nearly as egregious as fast talking or drone hum to bury disclamers on car dealer spots. surprised that is still allowed.
 
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