Not exactly my cup of tea (a little too soft rock for me at times) but I was impressed to hear Star 94.1 playing in a White Castle as their choice for muzak! Always a big fan when a business opts to play radio instead of Sirius or other choices and happy to see a smaller signal get some love.
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Star 94.1 Columbus
- Thread starter xmusicmatt
- Start date
Use to be a sign a station was doing something right when a business had them on. On a side rant, can't believe the FCC gave North American a translator for 103.9. Even if it was licensed when the transmitter was in Westerville, ridiculous. Also ridiculous the city of license for 103.9 is Worthington, and they're on a tower west/southwest of Columbus, probably closer to West Jefferson, where they were denied a permit to move to if memory serves. Maybe it was originally issued for 920 AM, broadcasters are good at manipulating the FCC these days. Saga should be complaining to the FCC with 94.1 being close to 94.7, and on the same tower to boot.
As long as the translator doesn't mess with the 60 db of a regular FM. No harm No foul.
BTW IIRC if the translator was a class A FM the 3 channel spacing to a class B is only 9 miles.
There are some misunderstandings here.
First, the FCC can't restrict the choice of primary station for a translator. If it's licensed as a fill-in translator and the 60 dBu of the translator is contained within the 60 of the proposed primary station, it meets the rules. If it's a non-fill-in translator, it can have any primary so long as there's not common ownership between the primary and the translator. (And so long as the primary can be received off-air if the translator is in the commercial band.)
It's now very common for translators to have their coverage centered on the primary station's signal, because the use of HD subchannels to feed the translator is accepted and normal.
103.9's COL as Worthington is also within the rules as long as the 70 dBu contour covers Worthington, which it does.
It's also perfectly normal and acceptable to have a translator on a second- or third-adjacent channel to a full-power station in the market. There's a fairly simple showing of non-interference based on ratio of desired to undesired signal over population. I've done dozens of these over the years and haven't had one denied yet.
No misunderstanding here. I didn't say North American was not within the rules. They have used the rules to the best of their benefit (what I called manipulating earlier). I just voiced my dislike that a broadcaster with Class B and Class A FM signals in the heart of Central Ohio is allowed to fire up a third signal, (acknowledging it's a low power one,) with its transmitter in the same vicinity.
You might really dislike US FM if the current third channel protection goes away. Lance knows more about this than I do, but there are several old FMs that are grandfathered (I know that word has PC issues but this ain't Louisiana) that allows 2 100KW FMs only 3 channels apart like in Atlanta 95.5 and 96.1. The industry has been promised some more deregulation. It wouldn't surprise me if the Third FM channel protection goes away along with an increase in ownership numbers in markets.
I too thought Westerville was a better location. The homes covered had more $$$. But the west side location gives it the potential for more ears.
Yeah, sounds like a recipe to lose more listeners when you can't drive far before you start losing your station due to interference from another.
I live over 60 miles from the 2 Atlanta C's only 3 channels away from each other. Both 96.1 and 95.5 do not and to the best of my knowledge have not interfered with each other, even in downtown where you can see both towers.
I don't exactly the history of 3nd channel protection but I do believe it was for the old analog TUBE tuners.
IMHO any car radio made in the last 30 years with a digital readout can handle 3rd adjacent channels easily.
Apparently, they know what they're doing. WJKR just set an all-time record high rating in the numbers released today...