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WLOS Channel 13 Moves To Pinnacle Mountain

Yeah, Charlotte is deep in a null of their directional antenna.

WNCW on 88.7 does ok here in the Gaffney area despite the somewhat stronger adjacent signal on WNSC 88.9. Spindale ain't too far, neither is Rock Hill.

Decent signal on 88.7 down to Greenville,
yet 88.9 starts to get weak going thru Spartanburg.
 
When Sinclair proposed the move to Pinnacle, it found that only 272 people in Union County, Georgia, would be left without coverage from an ABC affiliate on a contour basis. WATE-TV and WJHL-TV serve the remainder.
I remember WATE being NBC. But I think I remember a change to another network. For WJHL, I don't. It was CBS.
WLOS had longstanding issues with coverage in South Carolina. In the 1990s it ran what is now WMYA as a semi-satellite and briefly gave it a South Carolina–specific 6pm newscast.
WAIM was ABC and CBS when I was in the area where TV Guide included Greenville.
 
WLOS can now be received much better in Spartanburg County on RF13. But in many areas you can also pull in ABC on WSOC-TV Channel 9 from Charlotte. Either their main RF19 signal or their Crowder's Mountain translator on RF12. At my location, I receive both WSOC signals. But it requires a bit of strategic work for optimum antenna placement and possible use of an amplifier. The other Charlotte signals are much stronger, blasting in full strength just like a true local channel. Most notably WBTV channel 3, WJZY channel 46, and WCNC channel 36. A bit ironic that WSOC's secondary station WAXN-TV64 is stronger than the main Channel 9 signal. But this is because they share the same strong signal as WBTV, as part of the NextGen TV lighthouse agreement.
 
There has been a letter to the editor in the Citizen-Times from one person in Weaverville who tried rescanning and moving the antenna, and it didn't work. The person said WLOS made a "monumental mistake" and they will lose viewers. It was the only station after Helene.
 
There has been a letter to the editor in the Citizen-Times from one person in Weaverville who tried rescanning and moving the antenna, and it didn't work. The person said WLOS made a "monumental mistake" and they will lose viewers.
That's entirely possible.

It was the only station after Helene.

By only, that mean the first? If that be the case, I can believe it, on the TV side anyway. Taking it a step further, given that only means first (just guessing that), who was the only/first on the radio side of things?
 
Frankly 570/99.9 was doing a better job in the days after Helene than anyone else, including WLOS.

Could the iHM of July 2026 do it again? I don’t know. But it’s disingenuous to say WLOS was “it” after Helene.
 
Frankly 570/99.9 was doing a better job in the days after Helene than anyone else, including WLOS.
I know 570 had a good rep years ago, unsure if that has continued over the years. Edit, IDK about 99.9's reputation, but personally always thought it strange for them to be licensed to Old Fort. Maybe I'm missing something where that's concerned

Could the iHM of July 2026 do it again? I don’t know. But it’s disingenuous to say WLOS was “it” after Helene.

IHM? Pardon me, but what does that abbreviation mean?
 
iHM = iHeartMedia

In the days following Helene, the Asheville iHeart cluster simulcasted, led by WWNC and WKSF, and did an amazing job covering the situation and keeping folks up to date. With how badly iHeartMedia has decimated the company’s personnel now I don’t know if they could manage this again.


WKSF is licensed to Old Fort so that iHeart could move something else with lower power closer in to Asheville. I think it was 104.9, now 105.1. It was originally licensed to Old Fort but with its lower power couldn’t move closer to Asheville and still city-grade Old Fort. WKSF’s massive coverage from Pisgah can easily provide city-grade coverage to Old Fort. They just needed to keep *something* licensed to Old Fort.

Community of license is generally meaningless these days.
 
iHM = iHeartMedia

In the days following Helene, the Asheville iHeart cluster simulcasted, led by WWNC and WKSF, and did an amazing job covering the situation and keeping folks up to date. With how badly iHeartMedia has decimated the company’s personnel now I don’t know if they could manage this again.


WKSF is licensed to Old Fort so that iHeart could move something else with lower power closer in to Asheville. I think it was 104.9, now 105.1. It was originally licensed to Old Fort but with its lower power couldn’t move closer to Asheville and still city-grade Old Fort. WKSF’s massive coverage from Pisgah can easily provide city-grade coverage to Old Fort. They just needed to keep *something* licensed to Old Fort.

Community of license is generally meaningless these days.


Gotcha, thanks for the clarification and info. I should-a-thought through the abbreviation and context. I thought 'KSF had been licensed to Old Fort for years, got the move-in. You're probably right, re: COL and to be perfectly honest, at least, the way I see it, most stations, especially the ones owned by these big conglomerates, don't serve their COLs, the way they should be served, live, local, etc.
 
Frankly 570/99.9 was doing a better job in the days after Helene than anyone else, including WLOS.

Could the iHM of July 2026 do it again? I don’t know. But it’s disingenuous to say WLOS was “it” after Helene.
For TV. The letter to the editor didn't mention radio was also an option.

Quoting the letter:
WLOS was the only signal following Helene. Moving their transmitter to Pinnacle Mountain has proved to be a monumental mistake! Even if they re-aim their antennas, they likely will not regain the viewers or their market share!
 
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iHM = iHeartMedia

In the days following Helene, the Asheville iHeart cluster simulcasted, led by WWNC and WKSF, and did an amazing job covering the situation and keeping folks up to date. With how badly iHeartMedia has decimated the company’s personnel now I don’t know if they could manage this again.


WKSF is licensed to Old Fort so that iHeart could move something else with lower power closer in to Asheville. I think it was 104.9, now 105.1. It was originally licensed to Old Fort but with its lower power couldn’t move closer to Asheville and still city-grade Old Fort. WKSF’s massive coverage from Pisgah can easily provide city-grade coverage to Old Fort. They just needed to keep *something* licensed to Old Fort.

Community of license is generally meaningless these days.
WQNQ is the station that was licensed to Old Fort. It was soft AC WDLF "Delightful". Then it got paired with WQNS, which was at 104.9 and on Chambers Mountain near Clyde. WQNS was a country station licensed to Waynesville and hard to hear in Asheville with its 100-watt signal which, as high is the tower was, probably was the equivalent of 3000 watts. I remember it was classic rock the last time my father and I shared a motel room, which was 1998. Country had moved to the AM.

WQNS and WQNQ simulcast the classic rock format eventually and became known as Rock 104. But at some point WQNQ went out on its own and became CHR. WQNS took advantage of changes on other frequencies and moved closer to Asheville.
 


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