106.3 translator suspended operation (for now)

[fybush]

It could translate Thunder 106.5 on 106.3. Since it's owned by a different company, it can translate a station outside its coverage area (like they did for Party 105). Thunder would feed them audio to keep it synched with WKMK.

Not quite that easy. A translator in the commercial part of the dial (92.1-107.9) has to be fed over the air, so you can't send it a direct feed from 106.5. But as another poster noted, you could feed 106.5 audio to a NYC station's HD2 and then run that HD2's audio on the translator.

 

[ansky212]

It must be easier to sell for the company somehow I am guessing. Can anyone see country being a easier seller then alternative in the market Thunder can be heard in?

Potentially yes, because I think alternative rock is much more of a niche format than country. Plus you already have WRXP, WAXQ, and WRAT playing rock music in that area. There is no other station for country so you have a monopoly on that format.

 

[DToTheJ]

Let's not forget about the move-in of WFAS or WFAF or whatever... suppose that signal might switch to country... in fact, one could argue that this set off the domino effect of the 106.3 translator popping up.

 

[Barry]

I wonder how the interference problem with WKMK will be rectified. Is it likely there will be negotiations between the country station and the operators of the translator, as indicated on Thunder Country's website?
Or instead, maybe there will be an application to the F.C.C. to shift the translator to a different frequency? The recent article in Radio-Insight indicates that may be the best move for all concerned.

 

[erwin33]

I hope they get in time and working things out before may 18. I'm curious about there new format.

 

[WNTIRadio]

To recap some of my comments from another thread on the 106.3 subject: WKMK covers all of Staten Island and a good portion of Brooklyn, but not Manhattan. You can only use a translator to fill in the main signal's predictred coverage contour. If Press could acquire the translator from Clear Channel, they could turn it into a de-facto booster. They could do a time brokerage agreement with an HD channel of a signal that gets into Manhattan. Press currently has a JSA with WAWZ/99.1, so that might be a good candidate. You could then synchronize the two 106.3 signals and possibly let out the translator's directional pattern to the south. But.... being that country is a format that has more appeal in the 'burbs than the city proper, that might be a lot of expense to pick up a relative handful of listeners in Manhattan/

No, they can't!! For the 900th time on this board, the translator would have to reside within the 60dBu contour of WKMK to be a "fill in translator". All of those parts of NYC are outside the 60dBu. The protected contour does not reach into NYC. The 54dBu touches parts of Staten Island. They can't own it and send programming to it because it's outside the 60dBu.

I lived with this rule for 4 years at WJUX/Jukebox Radio. Trust me, it would have been better and easier if one person could have owned the whole lot.

The solution is to move the translator to 95.9.

 

[SoulCrusher]

It must be easier to sell for the company somehow I am guessing. Can anyone see country being a easier seller then alternative in the market Thunder can be heard in?

Potentially yes, because I think alternative rock is much more of a niche format than country. Plus you already have WRXP, WAXQ, and WRAT playing rock music in that area. There is no other station for country so you have a monopoly on that format.

In these instances, it's an alternative vs. classic rock argument, as two of the three options you listed primarily play arena rock acts from the '70s and '80s. Completely different followings for both. Being generous, I would say that maybe one out of ten former WHTG listeners moved over to a station that plays Led Zeppelin and Van Halen once an hour. The one station that isn't mostly classic rock (WRXP) has virtually no signal south of Toms River, and even there cuts in and out.

It's very like that country could be an easier sell around here. We have a lot of rural land in the western parts of Monmouth & Ocean, and the station did perform well when it was on one signal in the southern part of the market. So I can understand the argument behind having it on these two signals. But this doesn't change the fact that Press Communications did an inadequate job in promoting G Rock during the years they ran it. If they had put even a fraction of the energy and effort that they're applying to Thunder toward making G Rock a success, things could have been different.

 

[Jeffrey]

I hope they get in time and working things out before may 18. I'm curious about there new format.

I was looking forward to a new market station as well. I think it is ashame that WKMK has created all this rucus for a 99 watt translator that didn't even operate within WKMK's protected contours.
I will commend the owners of the translator however, (is it Apple 107.1?)for shutting it down to work out the dispute. Doesn't appear it was shut down by the FCC.

 

[Barry]

Jeffrey, the owners of the translator were only following F.C.C. rules:

"A translator or booster may not cause predicted or actual interference. If any actual interference is created, the Commission requires the permittee or licensee to resolve all interference complaints by appropriate means. If the interference cannot be resolved, the Commission will require the FM translator or booster station to discontinue operations."
There's also this:"A translator construction permit application will not be granted if an objecting party provides convincing evidence that the proposed translator station would likely interfere with off-the-air reception of a full service FM station, even if there is no predicted prohibited contour overlap."

Translators are not on an equal footing with regular stations. Radio stations can cause interference to translators, but not the other way around.

 

[Ozman]

Contry fans are always Dedicated to FM's.
I could never get this 106.3 signal in Greenwich because of the neighboring 106.3 WFAF but I listen to the q-104.3 HD-2 signal with no interference in Old Greenwich now they must have been able to increase the power on the IBOC.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Expanding on Barry's point above, here is the rule I found pertaining to this situation, excerpted by me for clarity:

§ 74.1203 Interference.

(a) An authorized FM translator or booster station will not be permitted to continue to operate if it causes any actual interference to:

(3) The direct reception by the public of the off-the-air signals of any authorized broadcast station... [snip]. Interference will be considered to occur whenever reception of a regularly used signal is impaired by the signals radiated by the FM translator or booster station, regardless of the quality of such reception, the strength of the signal so used, or the channel on which the protected signal is transmitted.

This seems quite clear in defining the protected signal not by a 60dB contour, but by whether it is "regularly used" regardless of the signal strength. If that's the correct interpretation of this rule it would explain why WKMK is collecting interference reports from its listeners, to demonstate that the interference is occurring in areas where their signal is regularly used.

The rules go on to say:

(b) If interference cannot be properly eliminated by the application of suitable techniques, operation of the offending FM translator or booster station shall be suspended and shall not be resumed until the interference has been eliminated.

Since WKMK has indicated that they will "IN NO WAY will we accept ANY interference to our Thunder 106 signal pattern", it seems to me the only way to eliminate it to their satisfaction would be to change frequency or move the translator to another geographic area.

The protected contour of another station is actually referenced in § 74.1204. That section says the FCC will not accept an application for a translator if the proposed operation would involve overlap of predicted field contours with any other station. But since the application process is already finished that rule should no longer apply. Instead, I think you would need to refer to § 74.1203 above for the rule concerning actual interference once the translator is on the air.

At least that's how I read it, but then I'm not a lawyer.

If you would like to read the whole thing for yourself it is here.

 

[bw]

Not sure about where 95.9 came from... there are other applications from the 2003 window that will block operation on 95.9.

 

[disney fanatic]

Too bad that the 106.3's translator has finally pulled the plug. Thanks to Batman & Robin for saving the day to get 106.3 off the ground at 4 Times Square. The translator who owns the 106.3 frequency is the Joker who programs the station to interfere with a country station WKMK's "Thunder 106" in New Jersey. Other than that, The Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler who made all the mock ups of running every pirate stations in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. Maybe we should call for Batman for help. And he did, Batman will be fighting all the pirate stations that the villians are running. Robin would say "Holy shipwreck! They're running a pirate station on 106.3 in Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens and the rest of Gotham City. Were going to stop them!"

"Okay!" Batman said, "Maybe the pirates will be pulling the plug in no time! Even the Boy Wonder will find a job!"

 

[SonoSational18]

To recap some of my comments from another thread on the 106.3 subject: WKMK covers all of Staten Island and a good portion of Brooklyn, but not Manhattan. You can only use a translator to fill in the main signal's predictred coverage contour. If Press could acquire the translator from Clear Channel, they could turn it into a de-facto booster. They could do a time brokerage agreement with an HD channel of a signal that gets into Manhattan. Press currently has a JSA with WAWZ/99.1, so that might be a good candidate. You could then synchronize the two 106.3 signals and possibly let out the translator's directional pattern to the south. But.... being that country is a format that has more appeal in the 'burbs than the city proper, that might be a lot of expense to pick up a relative handful of listeners in Manhattan/

It could translate Thunder 106.5 on 106.3. Since it's owned by a different company, it can translate a station outside its coverage area (like they did for Party 105). Thunder would feed them audio to keep it synched with WKMK.

Relaying stations outside of the station's coverage area is only legal for non-commercial operations. The work-around is to relay the programming to an AM or HD-2 channel in the area and then rebroadcast it on an analog FM translator. IIRC Party 105 was carried on the audio feed of an LPTV station. LPTV's CAN originate programming and/or pipe it in from elsewhere, and due to a loophole in the regs, it can broadcast audio only.

 

[nd2023]

Party 105 was translated on Party 101.5 in Nassau. For a brief period starting when Pulse 87 died, Party was simulcast on 87.7.

 

[Barry]

As the translator has been dark for nearly a month, Apple 107.1 has filed a required form with the F.C.C. It is a request to let them keep it off the air while they try to work out the interference complaints.
The fact that there has been no application to change its frequency may be an indication that the owners would prefer to try to make the necessary accommodations to keep it on 106.3. But if WKMK 106.3 sticks to its position that it will not accept any interference from the translator (I hope it does), and the F.C.C. backs them, I cannot see how this would be possible.

 

[nd2023]

WKMK won't want to accept any interference since they have nothing to gain. The only way they may allow the 106.3 translator is if Clear Channel agrees to give them a monthly payment, greater than or equal to the ad revenue they will lose from north Jersey advertisers. It's still a negative sum game because advertisers located in the interference area, will not advertise on either 106.3, whereas they would advertise on Thunder if the translator is off.

 

[xmradiopro]

Any update on the 106.3 translator ?

 

[Jeffrey]

oddly silent. I hear nothing. Still showing approved by the FCC.

 

[ansky212]

Since it has taken so long I assume it's dead on 106.3. Maybe they are trying to figure out another frequency to use.