92.5 The Soul tweaks format

[esdx]

92.5 The Soul (WZEW-HD3) has launched a revamped version of its format. The sound is very similar to WDLT and includes all new liners, bumps and IDs. I'm wondering if it's a package they purchased or if it's a satellite format? There seems to be a lot more national ads, so it's probably a barter deal to pay for it.

 

[tomservo]

Are they still feeding the translators with the off air signal from the HD subchannels? Last time I was in Mobile both this and The Crab sounded really terrible. It's a rare case where listening to the HD2/HD3 sounds noticably better.

 

[esdx]

It definitely sounds that way. 96.5 is especially bad. 92.5 sounds a little better, but there are a lot of dropouts on 92.1 HD3 while the translator is constant.

It's definitely a canned or satellite format because the personalities work in several markets, and they often end with a generic statement like "Today's best mix of R&B" and let the local branding do the identification.

 

[ngriffin]

Sounds like the positioner from Westwood One's "The Touch" satellite format.

 

[tomservo]

That's a shame to hear they've gone to a canned satellite format; the fact that these three (if you could ZEW) formats were all done in house locally was a good thing because I was always hearing songs I wouldn't expect on terrestrial radio.

 

[tvallred]

That's a shame to hear they've gone to a canned satellite format; the fact that these three (if you could ZEW) formats were all done in house locally was a good thing because I was always hearing songs I wouldn't expect on terrestrial radio.

I hope they don't go satellite with the Crab... just improve the audio quality. Nowhere else on FM radio have I heard the full 17 minute version of Iron Butterfly's "In da gadda da vida" 😂😂😂.

 

[esdx]

If anything, it's too much of a clone of WDLT. Get rid of all the new music and cut it off around the mid 90s. A true "old school" format starting around the 60s or 70s would be a polished version of what 92.5 was before the changes.

 

[A_b_m_90]

The audio quality sounds horrible on WZEW HD 1/2/3.
Can they get this fixed?? Holy moley.

 

[nd2023]

W223BX has always sounded like crap every time I passed through Mobile

 

[tomservo]

The WZEW HD 1 and 2 sound fine to me… or at least as fine as low bitrate digital mush can sound. Ever since they tweaked the HD3, however, it has been out of phase (?) and hard to hear because of that. Since they feed the translators with the raw off the air signal (instead of directly from the audio board like iHeart and Cumulus do) it will sound bad on top of already subpar FM analog audio.

What has me scratching my head is that when all this first cranked up they had album art and artist/song title info on the HD channels but since their glitch last year, it's just generic text on the HD3 and no album art on the HD2.

 

[esdx]

It sounds like they've finally fixed their ongoing audio issues on the translators. 92.5 sounded very "out of phase"...much like trying to pass through an improperly routed unbalanced audio feed, resulting in a very "hollow" sound.

It sounds much better now, probably the best it's ever been in it's entire existence.