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97.7 new calls application

Sid from the Entercom cluster had WKAF as part of his "signature" at the end of one of his posts on
boston-radio-interest. I figured they'd have a rhyming one (WEEI, WVEI; WAAF, WKAF)
 
Eli Polonsky said:
This just in...

For what it's worth, Entercom has applied for WKAF as the new calls for their WAAF relay on 97.7...
Click to expand...
Waste of Tower electricity. I bet in a year, they'll flip 97.7 or 107.9. Why keep two frequenies as a simulcast when they sell twice as much air time seperately? I bet 97.7 stays as Rock too.
 
Garrett said:
Waste of Tower electricity. I bet in a year, they'll flip 97.7 or 107.9. Why keep two frequenies as a simulcast when they sell twice as much air time seperately? I bet 97.7 stays as Rock too.
Click to expand...

You mean 107.3. Here's what appears to be their rationale for simulcasting:

The two signals have optimal coverage in different areas. They have wanted WAAF to have a better signal in downtown Boston and the immediate Boston metro for many years. That is the area that they seem almost exclusively concerned with marketing to. The 107.3 signal is still poor in those areas even after the transmitter move to W. Boylston. The 97.7 signal is a significant improvement over 107.3 in Boston, parts of the South Shore and Metro-South.

Entercom may not be concerned with marketing WAAF to other markets in New England that 107.3 reaches (or used to reach from the Paxton site), but 107.3 is still far superior to 97.7 in outer Boston market areas such as the North Shore, the northwest suburbs, and the Metro-West around and beyond the Route 495 belt. They may still want to hang on to some of their Worcester/Central MA sponsors as well as they were still close to topping that smaller market's book, and the 97.7 signal is poor out there.

Also, it will cost them very little to operate 97.7. Mainly just electricity and tower rental. They are trying to compete with WBCN, an equivalent 50 kW signal Class B from the Pru. The 97.7 signal, though it transmits from Blue Hill, is only something like 6 kW equivalent (Class A). It's pretty good in Boston, but it doesn't cover many outlying Boston metro areas that WBCN covers on it's own. 107.3, though it doesn't cover Boston proper well, covers those outlying Boston metro areas that WBCN covers, but 97.7 doesn't.

The simulcast gives them the best competitive coverage of the entire greater Boston market that they could get. The rationale appears to be that with 107.3's poor signal in Boston proper, they could not "sell twice as much air time separately" with another format, because 107.3 is mainly a Metro-West/Central MA signal, which is not where they believe that most of the Boston market advertising money in concentrated.
 
Garrett said:
Eli Polonsky said:
This just in...

For what it's worth, Entercom has applied for WKAF as the new calls for their WAAF relay on 97.7...
Click to expand...
Waste of Tower electricity. I bet in a year, they'll flip 97.7 or 107.9. Why keep two frequenies as a simulcast when they sell twice as much air time seperately? I bet 97.7 stays as Rock too.
Click to expand...

Till now the debates have focused on the merits of black radio in Boston. But choice of format aside, the flip of WILD to WAAF is a real loss for Boston. Folks have complained about the lack of FM signals in market from the get-go. We've now lost an additional frequency to simply simulcast another station. The net effect is less choice on the radio dial.
 
It's worth noting that in the CDBS form to transfer ownership of 97.7 WKAF (which according to their database is the call sign at this writing), Radio One is pretty strict about retaining ownership of the WILD callsign, forcing Entercom to change the calls within 5 days of the start of the LMA. I'm going to take a stab and say that Radio One is probably taking the WILD calls with them when they eventually ditch the Boston market.
 
This just happened this evening- while driving on Central Turnpike in Sutton MA just east of Rt 146 i was playing around w/ the radio w/ the seek button. Near the Sutton-Northbridge line 97.7 came in on seek. i went to 106.7 hit seek and AAF was passed over (next station was 107.9. This happened a 2nd time. I turned onto Hill St. In Northbridge, it happened a 3rd time, there was no AAF from about 10 mi away on seek!. My truck radio is very good, sensitive etc.
So would one call 97.7 a translator if it has a stronger signal quality just south of Worcester as the parent station? Boy they have some real problems....
 
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