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97.9: Any whispers yet?

Why wouldn't they keep it on 1410 AM? In other markets that got FM simulcasts they kept the AM - Boston (93.7 FM/850 AM) and Philly (94.1 FM/610 AM and their competitor 97.5 FM/950 AM) just to name 2 off the top of my head.

I still can't catch a break tho. I can't get 1410 at night where I live and I can't get 97.9 FM on my boombox in my room. (Damn mountain blocks the signal. The big mountain where Aldi's is in Bristol makes for poor FM reception where I live).
 
It's a straight simulcast of WPOP-AM 1410 and is about a second behind on 97.9 FM. I didn't think the switch was going to happen this soon!
 
MarcB--I wonder if 97.9 is still at half power; weren't they testing at half power?
Only a second behind the AM...in Boston the 93.7 is maybe 7-10 sec. behind.

When WEEI moved to FM (simulcast? Well in a way, but they now treat it like 93.7 is the main station)
it was thought the AM would go all ESPN. Kevin Vahey had talked to someone who worked at ESPN
and said that was going to be the case but it hasn't happened yet, and who knows, may not. It's
been said some areas might not get 93.7 too well, or 103.7, etc. so the 850 comes in handy. In some
situations where there have been conflicts--like Celtics vs. national feed of Pats, or NFC championship
vs. Patriots postgame talk, you would have thought the AM would have gotten one and the FM the
other. Nope, they both simulcast and sister station WRKO 680 got the other sports.

Why now (so sudden?) Super Bowl involving Giants and Pats coming up...NHL hockey game, ratings
period maybe?
 
I doubt it's because of Super Bowl XLVI. As far as I can tell, it will air here on WTIC-AM 1080, since they were the only ones in the market which carried the AFC Championship game. WCCC-FM and WAQY-FM did not air it.

As for 93.7 and signal problems in Boston, it's understandable. The transmitter for that station is up in Peabody, MA, close to both US Route 1 and I-95 (MA Route 128 merges with I-95 just south of the transmitter site).

I was questioning why the transmitter ended up atop City Place on Asylum Street in Hartford. I know it's the tallest building in Hartford. However, isn't it low compared to sites like West Peak and Avon Mountain? I know WHCN-FM 105.9 uses West Peak. It is my understanding that their pattern is directional, since there's already another 105.9 FM station in Newark/New York City (WCAA-FM?).
 
Emphasis on PREDICTED COVERAGE though! Remember, they're going to be nulled to the southeast to protect WCTY-FM 97.7 of Norwich. I have to remember to check their signal the next time I head that way towards the Mohegan Sun Casino. :)
 
Well, even if they don't carry the game it would be talked about.
WEEI-FM 93.7 does well for me, with the stick off I-95/128 and Rt 1 in Peabody...comes in well at work
and at home. It does fairly well in many Boston areas but in others not so well--but they have 103.7, etc.
(And yes, 850). 93.7 also reaches into southern/SE New Hampshire, SW Maine etc.
 
97.1 "The Fan" WBNS-FM and 1460 "The Fan" WBNS-AM in Columbus, Ohio simulcast ESPN Radio as well, with a couple of local programs and local sports games.
 
The signal's getting killed in the hills once you get out of the valley, which is to be expected with a class A at a relatively low height. I'm surprised they're not running it in mono to strengthen up their signal on the fringes. Suburban listening is going to be key for ratings success... however I don't think huge numbers are to be expected. FM sports fits perfectly with Clear Channel's portfolio and is very complimentary to their other properties.
 
KML-224 said:
Emphasis on PREDICTED COVERAGE though! Remember, they're going to be nulled to the southeast to protect WCTY-FM 97.7 of Norwich. I have to remember to check their signal the next time I head that way towards the Mohegan Sun Casino. :)
Click to expand...

Didn't make the Mohegan Sun trip today, but did go into New Haven. The signal was pretty much trashed before I got out of Wallingford on I-91. I hope this isn't full power.
 
KML-224 said:
I doubt it's because of Super Bowl XLVI. As far as I can tell, it will air here on WTIC-AM 1080, since they were the only ones in the market which carried the AFC Championship game. WCCC-FM and WAQY-FM did not air it.

As for 93.7 and signal problems in Boston, it's understandable. The transmitter for that station is up in Peabody, MA, close to both US Route 1 and I-95 (MA Route 128 merges with I-95 just south of the transmitter site).

I was questioning why the transmitter ended up atop City Place on Asylum Street in Hartford. I know it's the tallest building in Hartford. However, isn't it low compared to sites like West Peak and Avon Mountain? I know WHCN-FM 105.9 uses West Peak. It is my understanding that their pattern is directional, since there's already another 105.9 FM station in Newark/New York City (WCAA-FM?).
Click to expand...

105.9 in Newark has been non-commercial classical music WQXR for over 2 years now...they swapped with WCAA which moved to 96.3 and changed to WXNY
 
But doesn't ESPN own the 98.1 signal? Think they have a hand in the ownership of 97.9?

raccoonradio said:
Well, even if they don't carry the game it would be talked about.
Click to expand...

Doesn't necessarily guarantee that they'll hire more local talent to talk sports...

Meanwhile, the least that the old 1410 website can do is redirect to the new 97.9 website... :-\
 
DToTheJ said:
But doesn't ESPN own the 98.1 signal? Think they have a hand in the ownership of 97.9?

raccoonradio said:
Well, even if they don't carry the game it would be talked about.
Click to expand...

Doesn't necessarily guarantee that they'll hire more local talent to talk sports...
Click to expand...

Hartford is really a one-trick pony when it comes to local sports anyone wants to talk about: UConn men's basketball, period. Oh, there's a bit of interest in Huskies football, but most of the interest in women's basketball is among the grandmotherly crowd rather than on campus or even among real sports fans. And nobody wants to talk about the state's two minor league baseball teams (Twins and Tigers farm clubs, not Red Sox and Yankees), the corporate-branded golf tournament formerly known as the GHO, or the sponsor-short New Haven Open tennis tournament (ex-Pilot Pen).

So, if you were Clear Channel, would you hire a bunch of locals to talk about out-of-state teams -- Yanks, Sox, Giants, Jets --knowing that you have more knowledgeable national hosts at your disposal, thanks to ESPN, to talk about those high-profile teams? It would be different if this were, say, Omaha, where fans like to talk about the Kansas City Chiefs, who are barely talked about at all on ESPN nationally. Hartford is a market obsessed with New York and Boston, the two sports markets that ESPN is also obsessed with.
 
Tom Taylor's afternoon update said yesterday there would be a live afternoon show. That wouldn't be surprising, for a couple of hours. Just because Hartford isn't a major league town doesn't mean people don't want to talk sports. Granted, I'll take the WEEI Network over 97.9 ESPN any day, but I don't blame them for trying. UConn Football is continuing to grow, especially for an extremely young Division-I team. UConn Basketball still rules. I wouldn't be surprised to see CC make a deal for the CT Whale games in the coming years, with the continuing hope of bringing back an NHL team.

As for the signal, it's a pretty average class A in terms of reach. Everything line-of-sight is good, gets sketchy in the hills.
 
RogerAnthony said:
I don't get the new ESPN 97.9 at all in Waterbury.
Click to expand...

Waterbury has some low spots surrounded by hills, which would make it tough for a signal like 97.9's from Hartford.

Interesting that the station is calling itself "97.9 ESPN" instead of the usual "ESPN Radio <put your frequency here>". :)
 
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