97.9 Fox FM?

[Radio Observer]

You can really hear the 97.9 signal in Monroeville? I'm listening to a 128kbps aac stream right now (on http://tunein.com/radio/Fox-FM-1019-s88674/) and it's been rock-solid for the past 9+ hours. Never skipped a beat, yet. To me, the stream seems to be better quality than FM but, I have my computer connected to my big surround sound system, too.

 

[FreeAlabamaMedia]

You can really hear the 97.9 signal in Monroeville? I'm listening to a 128kbps aac stream right now (on http://tunein.com/radio/Fox-FM-1019-s88674/) and it's been rock-solid for the past 9+ hours. Never skipped a beat, yet. To me, the stream seems to be better quality than FM but, I have my computer connected to my big surround sound system, too.

It was definitely a surprise once it ID-ed itself. I heard it in what has to be 'optimal' conditions to hear it, with no other 97.9 signal making it to my receiver at the time. If I go to my car and try it now, I probably don't hear it at all or its a hashy mess, disappearing upon trying to drive anywhere.

 

[Radio Observer]

If I go to my car and try it now, I probably don't hear it at all or its a hashy mess, disappearing upon trying to drive anywhere.

If you can possibly try it, please do! I'd like to know as I've always been fascinated with just how far a low power FM signal can go and this one, at almost the height of a class-A FM, really is one of my studies in whether or not it is worth trading power for height. I'd love to know just how often and how well you can hear it in your area.

 

[FreeAlabamaMedia]

If you can possibly try it, please do! I'd like to know as I've always been fascinated with just how far a low power FM signal can go and this one, at almost the height of a class-A FM, really is one of my studies in whether or not it is worth trading power for height. I'd love to know just how often and how well you can hear it in your area.

I did try again just before lunchtime this morning. From my parked car, 97.9 was once again listenable with some forgivable hash and static (more than when I first tuned it on a late afternoon). But upon driving around a few blocks, the audio WJLQ was playing kept dropping out. It didn't return to its prior reception until I parked again.

FWIW, I have an old RCA personal cassette player with a fair digital AM/FM tuner. It still pulls the big Mobile & Pensacola FMs, plus locals and other smaller FMs a county or two away. No hint of WJLQ reception at all, even doing yoga poses pointed toward Jackson.

 

[Groove1670]

The audio has always dropped out, almost sounds like it is buffering, but the audio quality is good.

 

[Radio Observer]

FWIW, I have an old RCA personal cassette player with a fair digital AM/FM tuner. It still pulls the big Mobile & Pensacola FMs, plus locals and other smaller FMs a county or two away. No hint of WJLQ reception at all, even doing yoga poses pointed toward Jackson.

I love the "yoga poses" part!

 

[Radio Observer]

The audio has always dropped out, almost sounds like it is buffering, but the audio quality is good.

Thanks for the report. I'm going to bet that Jackson isn't on the map because of stellar internet performance. I do know the person who engineers these stations and have all reason to believe that they are "done right" from a technical standpoint. What has me hooked on the Jackson Fox-FM station is that its antenna height is such that the power is almost stupidly low. I'm just wondering if there is any advantage gained from this. I've seen translators use these "height vs. power" trade-offs to the point that the signal can be heard 50 or more miles away but not in a building 5 miles down the road. How do you guys feel that they're doing against the local stations from a programming standpoint? All I really see worthy of note on WHOD 94.5 in Jackson is Rick and Bubba in the morning and I don't see very much local material in that at all. I'm wondering if Fox-FMs interest in local, local and even more local might be able to compete but, I'm not at all sure what other things WHOD offers. I just know that the Fox-FM stations always seem to sound like radio was in the 70s and 80s with stopsets of under two or three minutes to 4 stopsets per hour and the overall presentation. I think that's what they try to do but am curious as to whether or not anyone else has anything worthy of note.

 

[tomservo]

Personally, I think at the power levels available to LPFMs, they'd be crazy not to stick to whatever height affords them the full (or nearly full) 100 watts. I guess there comes a point between height and reduced power that maximizes in-car reception to the detriment of in-building performance, but as some on this site say over and over, no one listens at home so it doesn't matter as much.

One thing I am certain of, is there is a point where height becomes so great and the power output so comically small that it's pointless to even try. Case in point the emergency information stations in Calhoun County, WOXI-LP Oxford and WJXI-LP Jacksonville. The Jacksonville transmitter is 2 watts (!!) at 926 feet and the Oxford one is a measly 1.3 watts at 1,031 feet.

I've never been there but I'm 99% certain they are inaudible on all but car radios, and probably really only clear on the best car radios with full size antennas. Any teeny bit of tropo or adjacent RF is gonna wipe both of them off the dial. Anyone trying to tune them in on a clock radio in a bedroom or some other cheap Chinese crap is going to be out of luck. And if the point is to disseminate emergency info, don't you want to reach as many radios as possible?

Before iHeart moved it to Mobile to launch their urban format, the 100.3 translator was put back on the air from Gulf Shores, with 1 watt at about 110 feet, from the downtown Gulf Shores area... Either the Mediacom cable co's tower or across the street at the Sunny 105.7 studios. The range on most days was about six blocks with a good sensitive radio. Of course tropo being tropo here on the coast, there were days it was inaudible while a block away in the parking lot under the main highway bridge.

Six (virtual) blocks down the mountain from WOXI-LP barely reaches any homes. WJXI-LP probably covers more territory and more people, but again the slightest bit of poor receiver or tropo injected into the mix and it's curtains for that signal.

 

[Groove1670]

Height, location, co-channel is the key. We are at 10 watts in Meridian. But We are overlooking the city at 800 feet, no co- channel, and the city is tightly packed population wise (you can look down at the city at the site) In a word..perfect. In fact most of the translators in the market range from 10 to 75 watts.

In the case of Mobile. Ducting is awful. You can't cover the whole listening area. (Choose the Eastern Shore or the Metro). In Gulf Shores It Was "parked at 1 watt" to make the final move (back then it was easier to move one).

On paper, the move to Mobile looked good (1800 feet). They didn't take into account the full interference of 100.3 and the ducting. It would move into Mobile with mixed results.

I always tell translator and LPFM prospect to listen to the proposed channel for noise, and compare a signal in town with similar height and power. Due diligence is the key. All engineers and the FCC (during auctions) always put out this disclaimer. What you see on that pretty coverage map it not necessarily what you get. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.

In most cases at a power level of less than 1000 watts, I would look for the maximum height. Note the difference between 100 watts and 250 watts is not going to make that much difference. TPO almost has to be tripled (In most cases, to see a difference).

 

[Radio Observer]

Still, no one has commented on their format and presentation. This is what I'm curious about. With the proliferation of big move-ins, I'm thinking these people may or may not be onto something. Can the lowly LPFMs become the new (better sounding) equivalent to the old 1kw "local" AM signal? With 50kw and larger stations needing to get $10 to $20 per spot just to break even, I can see where these hyper-local LPFMs may just be able to become "the new truly local service". What do you all think and, more specifically, how well close do you think these Fox-FM stations are coming to pulling it off? From what I can find out, these people are serious about what they're doing and fully intend to be full-service with even local news and wall to wall severe weather coverage while all of the bigger stations are adding more and more satellite originated programming with less and less local content. Are they on the right path to prosperity (or, at least surviving) or, are they on the fast-track to failure? Are they good (professional) or, are they "amatuerish" as NAB and commercial broadcasters would have everyone believe? What does everyone think? In defense of myself for asking, I have never had opportunity to actually listen to many LPFM stations and I'm just wondering how the few local ones compare to the rest.

 

[Groove1670]

LPFM was never designed to run a commercial format. With that said, you are not running ads, you are running underwriting announcements. You can't advertise specials, or a call to action which limits prospects.

With smart phones, weather and news is no longer a big deal. Community news still is.

In the case of the station mentioned, the presentation is good. However the constant shift or buffering of programming and dropouts are a turn off. The music is all over the place (a turnoff to the average listener), fans of the format are more likely to listen to the other classic hit (oldies) station in town.

Just my observation. Note: It has been a few weeks since I listened, so the buffering could of been fixed.

 

[tomservo]

The issue of underwriting is definitely a problem. From what I've read, it's a bear trying to get business owners to understand the limitations of underwriting versus regular old advertising and some balk about being restricted in what they can say or offer in an underwritten spot.

Honestly, I think LPFMs ought to be allowed to be fully commercial. If a 100 or 50 kW station feels threatened by a station whose signal peters out after 2-3 miles, they need to re-evaluate what they are doing wrong in that market! Unfortunately the NAB has deep pockets and friends in high places, so I doubt the situation will ever get any better for LPFMs as far as advertising goes.

I'm very much in the minority on this website, by my views on full service type stations, LPFM or otherwise, are pretty harsh. I appreciate the community service they provide, but they don't really give someone like me any reason to listen. I'm in a small town and we have a full service community station: live local mid-morning show, swap shop, daily devotionals that must be from the 1940's, an hour of oldies each afternoon where the host just plays whatever he has lying around… it's real old school radio. But it has literally nothing for me as a local resident to latch on to. I don't buy junk so swap shop is a snore-fest; I don't have kids in school so live PBP football or basketball is useless; I'm not deeply religious so the preaching and hollering is a turn off; community calendar and stuff like that is basically available online for free on Facebook or on the city's website. After 4 pm, they go into syndicated sports and super conservative talk, which does not interest me anymore, either.

Now, I would probably listen to the Fox FM stations simply because I like a wide variety of music. In the event they play a clunker, there are 20 other stations to tune to for a few minutes, and I'd likely gravitate back to Fox eventually. That's pretty much what I do on the very rare occasions I listen to local radio here on the coast. I'll listen to Jet 100.7 until they play a crap song, then flip over to Rocket until THEY play a crap song, then check out TK 101 for five seconds, then go back to Jet…

The truth of the matter is, if I *really* want to listen to music, I'm more likely these days to listen to my own collection: it's static free and uncompressed audio that hasn't been over-processed to hell and back (looking at you, Sunny 105.7). LPFMs have an advantage here if you're in the strong signal area, because they can't afford the high dollar processing that, IMHO, wrecks the sound of most stations.

Alternatively, there's my favorite streaming service, AccuRadio. Blows Pandora and Amazon et al out of the water. So-so sound quality but commercials are comically few and far between. They have literally hundreds of "channels" with many formats that have never been played on the radio in Alabama.

So… If I don't care for community stuff, don't have kids in school so football coverage is irrelevant, and I have better sources of music when I wanna jam out… what does that leave for radio to appeal to someone like me?

As much as I love the medium of radio, and the magic of broadcasting, I have to say it's just not for me anymore. These days if I'm listening to broadcast radio, you know what I'm doing? Listening to shortwave. Seriously. Radio Prague and Radio Slovakia Intl on WRMI out of Florida are nightly appointment radio for me. It's not always entertaining but it's always unique. DXing in today's challenging environment is quite fun, but disappointing a lot, too. The magic is still there (for now). I get my fill of NPR and the "entertainment talk" type shows that were driven off the radio by Nipple-gate years ago in podcast form, at my convenience. I get my fill of local news from the local "teeveenewz" people as Dan Savage calls them.

Luckily for you folks, I'm in the minority. People by and large, especially those over 40, still embrace radio and appreciate local community focus.

 

[Groove1670]

There were several opportunities to apply for full power FM's for not much more of the cost of a LPFM in the last few auctions. LPFM's also don't have the burden of compliance, record keeping, operation, and regulatory fees. It can be complex and costly. No changes are needed for LPFM. In many ways, there are some advantages.

There is always a audience for some type of programming. If you play it, they will listen. There are several successful LPFM's out there using the current rules and regulations.

 

[tomservo]

There is always a audience for some type of programming. If you play it, they will listen. There are several successful LPFM's out there using the current rules and regulations.

Yeah, but what percentage of the total are they, versus the hundreds of satellite-fed generic Christian stations that every church in every town seems to have nowadays? That seems to be the bulk I've heard. And they're not doing anything much different from what you'd hear from K-Love or EMF or WAY-FM or any other of the dozens of Christian music and teaching satellite networks on fuller powered stations. It's an incredible waste of spectrum IMHO.

 

[Radio Observer]

In my experience, the only people who think LPFM absolutely should (must) remain forever non-commercial are the owners of commercial stations (who fear real competition) and the so-called "LPFM advocacy groups" who have, IMHO, done the service a lot more harm than good by "cheapening it" to the point that no one will ever take it seriously. Now, having said this and knowing that most people who come into town to transact business come from within 8 to 10 miles away, I'm completely and entirely in support of a commercial LPFM service. Whether it's labeled as a "commercial" or as "underwriting", a $5.00 (or even a $2.50) "spot" on a truly local LPFM that really targets the local community will always trump a $65.00 (or $15.00) "spot" on the local "big station" that broadcasts Rick and Bubba (with absolutely no truly local material at all) and, even better (by virtue of repetition made possible due to lower rates) will reach more of the local relevant audience who will actually visit the local businesses. (What fool would pay more to advertise a local hamburger establishment to an audience 50 or more miles away when that audience won't ever drive 50 or more miles to buy a hamburger on a lunchbreak? This is foolish thinking.) The last commercial filing window made commercial stations available"at near LPFM rates"? In what dream world? The lowest minimum opening bids were on the order of $30k+ unless an applicant was ignorant enough to want to build in a community that can't support a station. Those are the stations that will barely get off of the ground with bare minimum facilities and won't last more than a year or two as a hobby into which someone is either willing to pour cash or as stations built by "speculators" who didn't really want to operate a station and had hoped to get a CP and sell it for a quick profit - which goes directly against the intent of the rules and regulations, already. These are not true broadcasters. People like this are the very reason our once great and respectable industry is now on the verge of collapse. They try to "cash in" at everyone else's expense.

 

[Radio Observer]

Yeah, but what percentage of the total are they, versus the hundreds of satellite-fed generic Christian stations that every church in every town seems to have nowadays? That seems to be the bulk I've heard. And they're not doing anything much different from what you'd hear from K-Love or EMF or WAY-FM or any other of the dozens of Christian music and teaching satellite networks on fuller powered stations. It's an incredible waste of spectrum IMHO.

Amen!!! (No pun intended. Well, maybe just a little.)

 

[davideduardo]

There is always a audience for some type of programming. If you play it, they will listen. There are several successful LPFM's out there using the current rules and regulations.

How about citing the "worthy" LPFM stations that each of us know.

I have listened to all the ones in the LA /Orange County/Inland Empire regions of Southern California, and there is only one that is not a preaching-to-the-choir religious outlet or a "my playlist is better than the commercial stations" outlet. That is KFXM in Lancaster. It has a true oldies format, well done, and a listenable and real service for older folks who are not as adequately served by commercial radio.

 

[Radio Observer]

there is only one that is not a preaching-to-the-choir religious outlet or a "my playlist is better than the commercial stations" outlet.

David, I've read your comments for years and years and I'm almost always in total agreement with you so, please don't take this as a personal assault. You have my most ultimate respect. But, is this comment really fair when most of the commercial stations run liners based heavily on a theme of "Better music, and more of it!" Wouldn't that place them squarely in the middle of the "my playlist is better than your playlist" category, too? I don't see where this is an issue unless someone is yes way off in left field, somewhere. I think every individual programmer shared a bit of that "my playlist is better than your playlist" mentality so, how can we use this against a station merely because it's an LPFM?

 

[davideduardo]

David, I've read your comments for years and years and I'm almost always in total agreement with you so, please don't take this as a personal assault. You have my most ultimate respect. But, is this comment really fair when most of the commercial stations run liners based heavily on a theme of "Better music, and more of it!" Wouldn't that place them squarely in the middle of the "my playlist is better than your playlist" category, too? I don't see where this is an issue unless someone is yes way off in left field, somewhere. I think every individual programmer shared a bit of that "my playlist is better than your playlist" mentality so, how can we use this against a station merely because it's an LPFM?

Radio stations that lay claims to a great playlist are speaking as "we" and are basing their statements on, generally, having researched (or copied stations that research) their playlist with real listeners to their kind of format.

Those LPFMs, as well as most pirate stations, have the idea that they (singular, generally one person's opinion) "know what the audience really likes" and have all kinds of theories as to why "corporate radio" conspires to not really play what people truly want to hear.

Beyond that, I also see that many well meaning LPFM operators tire of the high amount of work and little listening and appreciation. ending up as endless iPads on shuffle.

I should add one additional station to the LPFMs that work to be useful and a real service: KBUU in Malibu, CA. The owner, who used to post here as ZumaHans, does some local news and community programming, and has an eclectic blend of music and third-party programs. On a personal level, I find much of it to be fill (going back to the "high amount of work" thing...) but most of those stations are one-man-band affairs. Still, the idea of true community service is pretty hard to achieve with signals that only cover a few miles in any direction.

 

[Radio Observer]

Got it and, although this may be true in a lot of cases, I've spoken with the people behind the stations we're discussing here and they do not seem to be "playing my own favorites". Their research is based on charts, sales information and (to a lesser extent because of the rural area) listener testing. I just don't see this as the same as what you describe. By the way, on most days in this area (when ducting isn't a problem), these LPFMs can reliably cover from 8 to 15 miles. I recall this as being just about the same listening area as the old "1kw local morning wakeup information" AM stations of years ago. This is why I don't see why properly managed LPFM stations can't step up and fill in the gaps left by the local stations which upgraded and "moved to the bigger cities" (figuratively speaking).