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98.1 The River Asheville

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Saga has launched a new radio station in Asheville. I can not tell what the format is, it is all over the road. Listen and let us all know. 98.1 The River different is good!
 
The two stations from Asheville and Greenville are fighting for the 98.1 spot on the dial. Their web address is 981theriver.com.
 
Yeah, another "radio of today joke". A 250 watt......uh...'translator'. Sorry Saga, that is not what a translator is intended for. Not a stand alone real station. Many rules are being stretched in radio today....or totally broken. BUT.....$$$$$$. Real crap on this one.
 
I disagree with this "tactic" of use for a translator, especially for corporate radio. This sort of use should be restricted to supplement AM (especially nighttime) signals and/or AM daytimers, particularly locally-owned stations. If the FCC is going to allow and HD signal to be duplicated on a translator, why not forego the DTV transition -- keep the current analog TV signals going as well as running DTV signals. I see no difference.

Eric
 
I agree totally Eric. Years ago this would have been illegal. The proper use of a translator is like what WSPA-FM does in Asheville. It was on 97.7. Not really sure now. It isn't to attempt to skirt the rules, and create a stand alone station. 98.1 in Seneca granted is 60+ miles away, but I can see major interference issues to them.
 
TheStoker said:
I agree totally Eric. Years ago this would have been illegal. The proper use of a translator is like what WSPA-FM does in Asheville. It was on 97.7. Not really sure now. It isn't to attempt to skirt the rules, and create a stand alone station. 98.1 in Seneca granted is 60+ miles away, but I can see major interference issues to them.
Click to expand...

Stoker...97.7 is still alive and well in Asheville and indeed serves a legitimate purpose. You referenced "interference" in your last sentence -- "interference" is exactly why I did what I did a few weeks ago. For the first time in almost 30 years, I disconnected my rooftop antenna from my FM tuner. For me and probably many of you...it's a moot point to have a rooftop antenna connnected to FM for dxing these days. Stations within 200 miles of me that I could receive most of the time (20-30 years ago) are now mostly obliterated by the weeds of translators and LPFMs now dotting the RF landscape. From here in Morganton, NC, I could formerly receive 3 different distant 92.9 stations -- Atlanta, Dillon SC, and Lexington, KY with reasonable consistency based upon where I aimed the antenna. No, it wasn't pure listening quality for the average listener but us who will tolerate a less than perfect signal it was, well "perfect". I mostly listen to FM only the car, since I'm not paying for satellite radio I have yet to get an HD receiver. My FCC rant switch is now "off".

Eric
 
Good points Eric. We share interests there. I'm a DXer too, and ham. Dxing on FM now is little fun anymore. Too much trash everywhere. The proliferation of the recent "WLFJ" translator situation floored me. They are everywhere! In Hendersonville forget Z-93(well...Dave-FM) and many, many others. This is just one example of just ridiculous expansion. Anyway..good points made.
 
TheStoker said:
I agree totally Eric. Years ago this would have been illegal. The proper use of a translator is like what WSPA-FM does in Asheville. It was on 97.7. Not really sure now. It isn't to attempt to skirt the rules, and create a stand alone station. 98.1 in Seneca granted is 60+ miles away, but I can see major interference issues to them.
Click to expand...
They should be yelling about this. I used to listen to the Seneca station in the mountains when it was standards. Imagine, a 100,000-watt FM playing standards. Just try to find standards in Asheville now, and no, WTZQ doesn't count.
 
Had a chance to catch 98.1 "The River" when I was in town over the weekend. I'm personally not a fan of the format or music selection, but it should go over well with the tree-hugging crowd in Asheville. The first thing I noticed was that, even "in town" in Asheville, the 98.1 signal leaves much to be desired.

Also, to echo what some of you guys have already mentioned, I don't see how this translator doesn't improperly interfere with the 98.1 in Seneca. In fact, when I lived in Asheville, Hot 98.1 was one of my regular listen stations, and in a lot of places, I could get it with no static at all. So much for that now!
 
Personally, I would have preferred a CHR/top40 format. I do not understand a city the size of Asheville does not have this as a fulltime format. I know that Star 104.3 has expanded their play list some. I am surprised that Clear Channel has not jumped on this. Any comments.
 
Wasn't that translator intended for WISE/WYSE?

The FCC really needs to reel in Saga for this.

We also need new blood at the FCC, since the folks that are there now apparently doesn't give a damn about how they treat the public airwaves.
 
RobynWattsV2.0 said:
Wasn't that translator intended for WISE/WYSE?
Click to expand...

Precisely.

As opposed to what Saga did in the Finger Lakes, where they literally created a new radio station out of thin air, by way of a translator, for the benefit of simulcasting a AAA format via an HD2 channel.
 
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