Anyone Know what's up with "The Sound"?

[JimTroost]

I've heard that The Sound (100.3) is failing miserably. The station keeps making fun of its broadcast signal and telling people to listen online. I know that they must be lower power because when I listen in the car, the signal is sometimes good and sometimes poor and I do like the format, but if its failing I suppose the station will be sold or change format again.

 

[joeyb]

The latest is they will be getting a signal boost by the end of the summer. It was originally supposed to be boosted at the end of June.

 

[JimTroost]

The latest is they will be getting a signal boost by the end of the summer. It was originally supposed to be boosted at the end of June.

Cool. I like their format. Even though I recommended The Journey, I'm not one of those that only listens to Christian music. I like good music and programming in most formats and I enjoy The Sound.

 

[Kent]

I've heard that The Sound (100.3) is failing miserably. The station keeps making fun of its broadcast signal and telling people to listen online. I know that they must be lower power because when I listen in the car, the signal is sometimes good and sometimes poor and I do like the format, but if its failing I suppose the station will be sold or change format again.

The Sound is licensed to Illinois, and its tower is in Illinois. Any station with a tower in Illinois is limited by FCC rules to being a class B station. Class B stations are roughly the equivalent of class C2's as they have a shorter tower height and lower power limit than a class C, a class C0 or a class C1. I can't remember the tower height of each, but a class B cannot exceed an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts (adjusted for height).

The Sound will actually be downgrading its signal strength as its power and tower height will go down. However, it will also change its city of license to Bridgeton and will have a tower in Missouri, thus bringing it closer to the center of the market. In other words, after this summer's change, your mileage may vary. If you live in northern Jefferson County, the central city or West County, you'll either get a better signal or notice no change if you already get The Sound well. If you live much south of Arnold or in Foristell on the St. Charles/Warren County line, you're still not likely to get the station on every radio you own. If you live in Belleville or Jerseyville, you'll probably wish 100.3 had kept the Alton tower it's had for many years!

 

[JimTroost]

The Sound will actually be downgrading its signal strength as its power and tower height will go down....<snip>... If you live in Belleville or Jerseyville, you'll probably wish 100.3 had kept the Alton tower it's had for many years!

Thx for the 411. All these changes in license & focus on larger markets makes me sad because I lived in a small town for a while who had lost any sense of "local" broadcasting as the "local" station programmed for the big city about 45 miles away and THEN the community lost its station altogether when tower and license moved.

So much for the fiction that the airwaves are public property and the whole idea of community betterment and public service.... it's all about money & the needs of local towns be damned. Of course, ir's been like this for years.

 

[mbatchelor]

The new tower site in Overland, MO off of Page should give very good coverage to anywhere on the Missouri Side of the river, including St. Charles County. I think if I were Clear Channel, I'd buy 100.1 FM in DeSoto to relay 100.3 into the South part of the metro. It looks as though you will barely hear 100.3 in its current Alton, IL city of license. They should have never flipped 100.3 from Urban music, the signal is just not good enough in suburban areas to pull off a non-urban format.

I've heard that The Sound (100.3) is failing miserably. The station keeps making fun of its broadcast signal and telling people to listen online. I know that they must be lower power because when I listen in the car, the signal is sometimes good and sometimes poor and I do like the format, but if its failing I suppose the station will be sold or change format again.

The Sound is licensed to Illinois, and its tower is in Illinois. Any station with a tower in Illinois is limited by FCC rules to being a class B station. Class B stations are roughly the equivalent of class C2's as they have a shorter tower height and lower power limit than a class C, a class C0 or a class C1. I can't remember the tower height of each, but a class B cannot exceed an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts (adjusted for height).

The Sound will actually be downgrading its signal strength as its power and tower height will go down. However, it will also change its city of license to Bridgeton and will have a tower in Missouri, thus bringing it closer to the center of the market. In other words, after this summer's change, your mileage may vary. If you live in northern Jefferson County, the central city or West County, you'll either get a better signal or notice no change if you already get The Sound well. If you live much south of Arnold or in Foristell on the St. Charles/Warren County line, you're still not likely to get the station on every radio you own. If you live in Belleville or Jerseyville, you'll probably wish 100.3 had kept the Alton tower it's had for many years!

 

[justpassingthough]

The Sound will actually be downgrading its signal strength as its power and tower height will go down....<snip>... If you live in Belleville or Jerseyville, you'll probably wish 100.3 had kept the Alton tower it's had for many years!

Thx for the 411. All these changes in license & focus on larger markets makes me sad because I lived in a small town for a while who had lost any sense of "local" broadcasting as the "local" station programmed for the big city about 45 miles away and THEN the community lost its station altogether when tower and license moved.

So much for the fiction that the airwaves are public property and the whole idea of community betterment and public service.... it's all about money & the needs of local towns be damned. Of course, ir's been like this for years.

There is an argument to be made that stations that move into more highly populated areas are, in fact, serving the public interests better, as they are reaching more of the public. America has rapidly gone from a rural to a suburban to a somewhat urban country in the span of about 70 years. Spacing and allocation of radio stations, if done today, rather than back in the 30s would probably take even more of these frequencies away from the small towns and place them in or closer to big cities.

 

[wprt949]

a year ago this week 100.3 the beat died