I was curious about the same thing, particularly "The Sound Of The Strip" HD-2 station, even though they have a similar HD-2 station in Dallas, which both of them stream live.cd637299 said:
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Even if the Sunny format stays on another signal, why would he abandon the powerhouse 104.3 signal?
ScottBurns said:
Yes, I'm surprised by that as well. But, an article in Radio Ink is speculating that Goodman and company might want to sell off 104.3 as a Miami-Ft. Lauderdale signal, making it considerably more valuable. Being this far south in the state, and the country, there might be enough "wiggle" room to make that happen, especially since they already put a huge signal into market #12. The key would be to re-license the signal to a city south of Boca, and get FCC approval to move the transmitter to one of the Hollywood area antennas, although they would most likely lose that massive full class C signal with that move.
Sunny's signal is very good in many parts of Broward, but it is not great in equally as many parts of Miami-Dade. Would there be limitations to moving to one of the sticks in Broward? For example, would Power 104.5 in Nassau limit such a move?
C
cd637299
Guest
ScottBurns said:
I was going to write a longer post, but it's too confusing. Suffice to say that Bahamas FM stations, whether in Nassau or Freeport, which are generally 5 kW power) don't even have a say in it; some are adjacent channel, and a few are even co-channel.
The pirate(s?) I hear in Broward/Dade on 104.5 might raise a stink, but they know better....
BTW, I am sure that 104.5 Nassau is no longer Power, but rather a relay of AM 1540, according to www.znsbahamas.com
cd
nfladxer said:
I don't think you need a big 100kw signal in Miami to make the station work -- as long as the antenna can be located somewhere along the border of Dade and Broward Counties. So, if they have to downgrade to move it into the market, it's worth it. Goodman probably will sell the license for a hefty price and let the new owner deal with all the crap. He can move "Sunny" to another signal and keep the calls and format. If that's the case, smart move.
FLjack2 said:
I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up spinning it with a clause in the contract requiring a hefty balloon payment if the station is moved into Miami. While I won't claim to be an engineer, it looks, on paper, like you could just pick 104.3 up and move it straight to the main Miami antenna farm. The only potential issue would be adjacent channel WWUS almost out in Key West. 104.3 has no second or third adjacent channels in Miami to worry about.
FLjack2 said:
Correct, with the right antenna location you wouldn't necessarily need 100kw for full market coverage. However, if such a move south to the Broward/Miami-Dade antenna farm is applied for and approved, and there are no short-spacing issues, 104.3 could still be 100kw. The limitation is this: Currently the WEAT-FM antenna is about 1273 feet above average terrain, and since the Miami antennas are limited to about 1007 ft., the signal would probably be downgraded to a C0 or C1. If this scenario plays out, and such a move is permitted, the new 104.3 would easily cover ALL of Broward and Miami-Dade, and most of Southern Palm Beach County. Also note that most of the major Miami-Fort Lauderdale FM signals are slightly directional North and South from the antennas, concentrating most of their power over the heavily populated areas of South Florida, and away from the Everglades and the Ocean.
I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up spinning it with a clause in the contract requiring a hefty balloon payment if the station is moved into Miami. While I won't claim to be an engineer, it looks, on paper, like you could just pick 104.3 up and move it straight to the main Miami antenna farm. The only potential issue would be adjacent channel WWUS almost out in Key West. 104.3 has no second or third adjacent channels in Miami to worry about.
[/quote]
Here's the rub. The Miami C FM's are stuck at 1000ft. So such a move would cause a downgrade to either a C1 or C0, and depending on the format they slap on it post-move, would further chew into market share in Miami.
WEAT-FM has a city grade signal throughout the entire Palm Beaches (Jupiter to Boca). So does 'RMF. 102.3 and 103.1 does not. They cover North and Central county and points north. Not so much south. 106.3, forget it. 107.9 covers where it has to (where WKIS doesn't). Where to move Sunny that you don't lose ratings and revenue.
Ratings and revenue. Second biggest issue after engineering such a pilgrimage.
Mr. Gleason? Dr. Tillery? The floor's all yours, gentlemen....
[/quote]
Here's the rub. The Miami C FM's are stuck at 1000ft. So such a move would cause a downgrade to either a C1 or C0, and depending on the format they slap on it post-move, would further chew into market share in Miami.
WEAT-FM has a city grade signal throughout the entire Palm Beaches (Jupiter to Boca). So does 'RMF. 102.3 and 103.1 does not. They cover North and Central county and points north. Not so much south. 106.3, forget it. 107.9 covers where it has to (where WKIS doesn't). Where to move Sunny that you don't lose ratings and revenue.
Ratings and revenue. Second biggest issue after engineering such a pilgrimage.
Mr. Gleason? Dr. Tillery? The floor's all yours, gentlemen....
If indeed the 104.3 signal is moved to the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market and sold off, to where do you think Sunny migrates? My guess is that WIRK is left at 107.9, as the station has Heritage at that dial position. The next best option is probably 102.3. While the station has incredible reach into the Treasure Coast, it does not do as poorly in southern Palm Beach County as 103.1.
Kent said:
I'm going to be a little cautious on Sunny moving to a new frequency, but a less drastic move, such as the WNEW format moving to 103.1 is something that really isn't out of the question.
F
fmradio1
Guest
Radio Ink is reporting that 104.3 and 106.3 will be the stations spun off, with Sunny moving to 103.1...
C
cd637299
Guest
fmradio1 said:
Wow. If so, there just might be something new and interesting on the horizon for 104.3. With Coast, Lite, & Easy here, if 104.3 wants to make inroads in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, I'd think they would try something different.
[All these stations in the thread can ditch the HD, so the DXer in me will be happy.
]cd
ScottBurns said:
Let's say that Nassau was protected as a C1, 100 kw at up to 981 feet. The 60 dbu protected contour is about 45 miles. A C0 on the Gannett is protected to about 53 miles. Miami to Nassau, depending on the points of reference, is around 190 miles, give or take.
As has been posted, the Nassau stations are at a much lower height and lower power, so having to protect them, even for a full C, is not going to be a problem.
RadioGuy2004 said:Mr. Gleason? Dr. Tillery? The floor's all yours, gentlemen....
You are quite right... if a frequency is potentially portable, it is customary to put a bonus payment in a contract that pays out when a CP is granted to move to the larger market.
As to the move, if the technical issues can be handled, we have a station moving from a $48 million a year market to a $250 million a year market. Miami has 18 viable stations, while WPB has 12... but the revenue to divide between the stations is much much higher.
I got a chance to look a little more at the spacing between WWUS and WEAT-FM this evening. Again, I will preface this by saying I'm not an engineer, and what I say shouldn't be taken as expert advice. However, it looks to me like WEAT-FM could easily be moved to the Broward-Dade antenna farm and clear short-spacing to WWUS by 12-18 km if it's downgraded to a C1. Considering WEDR, WLYF, and WAMR are C1's and have no trouble covering the market, WEAT-FM seems like a good target to become a Miami FM. Also, keep in mind that WCMQ-FM and WXDJ are C2's on a stick in downtown Miami. That location also looks to clear WWUS by 12-18 km if it downgrades to a C2. So, again, it looks like it would be possible to move WEAT-FM to that stick if the Broward-Dade antenna farm couldn't work for whatever reason.
From my non-expert standpoint, the biggest obstacle to WEAT-FM becoming a Miami move-in would be the FCC's recent reticence to letting stations move into urbanized areas, especially if they think such a move-in would come at the expense of an LPFM. I know of one case of an FM here in the Midwest trying to move into a larger market and being blocked because it would force an LPFM to move. Such a move to an unserved but independent city within an urbanized area was routine when they actually filed their application, but the FCC seems to have suddenly changed its requirements. No one seems to be sure exactly what those new requirements are, which is making some move-ins difficult.
From my non-expert standpoint, the biggest obstacle to WEAT-FM becoming a Miami move-in would be the FCC's recent reticence to letting stations move into urbanized areas, especially if they think such a move-in would come at the expense of an LPFM. I know of one case of an FM here in the Midwest trying to move into a larger market and being blocked because it would force an LPFM to move. Such a move to an unserved but independent city within an urbanized area was routine when they actually filed their application, but the FCC seems to have suddenly changed its requirements. No one seems to be sure exactly what those new requirements are, which is making some move-ins difficult.
Kent said:
The downtown site works for the two SBS stations because they are Spanish language facilities and the poorer coverage of central and northern Broward is not so significant as the Hispanic population in Broward is in the southern part of the county.
The Spanish language FM scene in the Miami MSA is pretty crowded, so I would not see a new entrant taking the facility to downtown and going Spanish. That pretty much means that the master antenna or one of the other towers at the county line would be the only viable alternative for a general market format.
fmradio1 said:
106.3 is not a surprise at all. However, Sunny's coverage would suffer if they moved to 103.1. Southern Palm Beach County and most listenership in Broward would be gone. Check out how spotty 103.1 can be in parts of Boca.
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