There are a few stations that still appreciated long distance listeners, such as as the religious station 106.9 which covers parts of Asheville, Greenville-Spartanburg, and Charlotte markets. And they have billboards in all these areas promoting the station. And 99.9 from Asheville also has a historically strong signal, now as a country format. From Charlotte, 107.9 has always been strong but now has interference from low power stations in Asheville, Greenville, and Columbia. I remember visiting relatives in Greenville and Asheville in the 90's and 107.9 and 95.1 always came in clear.
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Charlotte Ratings Posted 04/21/22
- Thread starter amfmradio1
- Start date
Okay we know the ads on the distant stations don't have much benefit outside the local area. What I object to is when one of these low power stations sits on top of one of these large coverage stations resulting in a big area where all you hear is mush or two stations fighting over the frequency. It makes the FM band a real mess. That doesn't work for anyone.
The terrain in this area isn't completely flat either, which is a factor when going down a hill with the station up the hill in the opposite direction, for example. I've gotten a better signal from Charlotte stations in parts of Greenville at times than in closer, lower valley places in Spartanburg County.
Not unique in that regard.
The Philadelphia DMA has the Philadelphia, Allentown, Wilmington DE, Reading, and Trenton radio markets.
The Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto DMA has the Sacramento, Stockton, and Modesto radio markets.
The Waco-Temple-Bryan DMA has the Waco, Killeen-Temple, and Bryan-College Station radio markets.
Just to name a few.
Seems to be a nationwide problem that has developed in the last 10 years. Can't get WFBC-93.7 in Charlotte anymore and 107.9-WLNK has interference now in Greenville where it used to be clear.
But really, how many listeners are truly aggrieved when this happens? When classic hits WNTY in Southington, CT, fired up its 96.1 translator, some folks found that it ruined their (fringe) reception of AC WSRS Worcester, MA, or that the signals canceled each other out and turned the frequency to hash. Big deal. You could probably count on two hands the number of people who found this a major disruption in their listening habits. After all, they had two Hartford ACs (WRCH and WTIC-FM) and a rock-centric classic hits (WHCN) to listen to undisturbed -- and all but the DXers, radio geeks and Worcester-area transplants were likely listening to those stations anyway. Translators don't "make the FM band a real mess" because the average radio user (not us!) only listens to strong local signals, none of which are being compromised by translators.
Back in 1997 there was a complaint that WZLS 96.5 in Asheville hadn't used proper procedures and was wrongly chosen to occupy the frequency. Another rock station called WZRQ ended up signing on, but WZLS hadn't signed off. The towers were in different locations, but it made for an interesting few days.
Allow me to try to explain. Before a translator occupies said frequency a class C 100 KW station has had that frequency to itself. You could go down the interstate for a respectable distance with no problem, listening to a strong interference free signal. Now park some yutz on that frequency with enough power to ruin the coverage of the primary station and you have a vast area where the two stations fight it out going back and forth, nobody wins. This happens on more than one place on the FM band.
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There are plenty of us out there --- myself included --- that miss the ability to listen to "DX" on 3 Meters. I even had Friends who listened to "Out of State" Stations due to my recommendations. Sadly those days are long gone b/c all the FCC truly cares about are Licensing Fees these days. For every License they make some $$$ despite the Type of License it still costs $$$. Okay off my Soap Box for Now.... Steve.
Well put Mike. Steve.
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