Dial changes coming to Bowling Green

[smarty_pants]

Looks as though a CP for an upgrade at 106.5 WHHT (Country – Horse Cave, KY) for Commonwealth Broadcasting is almost complete which means some dial changes for formats in Southern Kentucky. WHHT is getting a power increase to 50kw and moving the tower just north of Bowling Green giving it Commonwealth’s largest signal in their cluster. A frequency change is also in order from 106.5 to 106.3 once the upgrade is complete later this month.

It would appear Commonwealth is going to move the studios of 106.3 to Bowling Green (with Classic Hits - Sam 100.7 WKLX). The new antenna looks to be ready on a tower just outside of Smiths Grove with the STL directed back to BG.

It appears some formats are going to be shuffled to take advantage of the signal upgrade for WHHT. My 105.3 WOVO (Adult Top 40/25kw) is promoting a move up the dial and an improved WOVO 106.3 coming later this month.

103.7 The Point WPTQ (Rock/25kw) is also promoting a migration to 105.3 soon.

A few questions come to mind:

Will the new WOVO 106.3 abandon the jock-in-a-box Dial Global format in favor of something more local with the move to Bowling Green?

Will WOVO 106.3 tweak the format closer to or away from WUHU 107.1?

Is the move from 103.7 to 105.3 for The Point much of an upgrade?

Will Country on WHHT move to 103.7 or will a whole new format emerge? If so, let the speculation begin. The format hole in the area is for a work friendly Adult Contemporary or Soft AC which would be a good choice after debuting as 103.7 North Pole Radio before Halloween.

Will the dial changes confuse the listeners?

Should be fun to watch later this month.

 

[TheOtherRadioRob]

I would think the move to 106.3 with that kind of power and tower location *may* get it into Owensboro. It was formerly the frequency of WLLS (now WXMZ) which moved recently to 99.9.

 

[FatPunkBastard]

Will the dial changes confuse the listeners?

Nope.

 

[jwhite6069]

A few questions come to mind:

Will the new WOVO 106.3 abandon the jock-in-a-box Dial Global format in favor of something more local with the move to Bowling Green?

I would hope so, the jock in a box automation is one reason I don't listen to WOVO.

Will WOVO 106.3 tweak the format closer to or away from WUHU 107.1?

Not really sure about this one.

Is the move from 103.7 to 105.3 for The Point much of an upgrade?

The move to 105.3 WILL put a stronger signal over Bowling Green, If I remember correctly the 103.7 site only puts a city grade signal over about half of Bowling Green. While 105.3 has Bowling Green completely covered with a city grade signal.

Will Country on WHHT move to 103.7 or will a whole new format emerge? If so, let the speculation begin. The format hole in the area is for a work friendly Adult Contemporary or Soft AC which would be a good choice after debuting as 103.7 North Pole Radio before Halloween.

If it were up to me, I would change to format. Never really cared for the Howdy format. It will never compete with The Beaver or WGGC. As for a new format, Soft AC might work, maybe an FM talker would work, or maybe the "true oldies" format.

Will the dial changes confuse the listeners?

Not unless they are totally stupid. But this area has it's fair share of dumb people.

 

[smarty_pants]

Changes seem to have gone off without too many complications. The new WOVO 106.3 did not shun the jock-in-a-box automation. However, they have added more local content and they did switch from Dial Global's Hot AC to the mainstream AC delivered by the Storq system. Probably a good move.

A bit surprised that Commonwealth held on to the Country format Howdy 103.7. WGGC and WBVR seem to have a lock in the format with Willie taking up the older demos with the Real Country format aimed at Glasgow. Wouldn't be surprised to see 103.7 be the new format of the month club that 106.5/7 and even 105.3 has been in recent years.

WOVO 106.3 and Sam 100.7 now seem to have a lot of overlap... Fleetwood Mac, Journey, REO Speedwagon... Sam could be hurt more so than WUHU.

Speaking of WUHU, it needs some attention. The station is stale. It needs to go straight ahead CHR and get an image update pronto... and get rid of Dawson McAllister. CHR is the hottest format right now and WUHU isn't doing itself any favors trying to walk the line between CHR and Hot AC. If WUHU doesn't get its act together, maybe Commonwealth should bring back "Hottest Hits 103.7 WHHT".

And finally, 105.3 the Point sounds great... could spell trouble for D93 which needs to focus on Classic Rock - was that really Garbage "Only Happen When it Rains" I heard last week?

 

[jwhite6069]

WDNS has been a train wreck for a while now, I'm surprised anyone even listens to them. Howdy is a joke, They will never compete with the Beaver and WGGC even in Glasgow. Speaking of WGGC, In my opinion they seem to be aimed at the less intelligent and less educated country listeners seeing how they call themselves "Goober 95.1". That is why I won't listen to them, The Beaver seems to have a better product aimed at the more intelligent country listeners.

 

[jason99]

The format hole in the area is for a work friendly Adult Contemporary or Soft AC which would be a good choice


When you say format hole do you mean no other station is playing the format?

Lite 102.3 out of Glasgow and Love 99.3 out of Scottsville both play Adult Contemporary.

 

[smarty_pants]

When you say format hole do you mean no other station is playing the format?

Lite 102.3 out of Glasgow and Love 99.3 out of Scottsville both play Adult Contemporary.

Neither Lite 102.3 or Love 99.3 put a competitive signal into Bowling Green. However, WOVO 106.3 is now filling that void after having moved from Hot AC to Mainstream AC.

 

[junket]

A bit surprised that Commonwealth held on to the Country format Howdy 103.7. WGGC and WBVR seem to have a lock in the format with Willie taking up the older demos with the Real Country format aimed at Glasgow. Wouldn't be surprised to see 103.7 be the new format of the month club that 106.5/7 and even 105.3 has been in recent years.

There is apparently an unwritten rule that WHHT must have the crappiest signal of the BG cluster. My guess is that the only reason for the continued country existence of WHHT is just to bleed numbers off of WGGC & WBVR/WYLE. While it's amusing to watch Newberry destroy stations with format changes on a whim every 3 months, this one takes the cake. You bet they'll lose listeners. It's like they enrolled the FMs in the witness protection program to hide from listeners.

WDNS has been a train wreck for a while now, I'm surprised anyone even listens to them. Howdy is a joke, They will never compete with the Beaver and WGGC even in Glasgow. Speaking of WGGC, In my opinion they seem to be aimed at the less intelligent and less educated country listeners seeing how they call themselves "Goober 95.1". That is why I won't listen to them, The Beaver seems to have a better product aimed at the more intelligent country listeners.

I'm in total agreement. D93 has become the skank option and even with the Point's identity crisis, they won't be able to compete. The newspaper just keeps them as a tax write off. WGGC is just sad to listen to. This Goober crap is insulting to themselves, their listeners, and the heritage of that station.

 

[jwhite6069]

Junket,
I agree with you on everything you said. With that in mind, I think 103.7's signal is probably worth more than the station. If it were my station, I might be looking into leasing the signal out to WYLE or WVLE, even though 103.7 does not completely cover the market with a city grade signal....It's better than either of those two stations signals.

As for WDNS it's pretty obvious to me that Daily News is not going to spend any money on them anytime soon. Under the current management/format WDNS is just pointless.

 

[smarty_pants]

Junket said:

D93 has become the skank option and even with the Point's identity crisis, they won't be able to compete. The newspaper just keeps them as a tax write off.

I think this is pretty harsh criticism of D93. I believe the D93 crew is basically a bunch of hippies kickin' it old school radio which is refreshing when compared to all the other cookie cutter options. While I am not a fan of D93's music personally, I do enjoy listening to classic rock and it is great to hear a station that is not so repetitive. D93 happens to be too deep for my taste and I feel as though many listeners probably feel the same, but they have their following. The Point much better suits my listening preference aside from some of the newer stuff. For me, because I have to listen to 3 or 4 deep cuts I do not recognize to hear one song I recognize/like, I find myself not sticking around very long. That being said, I have found myself cranking D93 when they play a song I haven't heard in years.

With revenues at newspapers falling sharply, I am not so sure WDNS is a tax write off any longer - if that was ever the case.

jwhite6069 said:

As for WDNS it's pretty obvious to me that Daily News is not going to spend any money on them anytime soon. Under the current management/format WDNS is just pointless.

It's interesting to read the programming philosphy at D93.
http://www.wdnsfm.com/about-d93.php
I find it interesting there is never a mention of the "Duck" years.

jwhite6069 also said:

I think 103.7's signal is probably worth more than the station. If it were my station, I might be looking into leasing the signal out to WYLE or WVLE, even though 103.7 does not completely cover the market with a city grade signal....It's better than either of those two stations signals.

Of course, Newberry is not going to lease 103.7 to anyone. The current Howdy 103.7 format is baffling. It's as though they have given up trying to serve BG with the 103.7 signal and have decided to focus on Barren & Hart County. This path immediately makes the stick worth less. The value in the signal is what it can do in Warren County - the business hub of the region. Newberry needs to rethink this one - even moving ESPN radio to FM would be a better use of the signal and a great place to park some of the sports running on the Point and Sam.

 

[jwhite6069]

ah yes, If you though WDNS was a bad rock station, they were an even worse country station. They were so bad that I tried to block them out of my mind!

 

[NashvilleNative]

I live in NE Davidson County TN - Old Hickory to be exact. I have a pretty good shot to the East and Northeast thanks to being elevated above the lake, so BG reception is better than average at my house. I was very pleased to hear WOVO on 106.3 (except it killed my part 15 frequency, as it was the only clear one this close to Nashville). I discovered it by accident on seek on my home stereo one morning. The signal is marginally stronger than 105.3 was here - only marginally. In fact, it's almost the same. I guess since the tower is further North now. Are they at full 50kW already? I can listen on 3 good home radios, but only due to my elevation. No chance on the road. 95.1 is clear as a bell. 96.7 decent.

Nashville has a HUGE AC void, so it leaves us looking to surrounding signals.

 

[KYradioJake]

I live in NE Davidson County TN - Old Hickory to be exact. I have a pretty good shot to the East and Northeast thanks to being elevated above the lake, so BG reception is better than average at my house. I was very pleased to hear WOVO on 106.3 (except it killed my part 15 frequency, as it was the only clear one this close to Nashville). I discovered it by accident on seek on my home stereo one morning. The signal is marginally stronger than 105.3 was here - only marginally. In fact, it's almost the same. I guess since the tower is further North now. Are they at full 50kW already? I can listen on 3 good home radios, but only due to my elevation. No chance on the road. 95.1 is clear as a bell. 96.7 decent.

Nashville has a HUGE AC void, so it leaves us looking to surrounding signals.

95.1 has pretty decent reception in all of Nashville, doesn't it? I'd say a few of the BG stations are quite listenable in Nashville, just like many of the Nashville stations are clear in BG (like 107.5, for instance--it comes in well in BG).

 

[Lawppy]

107.5 is a beast! They make it to Bowling Green and well beyond. I've even sniffed them out of the static in the south Louisville suburbs and even into Southern Indiana!

I live in Michigan, but have family in Bowling Green. I love the radio dial you guys have. I guess good luck to Howdy 103.7. My family is all about WGGC and from what I gather, they are THE country station in those parts.

 

[jwhite6069]

I think 96.7 WBVR "The Beaver" tops 95.1 The Uneducated "Goober" WGGC most of the time.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I think 96.7 WBVR "The Beaver" tops 95.1 The Uneducated "Goober" WGGC most of the time.

Are 100.3 The Beaver and 96.7 The Beaver related? We listened to 100.3 a lot at Ky Lake last summer...good sounding station.

 

[greg.hahn]

107.5 is a beast! They make it to Bowling Green and well beyond. I've even sniffed them out of the static in the south Louisville suburbs and even into Southern Indiana!

They are a beast, but receiving them in the Louisville area is amazing.

How did you null out 107.7? What kind of receiver did you use that has such narrow bandwidth it could reject such an overpowering signal on the first adjacent channel?

 

[jwhite6069]

I think 96.7 WBVR "The Beaver" tops 95.1 The Uneducated "Goober" WGGC most of the time.

Are 100.3 The Beaver and 96.7 The Beaver related? We listened to 100.3 a lot at Ky Lake last summer...good sounding station.

They used to be the same, But these days the only thing they share is the "Beaver" name. Back in the Day, The Beaver was on the 101.1 Class C1 Blowtorch just outside of Springfied TN. Today the tower is home to 101.1 The Beat, However is still licensed to Russellville KY. In some point in the Late 90's The Beaver sold 101.1 to Sinclair out of Nashville and 101.1 became "The Juice" kinda a Soft Urban AC directed at Nashville. The Beaver then Simulcasted on 96.7 and 100.3 and later 94.1 too. Before they added 94.1 The Beaver's listener ship suffered east of Bowling Green due to 96.7 only being a class A signal on Briggs Hill, it just could not put a good signal over Glasgow and Beyond. A couple of years later the Beaver got their hands on 94.1 in Glasgow and that Fixed the Poor Coverage east of Bowling Green problem. I find it funny that it took 3 stations to match close to the same coverage that 101.1 could do. In the early 2000's the Beaver was purchased by Forever communications. At the same time a class A station in Bardstown that was on 96.7 moved to 107.3, This paved the way for The Beaver to upgrade 96.7. WBVR was re-licensed to Auburn KY and moved to the same stick that WUHU 107 was on in Northern Allen County, The Beaver then had 45kw at 423 feet. Then the Beaver on 100.3 in Hopkinsville was sold to Saga Commmunications and is still called the Beaver, but the simulcast was over. 94.1 then Became Willie 94.1 and still is today.

 

[radiorob2.0]

I think 96.7 WBVR "The Beaver" tops 95.1 The Uneducated "Goober" WGGC most of the time.

Are 100.3 The Beaver and 96.7 The Beaver related? We listened to 100.3 a lot at Ky Lake last summer...good sounding station.

They used to be the same, But these days the only thing they share is the "Beaver" name. Back in the Day, The Beaver was on the 101.1 Class C1 Blowtorch just outside of Springfied TN. Today the tower is home to 101.1 The Beat, However is still licensed to Russellville KY. In some point in the Late 90's The Beaver sold 101.1 to Sinclair out of Nashville and 101.1 became "The Juice" kinda a Soft Urban AC directed at Nashville. The Beaver then Simulcasted on 96.7 and 100.3 and later 94.1 too. Before they added 94.1 The Beaver's listener ship suffered east of Bowling Green due to 96.7 only being a class A signal on Briggs Hill, it just could not put a good signal over Glasgow and Beyond. A couple of years later the Beaver got their hands on 94.1 in Glasgow and that Fixed the Poor Coverage east of Bowling Green problem. I find it funny that it took 3 stations to match close to the same coverage that 101.1 could do. In the early 2000's the Beaver was purchased by Forever communications. At the same time a class A station in Bardstown that was on 96.7 moved to 107.3, This paved the way for The Beaver to upgrade 96.7. WBVR was re-licensed to Auburn KY and moved to the same stick that WUHU 107 was on in Northern Allen County, The Beaver then had 45kw at 423 feet. Then the Beaver on 100.3 in Hopkinsville was sold to Saga Commmunications and is still called the Beaver, but the simulcast was over. 94.1 then Became Willie 94.1 and still is today.

I go back when 101.1 was KQ-101 (WAKQ), former sister station to WRUS. That was when they were running TM Stereo Rock. Just before the owners of WRUS sold the signal they moved the antenna to Springfield and actually went after Nashville as "The Beaver". The effort scored them a two share against WSM, WSM-FM and WSIX.