Good News For Many of the Area's Country Music Fans

[Barry]

According to an email I received from WFAS, 106.3 will no longer be simulcasting that station.
Instead, WFAF will rebroadcast country WDBY, Kicks 105.5, beginning March 1.
The 106.3 signal is much improved over the past few years, and reaches most of Westchester County, and a decent chunk of the Nassau County and Fairfield Counties. It comes in decent in much of the Bronx.
Kicks 105.5, for those not familiar with it, plays lots of country tunes from the past 20 years or so, in addition to the current hits. It has live dj's from 6 am-7 pm.
So, country fans driving in the metro area can keep their radios tuned to 106.3, and hear country music either from Kicks 105.5, or NJ's Thunder Country .

 

[Barry]

This change is already being reflected by WFAS.
'FAS, which has mentioned 106.3 on the station ID's, now only identifies using the main frequency, 103.9.
The WFAS website now also only mentions 103.9.
WFAF 106.3 has started running spots stating, "Country is coming back to New York."
Kudos to Cumulus Media.

 

[ansky212]

There is a lot of overlap in the coverage areas of 105.5 and 106.3, but I think the people in southern Westchester will benefit most from this. In any case, it just goes to show how country music is alive and well (maybe even better than ever).

 

[Barry]

There is a lot of overlap in the coverage areas of 105.5 and 106.3...

In many parts of the metro area, WDBY's signal on 105.5 gets hammered by WDHA from NJ. The WFAF simulcast fixes that problem. And 106.3's signal extends much further south and west than WDBY's.
I wonder whether WFAF's callsign will change, perhaps to something similar to WDBY.

 

[TonySantiago]

Someone else posted another thread on this so I'll repeat that this is a start Congratulations country music fans

 

[Barry]

I wonder whether splitting WFAF from its simulcast with WFAS is an indication that the long delayed move of the latter's tower to the Bronx may occur soon.
Cumulus has many country stations, and of course linking WFAF to Kicks 105.5 is an expansion of their country programming in this area. Maybe, just maybe, they may be considering changing WFAS to country too, once the move takes place? WFAS signal will not be as strong as many of the other New York stations. So they may need to go with a format that none of the others are offering.
Nationally, Cumulus has flipped some of their stations to their new Great Country format.

 

[davideduardo]

There is a lot of overlap in the coverage areas of 105.5 and 106.3, but I think the people in southern Westchester will benefit most from this. In any case, it just goes to show how country music is alive and well (maybe even better than ever).

WFAF and WDBY have no overlap on either the 65 or 70 dbu contours.... and only a bit on the 60. They are very complimentary, in fact, although being home to separate markets means they will have some unique sales challenges.

WFAF was billing less than $10 k a month, so nothing to lose there.

 

[frozenfiresb]

106.3's signal looks stronger on paper than it is. It is located in Mount Kisco or Bedford which isn't the most populous part of Westchester. In the Bronx, it's usually unlistenable due to pirates. I can't speak for Rockland, but I'm on the western side of Westchester and 15 mins away from both Kisco and White Plains and WFAS (103.9) comes in better than 106.3 in my neighborhood.

 

[Barry]

106.3's signal looks stronger on paper than it is. It is located in Mount Kisco or Bedford which isn't the most populous part of Westchester. In the Bronx, it's usually unlistenable due to pirates. I can't speak for Rockland, but I'm on the western side of Westchester and 15 mins away from both Kisco and White Plains and WFAS (103.9) comes in better than 106.3 in my neighborhood.

WFAF has a decent signal in much of southern Westchester and White Plains (the more heavily populated areas of the county). As for pirates, many of them are off the air on weekdays. I've heard WFAF in the Bronx, and it tends to come in weak but acceptable.
I believe country fans will put up with a less than perfect signal from WFAF, as in much of the area it reaches, there are no other country stations that can be heard.

 

[yossefgershon]

WFAS cannot be heard in Brooklyn due to a pirate on 103.9----but things can change:k-love can be heard here in midwood since the pirate moved to 96.5!!!!

 

[stationless listener]

I wonder whether splitting WFAF from its simulcast with WFAS is an indication that the long delayed move of the latter's tower to the Bronx may occur soon.
Cumulus has many country stations, and of course linking WFAF to Kicks 105.5 is an expansion of their country programming in this area. Maybe, just maybe, they may be considering changing WFAS to country too, once the move takes place? WFAS signal will not be as strong as many of the other New York stations. So they may need to go with a format that none of the others are offering.
Nationally, Cumulus has flipped some of their stations to their new Great Country format

That is one possibility. I went and checked the contours of the signals (60 dbu) of WFAF, the current stick of WFAS and the contruction permit for the stick in The Bronx:

WFAF: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://tr...06.3&contour=60&city=MOUNT_KISCO&state=NY.kml

WFAS (current): http://maps.google.com/?q=http://tr...103.9&contour=60&city=BRONXVILLE&state=NY.kml

WFAS (cp): http://maps.google.com/?q=http://tr...103.9&contour=60&city=BRONXVILLE&state=NY.kml

WFAF's signal seems to go on a NW-to-SE pattern, just getting past the Fairfield county coastline. Southern Westchester past Scarsdale would not benefit all that much from the country format. If they want to reach that area they might want to flip 103.9. The question is do they stay on their current stick or fire up the Bronx stick? They'll be able to reach into Queens and Nassau counties but would those folks living there be receptive to that music? Also, what would happen to the current listeners of WFAS? They might switch to one of the big city stations like 106.7 or even 102.7. Still, the opportunity is there for them to try it out.

 

[ansky212]

WFAS cannot be heard in Brooklyn due to a pirate on 103.9----but things can change:k-love can be heard here in midwood since the pirate moved to 96.5!!!!

There is also a very strong pirate on 103.9 in the Newark area.

 

[Barry]

Perhaps Press Communications should have tried to buy WFAF 106.3, and used it to simulcast their Thunder Country. Thunder Country/WKMK, also on 106.3, receives interference fron WFAF's signal in Bergen County, NJ. and other areas. If they owned both, Thunder could be simulcast on WFAF. Then it could be heard throughout northeastern NJ and during drives throughout the Metro area.

 

[bigtom101]

Perhaps Press Communications should have tried to buy WFAF 106.3, and used it to simulcast their Thunder Country. Thunder Country/WKMK, also on 106.3, receives interference fron WFAF's signal in Bergen County, NJ. and other areas. If they owned both, Thunder could be simulcast on WFAF. Then it could be heard throughout northeastern NJ and during drives throughout the Metro area.

Cumulus didn't want to sell it. They had their own plans for it it seems.

 

[xmradiopro]

I'm a little confussed....is WFAS 103.9 FM also flipping to Country ?

 

[ansky212]

I'm a little confussed....is WFAS 103.9 FM also flipping to Country ?

No, it is just WFAF 106.3 that will be changing. 103.9 will remain the same at least for now.

 

[Barry]

Here is an indication of how well well country music is doing in the area. The Nov.- January ratings just came out for NJ's Monmouth-Ocean market.
Thunder Country was #4, with a 4.9 overall. It was the highest rated music station, as the top 3 on the list were talk and sports oriented. Thunder's ratings have been growing steadily since last Spring, when they were at 3.3.
WPUR, Cat Country from out in Pennsylvania, managed to get .6.

Monmouth-Ocean: http://www.radio-info.com/markets/m...gn=ab9232c6cf-TRI_02-28-2012&utm_medium=email

 

[WNTIRadio]

If you check out the ratings for WFAS, it isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. I think Lite, CBS-FM and Fresh have effectively killed 103.9. They have been doing the AC format for years and years, perhaps a switch to something else is in order? Don't know if that would be country. If it was, I'd imagine that it wouldn't be a simulcast of Kicks 105.5. Danbury and NYC are two very different things, and no offense to the Kicks airstaff, but I don't think some of them are NYC material yet.

 

[ansky212]

Danbury and NYC are two very different things, and no offense to the Kicks airstaff, but I don't think some of them are NYC material yet.

WFAS doesn't target NYC though, so I doubt they would have many listeners in the city anyway if they simulcasted the KICKS format.

 

[Barry]

If you check out the ratings for WFAS, it isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. I think Lite, CBS-FM and Fresh have effectively killed 103.9. They have been doing the AC format for years and years, perhaps a switch to something else is in order? Don't know if that would be country. If it was, I'd imagine that it wouldn't be a simulcast of Kicks 105.5. Danbury and NYC are two very different things, and no offense to the Kicks airstaff, but I don't think some of them are NYC material yet.

'FAS also has strong competition from the very powerful and successful WHUD 100.7.
According to radio site FMQB, WFAS just got a new PD, who was previously at sister A/C station WEBE. So apparently 'FAS will remain A/C, at least for now.
If Cumulus goes ahead and moves its stick to the Bronx, country would seem to be a possibility. As I had posted earlier, Cumulus operates many country stations, and has made some flips to its Great Country format.
Another hole in the market may be smooth jazz. The format has been making a comeback in various markets, as large as Chicago, on stations that run less power than the competition. SJ may make sense for a relatively low power station broadcasting out of northern New York City.