Driving back to work from lunch (at 12:30pm) today, I scanned the radio to find AM 730 is now on the air. Here in Morganton, I'm getting a rather good "car radio" signal but with some significant "splatter" from AM 760 WCIS. On the office radio there's no signal.
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Groove 730 AM - Now On the Air!
- Thread starter eacalhoun1
- Start date
Just in time.
Majic 94.1 went Christian yesterday.
Majic 94.1 went Christian yesterday.
Listening to them now on night power and it still sounds good.
Mike Sheridan said:
Mike, do you care to identify your location in proximity to the Belmont site to give a better idea of the night signal?
eacalhoun1 said:
Yes I can do better than that. I live on the east side of Charlotte around Independence and Idlewild. Later at night the signal seemed to go down in strength even further than at sunset. It might be band conditions I don't know. Tonight I could hear them on my drive from home to work in Huntersville but I doubt many people would listen to the station with all the background noise. Not bad for 194 watts at night in 2010, some of the higher powered AM's don't make it to Huntersville at night.
My first impressions of the format is, it's rather bland. Music wise they are playing it very safe. Most of what I heard, Lite and K already play. Even Majic 94.1 had more variety in their music. Part of the fun should be a wider than FM playlist with some "oh wow" factor. I did hear The Byrds, "Eight Miles High" which I don't hear very often but that was about it. The announcer who's name I don't remember does a good job. He is providing some music trivia and he has a good voice but he's very stiff. He needs to loosen up, relate a little and have some fun with it. For example I never heard him say, "Hey it's our first day, we're very excited about the new station and happy to have you listening". It's the first day so a bit unfair to critique now. I liked hearing the North Carolina News Network newscasts.
Imaging between the songs is good, but I can't tell if they are saying Z-730-AM or V-730-AM. WZGV not the easiest set of call letters to say! I haven't hear them call it Groove so I guess they changed their minds on that.
I keep thinking, with no disrespect intended, how long will the format last? Mainly because I have seen so many come and go. I hope they do well, it would be nice to have an AM English language music station in Charlotte.
I’m surprised how good their night signal is at 190 watts. I picked it up all over Charlotte and this morning down into SC on low power. Music mix is pretty good but not as good as WRBK. Like Mike I also wonder how long they will stick around before they pull the plug. ???
Mike (and others)...
I did an FCC query of WZGV to see what kind -- if any-- of pre-sunrise, post sunset power they may have thinking this could explain the gradually degrading signal you experienced in the late evening. I discovered that what they can utilize both pre-sunrise and post sunset is way down in the 20-30 watt range -- MUCH less than the 190 watts where they are authorized. So -- yeah -- I'd stick with the 190. However, it would be nice if they could at least get 500 watts pre-sunrise. I picked "500" because -- and someone correct me if I'm wrong -- 500 watts is all I've ever seen for pre-sunrise, which is 6am until sunrise. That would certainly help with the morning drive. I do hope HRN will stick with this format for more than a year -- give it some time. I know that's easy for us armchair quarterbacks to say, because it's not our money. But, I think HRN's history with a "new" station like their 1350 in Black Mtn speaks for itself. Since HRN acquired the Black Mtn station and boosted its daytime power from 1 kw to 10 kw in 2004, it's been Talk, Sports, Oldies, Classic Country and currently Southern Gospel. I don't want to see Z-730 go down the same path.
Also, I agree with the "wow factor" songs. Throw in say, a couple of these an hour? I love any old song whether it's AC-oriented, country, etc, that was released as a single but didn't really "set the world on fire". How many times have you listened to some small-town station where the DJ brings his own stash from home or else the station has a great archive and you hear a song that you remember but you also realize that you haven't heard the song on radio since it was released as a single? Here is a song that came to mind over the weekend, and would this qualify as a "wow factor" song: Young Hearts, Run Free by Candi Staton
I did an FCC query of WZGV to see what kind -- if any-- of pre-sunrise, post sunset power they may have thinking this could explain the gradually degrading signal you experienced in the late evening. I discovered that what they can utilize both pre-sunrise and post sunset is way down in the 20-30 watt range -- MUCH less than the 190 watts where they are authorized. So -- yeah -- I'd stick with the 190. However, it would be nice if they could at least get 500 watts pre-sunrise. I picked "500" because -- and someone correct me if I'm wrong -- 500 watts is all I've ever seen for pre-sunrise, which is 6am until sunrise. That would certainly help with the morning drive. I do hope HRN will stick with this format for more than a year -- give it some time. I know that's easy for us armchair quarterbacks to say, because it's not our money. But, I think HRN's history with a "new" station like their 1350 in Black Mtn speaks for itself. Since HRN acquired the Black Mtn station and boosted its daytime power from 1 kw to 10 kw in 2004, it's been Talk, Sports, Oldies, Classic Country and currently Southern Gospel. I don't want to see Z-730 go down the same path.
Also, I agree with the "wow factor" songs. Throw in say, a couple of these an hour? I love any old song whether it's AC-oriented, country, etc, that was released as a single but didn't really "set the world on fire". How many times have you listened to some small-town station where the DJ brings his own stash from home or else the station has a great archive and you hear a song that you remember but you also realize that you haven't heard the song on radio since it was released as a single? Here is a song that came to mind over the weekend, and would this qualify as a "wow factor" song: Young Hearts, Run Free by Candi Staton
I was disappointed that they don't have a signal in Hendersonville, NC. I thought with 10K at 730, they would be listenable here, but splatter from 720 is terrible. Even during moments of silence on 720, WZGV still can only be heard very faintly. Does anyone know that they are in fact at full power? Just found their website:
http://www.z730.com/
http://www.z730.com/
WCIS is still on the FCC silent listing. I guess you can't trust the internets!eacalhoun1 said:
quadraphonic said:WCIS is still on the FCC silent listing. I guess you can't trust the internets!eacalhoun1 said:
Yep, they're well and on the air. After a fire in Feb 2008 took them off the air -- destroying studios and transmitter -- they were back on in less than 2 months and have been on ever since. So, yeah, that "silent" list needs updating.
I too hope they stick with it. If they need ratings to sell spots I just don't know. I think we'll see the format wheel spin as we've seen stations do many times before.
Now before anyone starts with AM's inferior sound quality I think it's nice to hear a station that doesn't have 7-8 commercials in a never ending spot set.
I'd like to hear them play "Chevy Van" by Sammy Johns. After all he was a local Gastonia boy!
Now before anyone starts with AM's inferior sound quality I think it's nice to hear a station that doesn't have 7-8 commercials in a never ending spot set.
I'd like to hear them play "Chevy Van" by Sammy Johns. After all he was a local Gastonia boy!
They are booming into my SW Charlotte home via a cheap boombox! I love this station so far. Do you guys want a part time announcer? I have not been in front of the mic for 10 years and would love to come back to it! Minimum wage baby! Now...lets work on an FM translator...how about taking over 96.5 and 98.3??
PS...I am serious about the part time work! I have references!
PS...I am serious about the part time work! I have references!
gotta say I agree with Mike Sheridan, this station is playing music that is way safe, do want to give them a chance though, it was strange hearing Ken Conrad intro Changes by David Bowie this morning. The song I heard that make me want to slow down before I got home so I could hear it all "Nights on Broadway" by the Bee Gees. cheese I know but I love it.
I also agree with MP3Radioguy, WRBK is such a great station, wish they had a stronger signal in Charlotte.
I also agree with MP3Radioguy, WRBK is such a great station, wish they had a stronger signal in Charlotte.
fortmill said:
I agree, WRBK plays great music. I am only 37 and I love it. It reminds me somewhat of WNCT in Greenville. Great station. 730 is quite boring.
I think 730 IS automated or bird fed. The DJ yesterday afternoon may no local mentions, no station ID's, nothing...just liners after stopsets and between songs.
does anyone know what feed they are using for the music? The programmer of this service needs to rethink their programming strategy.
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