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Hey Mobile! You're finally getting some translators.

tomservo

tomservo

Seems like everyone in Alabama has been getting in on the translator scene over the last few years. Even Pensacola is getting in on the action now. Alas, poor Mobile has been left wanting. At least until now. Here's what I got so far as for new permits issued lately:


* W223BX - 92.5 - Saraland - 60 watts - relaying WABD (!)
* W243CY - 96.5 - Tillmans Corner - 250 watts - relaying WHIL
* W245BY - 96.9 - Daphne - 34 watts - relaying WHIL


All of these are ripe for the pickin', if anyone wants to step up. That WABD as parent to the 92.5 station really piques my interest since WABD doesn't run HD and Cumulus isn't known for getting into translators down here on the coast.

There's been no real progress on these existing translators, but they all seem to be lined up for something in the future:


* W258AY - 99.5 - Mobile - 250 watts - relaying WNTM (not on air)
* W262BL - 100.3 - Mobile - 250 watts - still on with 1 watt in Gulf Shores, relaying WHIL
* W295BB - 106.9 - Fairhope - 99 watts - relaying WABF 1220 (not on air)


For reference, the only ones on air in this area are:


* W214CD - 90.7 - Spanish Fort - 19 watts - relaying CSN
* W223AX - 92.5 - Foley - 250 watts - relaying WHEP 1310
* W239AP - 95.7 - Mobile - 99 watts - relaying WIJD 1270 (on low power after the WIJD town came down)
* W278AP - 103.5 - Spanish Fort - 99 watts - relaying WBHY-AM 840


Lots of possibilities here… And as I've been saying, "It's about durn time." :D
 
Cumulus could use that Saraland translator to launch a tight Hip Hop station to complement 93-BLX. This might keep Clear Channel from putting Hip Hop or any urban format on a Mobile translator to chip away some of WDLT's or WBLX's ratings.

I'm also wondering if 92 Zew might be in the market for a translator. They've been carrying those Internet only stations, 92 Blues and 92 New, for a long time. Blues or Alternative might be a nice addition to the Mobile dial and Zew apparently thinks Mobile has a market for them to keep carrying them online... Zew also has years of online listing stats to gauge the demand.
 
Unless the Zew crew (ha) pops for HD, they don't have any way to get those formats on air. Then again, WALX in Selma turned on the HD so anything is possible these days. Mobile could certainly embrace a second hip-hop station, that would be a smart idea.

After I posted last night I realized that the application was likely filed back when WABD was on 104.1. So it may actually be WDLT that could be the parent, since it already does run HD (but in a bastardized way that only one of my radios decodes.) I think WNTM is going to wind up on 99.5 and be a Mobile-only FM signal. No idea what they want with 100.3 at this point. I still think that it can be a good signal for the Eastern Shore despite proximity to SL-100 in Hat-ties-burg and the interference it'll cause in the summer. During last summer's tropo, I never seemed to encounter any issues with WBHY's translator on 103.5. It always seems to be there, weak but audible, here in Foley, well outside the primary coverage area.
 
I can imagine Clear Channel (Red Mountain Broadcasting?) inserting a Premium Choice-fed 'Beat' into Mobile just like it did in Birmingham. W258AY @ 99.5 is almost the perfect spot. I still think Rush, Hannity, and the rest of WNTM somehow ends up heard on 100.3--mostly to 'body check' any traction to 100.7.

Cumulus? Maybe a "Bone" rock station or CBS Sports Radio (though Poledo's scenario is certainly possible too).
 
I've had a gut feeling for more than a year that CC would do something with 99.5 to pull Urban listeners from BLX or DLT. With the 100.3 signal centered in the "Money" suburbs on the Eastern Shore I believe it would be a perfect fit for WNTM simulcasting the 96.1-HD2 signal. I had been asking the question, "will the FCC allow one signal to be simulcast on two 250 watt translators" because of the possibility of WNTM going on 99.5 and 100.3. I still think 99.5 will at least sign on with an Urban, probably Hip Hop, format unless Cumulus beats Clear Channel to the game by covering the field with a "K-104.?" type Hip Hop translator in Mobile county.
 
Was posting on the Kix thread and got to thinking. Could Cumulus and EMF have entered into some type of agreement with their buy/sell/trade WABB deal to put KLove or Air1 on 97.5 HD-2/3 to feed Air1 to a Mobile/Eastern Shore translator or get KLove's 98.3 signal over to South Baldwin and/or the north and west sides of Pensacola. That strategy would fit right in with the EMF game currently in play in Birmingham and Nashville.

I still think Cums would be very smart to get Hip Hop on a Mobile translator before CC gets something online to siphon listeners away from BLX or DLT. After CC settles in with other formats on their translators Cums could drop the Hip Hop and go with a WGOK Gospel translator.

It seems so weird that it is taking so long for the translators to light up down here on the coast. I guess that LPFM filing window is finally pushing things through though. Did the original owners of the translators in this area overprice them to the point of almost loosing the CPs?
 
poledo said:
Was posting on the Kix thread and got to thinking. Could Cumulus and EMF have entered into some type of agreement with their buy/sell/trade WABB deal to put KLove or Air1 on 97.5 HD-2/3 to feed Air1 to a Mobile/Eastern Shore translator or get KLove's 98.3 signal over to South Baldwin and/or the north and west sides of Pensacola. That strategy would fit right in with the EMF game currently in play in Birmingham and Nashville.

I still think Cums would be very smart to get Hip Hop on a Mobile translator before CC gets something online to siphon listeners away from BLX or DLT. After CC settles in with other formats on their translators Cums could drop the Hip Hop and go with a WGOK Gospel translator.

It seems so weird that it is taking so long for the translators to light up down here on the coast. I guess that LPFM filing window is finally pushing things through though. Did the original owners of the translators in this area overprice them to the point of almost loosing the CPs?
Click to expand...

That's some good speculation and all of it makes sense. Which means it may never happen. ;)

I think the reason the translators have taken so long to take off is that the people just never saw value in such limited signals. Here it seems to be all about getting that Pascagoula to FWB big signal and everything else is useless. They're just now waking up to the possible value in smaller signals. Part of it is I think the Birmingham-Montgomery-Atlanta-Huntsville-Nashville region has been quicker on the uptake on this than pretty much anywhere else in the US.
 
Translators on the coast, for the most part, are useless. Unless you're re-enforcing your brand on an extremely local level. (ie...ESPN/Pcola). To put up a new format/sound/signal that's not already up and running doesn't do you any good.

-There isn't going to be the money invested to make whatever would go up sound better than what's already there, or market it HEAVY. Which would need to be done to even have a chance.

- Why would people tune in for programming for a few miles/minutes then have to tune somewhere else for the same type of programming? They're more likely to leave the radio set where it's at. Especially when it comes to the major formats. (CHR, urban, rock, N/T, AC, etc) Traveling 25 miles one way a couple times a week is commonplace around here. Translator programming doesn't range or is quality enough for people to change their habits.

- Let's not forget about how awesome mother nature is when it comes to wreaking havoc on signals on the coast, especially in spring and fall. On a solid foggy night even the ESPN/Pcola translator has issues in the heart of Pcola.

poledo said:
Was posting on the Kix thread and got to thinking. Could Cumulus and EMF have entered into some type of agreement with their buy/sell/trade WABB deal to put KLove or Air1 on 97.5 HD-2/3 to feed Air1 to a Mobile/Eastern Shore translator or get KLove's 98.3 signal over to South Baldwin and/or the north and west sides of Pensacola. That strategy would fit right in with the EMF game currently in play in Birmingham and Nashville.

I still think Cums would be very smart to get Hip Hop on a Mobile translator before CC gets something online to siphon listeners away from BLX or DLT. After CC settles in with other formats on their translators Cums could drop the Hip Hop and go with a WGOK Gospel translator.
Click to expand...

97.5 doesn't broadcast in HD, so they whole idea of a subchannel agreement is moot.

CC won't waste time putting urban on any translator. That audience will never know it's there. Or, if they do...won't care. They'll still write in BLX. The only way CC could grab a couple shares of urban is putting it on one of the major sticks. Yeah, it would score better than what's on 107.3, at the moment. But the only reason it hasn't happened yet is probably CC is worried about being able to sell/package with the other stations in their portfolio.

How does it make sense to flank a 100k signal with a lightbulb for Cumulus? That's like having a min-cooper flank your 18 wheeler. If Cumulus got their hands on a translator, the only smart thing to do would be to put on WGOK from the start depending on translator location.
 
Zach found WABD listed as the parent of the new 92.5 translator in Mobile and speculated that meant Cumulus was buying it and pondered that it had been in the works since WABD was on 104.1 (in HD) and wondered what they might do with it. I came up with the alternate idea that perhaps EMF was purchasing 92.5 and would use a Cumulus owned HD subchannel to feed Air1 instead of adding HD to KLove 98.3. WABD being on 97.5 without HD is moot, 97.5 recently being owned by EMF was the spark of the theory.
With CC and Cums not progressing with translators in the area perhaps the recent activity is actually being pushed by EMF for Air1 translators and expanding KLove 98.3 coverage to the west?

Clear channel appears to already own 99.5 in Mobile and 100.3 on the Eastern Shore. 99.5 covers territory already served by the 710 night signal so since a 250 watt Cox translator Power 106.1 just took a bite out of the Clear Channel 100kw Urban in Jacksonville why wouldn't CC want to try that in Mobile? K104.9 already showed that WBLX can take a nasty hit from a real Hip Hop station.

Just theories. The translator CPs are out there. It's safe to assume they will go live one day. Programming is the big unknown. Tropo conditions around here are well known to all readers.
 
Dr voicetrack said:
How does it make sense to flank a 100k signal with a lightbulb for Cumulus? That's like having a min-cooper flank your 18 wheeler. If Cumulus got their hands on a translator, the only smart thing to do would be to put on WGOK from the start depending on translator location.
Click to expand...

Because it's so cheap, even if it doesn't pull gangbuster numbers it can pay for itself.

It makes sense because it works in other markets. Poledo mentioned Jax… Up in Birmingham Clear Channel's "104.1 The Beat", if I remember correctly, has hit a 2 share already, and it's up against THREE full power urbans: Summit's (Cox's) Jamz & Kiss and Cumulus' Hot 107. A 1.5 or 2 share in the 12+ may be nothing to note for a 100 kW station, but for something that cost them less than $100,000 to put on air, it's probably a great result.

This area already has a few regional signals and as we've found, they do OK. ZEW doesn't suffer for not covering Pensacola and Magic never seemed to struggle without Mobile coverage. I still think the smart money for translators here is to get AM signals on FM. WGOK and WNTM in Mobile (since WBHY-AM and WIJD are already on FM) and in Pensacola, WNRP and WPNN are getting outlets.

Also, the parent station can easily be changed during the construction process. This translator was filed with WJZD being the parent, then changed to WABD. It could easily be changed again to WGOK or one of Cumulus' HD properties, WBLX or WDLT, which could always add a subchannel since they both have none at the moment. (WDLT isn't even doing HD properly, it's in "ballgame mode" and won't decode on one of my radios.)
 
Poledo, I follow you now.

Zach said:
Dr voicetrack said:
How does it make sense to flank a 100k signal with a lightbulb for Cumulus? That's like having a min-cooper flank your 18 wheeler. If Cumulus got their hands on a translator, the only smart thing to do would be to put on WGOK from the start depending on translator location.
Click to expand...


It makes sense because it works in other markets. Poledo mentioned Jax… Up in Birmingham Clear Channel's "104.1 The Beat", if I remember correctly, has hit a 2 share already, and it's up against THREE full power urbans: Summit's (Cox's) Jamz & Kiss and Cumulus' Hot 107. A 1.5 or 2 share in the 12+ may be nothing to note for a 100 kW station, but for something that cost them less than $100,000 to put on air, it's probably a great result.
Click to expand...

That's the biggest misconception about THIS market. Mobile/Pensacola is very unique in tastes, expectations, habits, etc. Ask anyone who has programmed radio in other areas of the country then tried to just insert their plan here. Especially in a direct competition scenario. Anyone who has lived it or has had communication with those that have will tell you just because it works elsewhere, doesn't mean it'll work here.

The result depends on what revenue is produced after the investment, plus continued upkeep. Your ad rates would have to be about 10% of what they'd be on a full coverage stick if it was original programming. Could you get enough clients on the air to break even on op costs and investment? Highly unlikely in this market. About the only way translators are useful here are for simulcasting. Even then, it's a bottom line gamble the big boys aren't very quick to take. At least around here. In Birmingham, with the terrain issues and all the lower powered sticks trying to cover, translators are a much more viable option. The JAX situation made you take notice. But just because ONE translator hit the lottery, it won't make companies easily jump on a trend. They'll study much closer. But until you get a chain of success stories, nothing much will happen.
 
Urban has a proven record of working well on translators. WKXN from Greenville, AL pulled decent numbers in Montgomery throughout the 1990s and 2000s with their signal on two very low wattage translators located on rooftops (like one 20 watter and one 99 watter), nothing like the tall 250 watt monster translators people are playing with today. Streetz 94.5 in Atlanta claims to have the most listeners of any translator in America, format: Urban. Jacksonville and Birmingham have urban translators doing extremely well right now.

I'm just guessing that any music format CC or Cumulus might experiment with on a HD-2 and a 250 watt translator in Mobile will be Urban. Two months ago I would have assumed WGOK would get any Cumulus owned translator in Mobile and WNTM would get anything owned by CC. After the recent translator successes of ratings nibblers in Jax and Bham CC or Cumulus might just try to stir the pot a little.... I'm thinking along the lines of stunting with no predetermined end date.

WRNE is getting a translator for their Urban AM in Pensacola that will surely hit Magic 106.1, but how hard... Could WRNE on FM hurt Magic 106.1 enough to trigger Cumulus to change formats and give WDLT the Adult Urban audience in Pensacola? I think it's a real possibility. I doubt Cumulus or CC will launch any music translators in Pensacola. Every available signal in Pensacola seems to be going to the locally owned AMs or Religious stations.
 
I live in Fairhope; just drove past the WABF 1220 studio/xmtr site, and noticed a 2-bay Jampro newly placed on the AM tower. One might conclude they are adding a translator.
 
The 106.9 Fairhope I mentioned above is now on the air, simulcasting AM daytimer WBHY (840). The antenna is on WABF's tower but it's not carrying that station.
 
I have been trying to find out how to contact some of these CP holders to see about getting a translator for USA once the LPFM is built. Nobody wants to return phone calls anymore :(
 
J Alex Bowab said:
The 106.9 Fairhope I mentioned above is now on the air, simulcasting AM daytimer WBHY (840). The antenna is on WABF's tower but it's not carrying that station.
Click to expand...

I sent them an e-mail asking if that was going to be a permanent situation and haven't heard anything back. (Why do stations even bother to publish addresses, Facebook pages or Twitter accounts if they are not monitored?)

thegulfcoast said:
You can't put a LPFM on a translator
Click to expand...

Someone should tell that WQXD-LP in Athens, then. In addition to their little LPFM signal, they're on two or three translators in the area. And they don't appear to overlap: the main signal is in Athens, one translator is in Madison and the rest are in or around Decatur.
 
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