Wait, wait, don't tell me: NONE of these would have to go silent if each had its very own FM translator - somewhere.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
How Boston AM's will either go silent, or already are?
- Thread starter Retro
- Start date
They all give their AM stations a presence on the much more listened to FM band, even if only in limited areas.
In addition, the WMEX translator gives it a strong night signal in Weymouth where the AM night signal is weak, and the WUBG and WZBR translators give them a listenable signal in the Mystic Valley and lower North Shore areas where their AM signals are weak/noisy by day and inaudible at night.
It would be nice if these translators could provide decent night-time coverage over at least the main service area the signal serves during the day. At night, most of the Merrimack Valley can't get AM 1110 out of Salem, NH the way we can during the day, yet they have no translator that serves many of these locations at night.
That would require the equival;ent of a few kilowatts at on some pretty tall towers
Translators are not "expandable" unless it is possible to increase antenna height without interfering with licensed stations. They are totally limited to 250 watts. the alternative would be to add more translators in the desired coverage area. However a station will only go to that expense if they can monetize that coverage; many station only get revenue from the core coverage area, not fringe areas.
Many can’t get available translator frequencies right in their desired coverage area regardless of what they’re willing to pay due to other stations already on the same or adjacent frequencies, so they settle on translators in the fringe, or in only a small non-central portion, of the desired coverage area, rather than have no presence on FM at all.
If a station with a translator goes belly-up or management, for whatever reason, wants to ditch the translator, what is the process for passing it on to another interested broadcaster? Can other broadcasters contact the station and get into a bidding war for the translator, can a station owner simply accept the first attractive offer received, or does the FCC conduct a special auction?
Scott Fybush can further detail this, but the licensee of a translator can sell it just as they can sell their AM or FM license linked to it. The buyer must have a qualifying station the translator can simulcast. But otherwise, it is a lot like selling a house, and usually a broker or agent will be the intermediary and find a buyer at the best price. Of course, to finalize the sale the FCC must approve the transaction and all the technical details.
An FM translator reaching only a fraction of the coverage area of an AM can, in theory, attract more listeners than an AM based simply on how many in the universe of radio listeners will go to the AM dial versus FM dial. Given the fact many AM stations must reduce power or sign off at sunset to sunrise, the winter months mean many AM stations must reduce coverage or go off the air in the middle of Afternoon Drive in the top months for selling radio commercials. The FM translator is a factor in the value of a station from the aspect of a potential buyer and time buyer. That's even the case if the translator does not provide great coverage.
As for if a station might sell their translator, the FCC rules are a bit complicated. For some the translator is tied to the AM, at the very least, for a certain number of years. In some cases that is not true. Those rules have been altered along the way and I'm not sure what the current requirements might be. Naturally, getting a translator depends on what 'holes' can be found that can be filled with a signal while matching the FCC rules on separation and interference. In many markets there is no 'hole' remaining.
By the way, the earliest form of translator I recall was in Tennessee. William Barry had an AM in the Nashville metro. He had night power but was being beaten up by a Cuban radio signal at night. Eventually (about 5 years after his letters began) the FCC gave him an FM that could operate at 75 watts from sunset to sunrise. That was not termed a translator by the FCC but indeed it was as it simulcast the AM although in this instance I do not think the AM was required to remain on the air after sunset because the Cuban station simply wiped them out in the entire nighttime coverage area.
As for if a station might sell their translator, the FCC rules are a bit complicated. For some the translator is tied to the AM, at the very least, for a certain number of years. In some cases that is not true. Those rules have been altered along the way and I'm not sure what the current requirements might be. Naturally, getting a translator depends on what 'holes' can be found that can be filled with a signal while matching the FCC rules on separation and interference. In many markets there is no 'hole' remaining.
By the way, the earliest form of translator I recall was in Tennessee. William Barry had an AM in the Nashville metro. He had night power but was being beaten up by a Cuban radio signal at night. Eventually (about 5 years after his letters began) the FCC gave him an FM that could operate at 75 watts from sunset to sunrise. That was not termed a translator by the FCC but indeed it was as it simulcast the AM although in this instance I do not think the AM was required to remain on the air after sunset because the Cuban station simply wiped them out in the entire nighttime coverage area.
I was thinking more of another Boston area AM/translator combo either failing or (unlikely) deciding that its translator was too expensive to keep. Could, say, the WRCA translator be transferred to WMEX if the price is right and if arcane FCC rules don't force WRCA to continue pouring money into that black hole for several more years?
WJNT 1180 Jackson, MS had a "simulcast" on 103.3 called WJNT1 that could only operate at night too.
KINY 800 Juneau, Alaska has had actual fm translators attached to it for.. probably 20 years or more.. long before fm translators on an AM was a thing
WRCA 1330 simulcast on 106.1 FM translator is running Bloomberg and probably doing quite well. Beasley may not want to sell it off.
Translators are relatively inexpensive to install and to maintain. Generally, the transmitter, processing, monitoring and antenna will cost less than a medium priced car. Coax can be nearly nothing if there is a short run, or can run into significant money if there is a long run up a tower or building.
The variable is the tower or mast or building where the antenna is placed, where rental can range from nothing (shared AM station tower) to several thousand or more a month for the market's taller buildings or a TV tower or a shared tower that has other FMs on it. And if the station has to build the tower, there is land purchase or leasing as well as the tower itself.
I don't know how or if Bloomberg supports their affiliates, as they don't own WRCA but broadcast on it, but I'd guess that the 106.1 FM translator gives them the most listenership in metro and greater Boston, more than the parent 1330 AM or simulcast on 92.9 WBOS HD2.
I was under the impression that Bloomberg is renting the time on WRCA from the licensee.
not only does Bloomberg lease WRCA and the 106.1 translator giving it coverage in Boston proper, it bought WNBP and got the 106.1 translator up in IIRC Amesbury too so it has some coverage on the North Shore too
I wonder if any Boston AM station with "problems to the West of the city" could do what KOB in Albuquerque NM did when they lost their long legal battle with WABC NY. Somehow, KOB got moved to 770, also 50 kW non-directional, which needless to say, WABC objected to. Ultimately the courts decided that KOB would have to downgrade to Class B directional, protecting WABC. Going directional caused KOB to lose Santa Fe, NM from it's listening area, so they installed a synchronous co-channel 250 w booster in Santa Fe. So, could WRKO install a similar repeater in say, Framingham, to help with the signal out west??
Not likely
At that point, it would make stronger sense to put it on a full power FM signal, to agree with you.
It always amazes me how far an AM signal can travel. Last Wednesday, I was picking up WLS in Chicago while driving in Southern New Hampshire. With that, I still need to think of it for a few how a station in New York could sue a station in New Mexico. But at night, such is the case. I always enjoy scanning the AM dial to see what I can get, and where it is from.
- Status