How's WKLB reception in New Hampshire and Maine?

[radiojay1]

How far north does the 102.5 signal go?

 

[raccoonradio]

Well this isn't all that far north but I was driving around Derry/Salem/Windham area a few weeks back and it was fine. There is the 102.3 in Concord to worry about...I'd think it may go up the coast of Maine but maybe there
are other stations that might crowd it out (not sure)

 

[JustinT]

Well this isn't all that far north but I was driving around Derry/Salem/Windham area a few weeks back and it was fine. There is the 102.3 in Concord to worry about...I'd think it may go up the coast of Maine but maybe there
are other stations that might crowd it out (not sure)

From my experience, the 102.5 signal in Maine gradually dies out just because a Class B at FM-128 only goes so far. There aren't any co-channels or first adjacents up through Portland, as there's just 101.9 WPOR and 102.9 WBLM, along with 102.1 WSAK down in Portsmouth. I've picked up a fuzzy but audible 102.5 in Sanford, ME; I figure the signal sounds similar out around Wells and Kennebunk.

 

[Erie_Lackawanna]

From my experience, the 102.5 signal in Maine gradually dies out just because a Class B at FM-128 only goes so far. There aren't any co-channels or first adjacents up through Portland, as there's just 101.9 WPOR and 102.9 WBLM, along with 102.1 WSAK down in Portsmouth. I've picked up a fuzzy but audible 102.5 in Sanford, ME; I figure the signal sounds similar out around Wells and Kennebunk.

"back in the day..." when 102.9 was preparing for the flip from Beautiful Music to CHR, the folks at WGAN-FM ran a continuous heartbeat loop - after 1.5 days, management there received complaints from WCRB that the constant thump-thump was edging into their signal.
since the switch, all i've heard in the greater portland metropolitan area is white noise and hiss - no dulcent tones of JW or the ever smooth Kruser. :-( and pity the poor programming staff at Boston's Country station - call letter changes from WBCS to WKLB and frequency shifts from 96.9 to 99.5 to 102.5. God Bless their audience who is hanging with them through all these changes, just in the past 10 years.

 

[BRNout]

I think that the switch to 102.5 is the best thing that ever could have happened.........to WOKQ!

Most southern NH country fans just lost their strong Boston area signal and now have a fringe one. There is no spot in NH where WKLB's signal is better than before, as 99.5 was almost a NH signal. 102.5 may come in OK from Derry and Merrimack southward, but its not going to be nearly as strong as 99.5 was. Meanwhile, classical fans in Boston and points south are complaining about losing their station.

All in all, this was a fine piece of work.

 

[JustinT]

"back in the day..." when 102.9 was preparing for the flip from Beautiful Music to CHR, the folks at WGAN-FM ran a continuous heartbeat loop - after 1.5 days, management there received complaints from WCRB that the constant thump-thump was edging into their signal.
since the switch, all i've heard in the greater portland metropolitan area is white noise and hiss - no dulcent tones of JW or the ever smooth Kruser. :-( and pity the poor programming staff at Boston's Country station - call letter changes from WBCS to WKLB and frequency shifts from 96.9 to 99.5 to 102.5. God Bless their audience who is hanging with them through all these changes, just in the past 10 years.

It actually goes back further than 96.9 WKLB. 96.9 WKLB resulted from the merger of the personalities from Greater Media's 96.9 WBCS with the identity of Fairbanks' (temporarily Evergreen's, though I don't believe the sale ever closed to them) 105.7 WKLB in 1997. 105.7 WKLB launched as WCLB, changing the calls a few years later due to confusion with the South Shore's 97.7 WCAV (which also aired country) and (ironically) WCRB. So, four frequencies and three sets of calls since 1993 all led into today's Country 102.5 WKLB.

 

[Erie_Lackawanna]

It actually goes back further than 96.9 WKLB. 96.9 WKLB resulted from the merger of the personalities from Greater Media's 96.9 WBCS with the identity of Fairbanks' (temporarily Evergreen's, though I don't believe the sale ever closed to them) 105.7 WKLB in 1997. 105.7 WKLB launched as WCLB, changing the calls a few years later due to confusion with the South Shore's 97.7 WCAV (which also aired country) and (ironically) WCRB. So, four frequencies and three sets of calls since 1993 all led into today's Country 102.5 WKLB.

technically, the 96.9/105.7 combined programming and call-letter adoption was a simulcast for a few weeks after GM took control of 105.7 from Fairbanks. and that was an ironic twist as Country 96.9 WBCS (Boston's Country Station) spent oodles of time in imaging to the effect that they "don't spell Country with K," only to turn around and adopt the WKLB call letters which had a better Country-recognition in the city - although 96.9 WKLB never called itself Boston's Country Club, which is what the WCLB letters emphasized. and prior to the 105.7 WCLB-WKLB call letter change, the programming memos flew reminding on-air folks to "get the L out of there" - hitting the L in much the same way as w-N--bc used to, that primarily to avoid diary confusion with WCRB (so the distributed memos stated).
and on a programming note, Harry Nelson ran 96.9 prior to and during the simulcast, and subsequently took on programming for the new 105.7 WROR, running both 96.9 and 105.7 for a time prior to Mike Brophey's arrival for country duty. that meant some very brisk walks up and down Stuart Street from the GM main studios to the new 'ROR studios in the Pru.
from a listening standpoint - the 105.7 country imaging as Boston's Country Club kicked butt thanks to the late, great Ernie Anderson.