If Clear Channel were smart...

[Jacko]

...they would move WKSS' stick from the Meriden tower to either WTIC-FM's or WCCC's. This would help their coverage in the Springfield market, which has no top 40 station, and help KC101 in their own market, New Haven. Just a thought. Discuss.

Jacko<P ID="signature">______________
I live for my dream,
And a pocket full of gold.
</P>

 

[TXengineer]

Clear Channel IS smart...

> ...they would move WKSS' stick from the Meriden tower to
> either WTIC-FM's or WCCC's. This would help their coverage
> in the Springfield market, which has no top 40 station, and
> help KC101 in their own market, New Haven. Just a thought.
> Discuss.

First the practical part. There is more population density in the Hartford/New haven area than there is in the Springfield area. To move your antenna further away doesn't make much sense.

Now the technical part, WKSS is sandwiched in to it's location. WKSS would become too close to 95.3A in Greenfield, MA, and 106.3A in Northampton, MA.

WKSS has a pretty close to city grade signal in the market anyways, unless you go way north towards Greenfield. WKSS's signal only suffers from the same multipath all the stations from Hartford face near Provin Mountain and Mt Tom.

And P.S., now there is also a top 40 signal on WHYN-FM HD2 as well.

 

[XCountry285]

No one buys HD radios. Whose gonna know its on HD? only radio people not regular people so that's useless. I think they should keep both stations on their frequencies, just make Kiss FM more rhythmic leaning than KC to compensate or at least make their signals not overlap somehow.

 

[kms575]

If they moved the transmitter further north, wouldn't they be violating their Hartford-Meriden COL coverage? Obviously, that could be changed, but as noted there's not much "room for manouver" in these parts anyway.

 

[GlennO]

As a great PD once told me in 1978: "To make it in Springfield, you have to BE in Springfield." Another Hartford PD accurately described it ten years later as no more than a "beauty contest." The same holds true today. They are two totally separate markets for radio and TV. Whenever a Hartford station gets ranked among the top stations in the Springfield metro, that showing always drops dramatically when a decent Springfield signal adopts a similar format.

After WHYN-FM dropped easy listening, WRCH was a beautiful music powerhouse among Springfield adults until they went AC in 1989. That change turned into the best thing WRCH could have done in Hartford (WIOF going away didn't hurt either). It didn't hurt WMAS & WHYN-FM in Springfield because they were already locally based AC's who actually were the ones who benefitted by selling in the Springfield area. WRCH got little north of the border, whether they were in the top five or not.

WWYZ was highly rated in Springfield until WPKX came along in the 90s. The loss of Springfield market share didn't matter to WWYZ while Kix cashed in up there. They never really sold it enough to make a difference, and their Hartford (and secondarily New Haven) success are what make them money. Owning both, the revenue's all in the family for Clear Channel now anyway. Similarly, WWYZ gets a respectable size audience in eastern Long Island with no country stations there; they still can't sell it. Nor should they try.

 

[necrat123]

WKSS comes in just fine in the Springfield area. In fact all the West Peak stations do quite well there.

WKSS is definatley wedged into place. And besides, thats not the direction Clear Channel wants to try.
There is more market revenue in Hartford than in Springfield. Why else would CC want to move 97.9 down to Hartford?

North of Mt Tom it suffers from issues with WZID and regular multipath. But there is now a top40 station on 94.3 (a translator
broadcasting dial global's hits format) that covers the hampshire area nicely.

With regards to WKSS/WKCI overlap, the only real overlap is in the Hartford metro area. You get down towards Bridgeport, into the null of the very directional WKSS signal, and closer to WFOX, WKCI still comes in gangbusters, and WKSS is non existant. And judging from the spots, thats perfectly fine for WKCI, who only really seems to sell to the New Haven, Bridgeport, area anyways.

 

[KML0224]

That low-power station on 94.3 FM is simulcasted from WLZX-FM 99.3 HD2, a.k.a. Lazer 99.3 from Northampton, MA.

 

[DToTheJ]

WWYZ was highly rated in Springfield until WPKX came along in the 90s. The loss of Springfield market share didn't matter to WWYZ while Kix cashed in up there... Owning both, the revenue's all in the family for Clear Channel now anyway.

With speculation that CC is considering moving WPKX into the Hartford market, unless they plan on changing the format to something else (Rush Radio, anyone?) they would be cutting off their nose - or in this case, their pocket - to spite their face.

Similarly, WWYZ gets a respectable size audience in eastern Long Island with no country stations there; they still can't sell it. Nor should they try.

Amazing how there are no country stations on the Island. (Of course, we know why there's no country stations in New York City, but that's a different thread for a different forum.)