It was 40 years ago tonight at midnight...

[tomservo]

Okay, so that clears up some of the details, thanks! Did the article actually hint that it was done because of the format flip? That would have been pretty early in the run of Magic, so I could see someone still being upset that many months later.

Again, this is one of those blind spots in the FCC's data. The microfiche data cards stopped in 1980, but the document scans from 1980 to about 2000-something has never been made available for research. And of course I don't think the Post-Herald's archives are available online anywhere that I can see. I don't think I've ever come across auxiliary info from the 80's anywhere, either, so if they had a licensed AUX site I wouldn't know about it. Saying it was half the 100 kW power makes me think they might've kept the old antenna on the WBMG TV tower or even the one before it over by The Club further up the mountain. From what I can gather, both sites ran 50 kW for a while through a variety of antenna types and antenna heights.

 

[passtheword]

@tomservo The article did not suggest any link between the damage and a disgruntled listener unhappy with the format change, although it was well known that many of the WQEZ listeners were angry about the station's move from easy listening/beautiful music to adult contemporary. I imagine once the WCRT fire occurred in May just two months later...with all the 'CRT listeners not to keen about the station's pending format change to contemporary christian music...that some people might have assumed both events were tied together and were done by an angry listener or listeners, but that theory always sounded a "little out there".

btw, check your email at ABMP.

 

[ThePowerCow]

Never thought Beautiful Music fans would resort to vandalism.

 

[Charles1]

Never thought Beautiful Music fans would resort to vandalism.

You've obviously forgotten the pilot episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati".

 

[tomservo]

btw, check your email at ABMP.

Thank you for that, it was a great find!

With Birmingham being a union-friendly town at the time, I figured the "angry listeners" could have been a cover for "disgruntled union thuggery".

 

[ThePowerCow]

And this happened in Atlanta Monday. This is the old Z93 site. Currently 100.5

 

[frankberry]

How in the world does an FM bay catch fire?
What's inside the bay that can burn?
Insulators?
Perhaps it's a radome that caught fire.

 

[tomservo]

Perhaps they're planning another format flip to… Hot AC.

I'll see myself out.