LET'S SUGGEST SOME FORMAT CHANGES FOR 2012!

[MR. JAROME_CALVIN]

@Eli Polonsky, thank you for your honesty and (good) responce.
Yeah, that's true, personally when listenning to a radio show, yes, I also like to hear what's going on in my area

 

[mgpt6]

Eli, true JIB isnt,but only 3 watts at night.. With expanded FM Bob could put a 2 or 4 bay FM antenna on top the Green St stick and get coverage to 495 in HIfI FM stereo

 

[chrish]

Actually WJIB is 11 watts including ATU loss makes the power into the antenna at 5 watts at night
Solid FM coverage out to 495 from a class A from the top of the WJIB tower on Concord Ave Cambridge......severe delusion on your part. Solid coverage from a
Class A from the top of the old WCOP-FM tower about 450' on Concord Avenue Lexington not a usable signal as we use FM in 2012. WCOP-FM originally ran with
6 bay RCA slot antenna now its used as the FM pole which holds the old 5 bay ERI rototiller and a 1 kilowatt RCA transmitter. I was able to receive it on top of a high hill on an FM car radio in 1964 in Alfred, Maine but had a very thin signal unusable on anything but a very good home receiver. Also the FM dial had next to nothing on it in those days...no adjacents.
WCOP-FM then upgraded to 50 KW ERP with an RCA 7 bay antenna with an RCA 20 Kilowatt transmitter. This was a major improvement but it was still not a real competitor with the antenna farm or downtown to which I would soon move it to.
Boston and Cambridge are in a bowl surrounded by a ridge running from Saugus west to Waltham which is why an FM on WJIB would never get out of the bowl.
Harvey Radio labs knew this when they did not put WXHR-FM or WTAO-TV on the WTAO tower (WJIB) they built a tower on Mt Zion in Woburn for these facilities.

 

[raccoonradio]

If you want "satellite"-delivered music try a satellite radio, in your car, with a portable, or a home unit. (Or strictly on your computer.)
Yes you pay for it but the one in my car costs me about 50 cents a day (subscription) and has various options for diff. types of music, news and talk, old time radio, niche stations. You might enjoy the music mix, etc.

For local radio though we want local voices and local choices. Yes, some network stuff to fill out the rest of the schedule and give some kind of national perspective. I would want Howie Carr, not Doyle or
Hannity. I would want WEEI or 98.5, not ESPN, Fox, or Yahoo Sports (though they're OK once in awhile).
I would want the abundance of college and public stations. (Like mine, if you can get it...and with our
webstreaming you can..)

There's also stuff like Screamer Radio, a free download with a bunch of choices. You can find
Kickin' Country, or a link to a KCRW stream, or sports talkers from different cities.

Or better yet what we have here locally in one of the best markets in the country...Yes, you can find all blues on BB King's Bluesville on XM, or WZLX's HD 2, Radio Mojo, all the time. Or you can tune to
a local station's blues show where you can call the guy with your requests, hear a blues
concert calendar for the area, hear live music right from the studio, etc. Satellite radio, etc is
there but treasure the fine local radio you have.

That's why I've been known to trade airchecks of good shows with people, or better yet tune in
when I'm in the area. If I were in Burlington VT for example I could check out Blues For Breakfast
with Mr Charlie on WIZN... "That was Debbie Davies, and before that, Jim Branca, a local guy
here in the Champlain Valley, with..."

 

[4CX1000A]

Solid FM coverage out to 495 from a class A from the top of the WJIB tower on Concord Ave Cambridge......severe delusion on your part.

If you remember WHRB's coverage on 95.3 before 1995 from its (now backup) site on Holyoke Center in Harvard Square, that's more or less what we could expect from a Class A on WJIB's tower, I think.

 

[indystorm]

WJIB takes over 1030 as a 50kw power house!!!!!!!! The best station on the dial by far...!!! I'd even petition the FCC to go up to 250kw...!!! That would be awesome...!!!

WJIB-740 stays as is (adult standards), and has only 1 half-hour church on Sunday mornings. No other brokered time above that half-hour, and there won't be any more.

 

[JIBGUY]

Eli, true JIB isnt,but only 3 watts at night.. With expanded FM Bob could put a 2 or 4 bay FM antenna on top the Green St stick and get coverage to 495 in HIfI FM stereo

740 has never had a stick on Green Street. It has always been at 443-445 Concord Ave since 740's inception in 1948. What you're thinking of is that the studio was once at Green Street.

 

[indystorm]

JIB on FM would detract from the authenticity of the format.

Eli, true JIB isnt,but only 3 watts at night.. With expanded FM Bob could put a 2 or 4 bay FM antenna on top the Green St stick and get coverage to 495 in HIfI FM stereo

 

[NHRadio]

You CAN'T be serious. WJIB was originally on FM for many years.

JIB on FM would detract from the authenticity of the format.

 

[raccoonradio]

Yes, as beautiful music, while Bob's AM 740 is standards, vocals, etc. But yes the 96.9 had those calls
for such a long time.

 

[blackgold]

I think of WBZ was able to move to one of its FM frequencies, Bob could take WJIB to 1030 and go 50,000 watts full time. ;D

 

[Laurence Glavin]

The Metropolitan Opera Company transmits some of its Saturday matinees to movie theaters around the world. The picture is usually fine, but the sound can be less than desirable, so I go to see AND hear them at the Shalin Liu Hall in Rockport, MA, which is actually a concert hall and not a movie theater. They've purposely installed a high-end audio system for the Met in HD telecasts. The last time, I checked out 95.3 and up there, it's WSKS from Maine, with hardly a hint of WHRB. I believe the last time I was up there, the new facilities were in place for both stations. Now that the stations have received licenses for their new facilities, I'll be heading there this Saturday and double-check to see if the situation in town is the same: 95.3 WSKX's frequency, hardly a hint of WHRB again.

 

[blackgold]

I meant to say that IF WBZ was to move its news format to one of its FM frequencies, Bob could move WJIB to 1030 AM.

 

[RadioPhillyFan]

I meant to say that IF WBZ was to move its news format to one of its FM frequencies, Bob could move WJIB to 1030 AM.

If CBS won't buy the 94.9 slot open in Philly, to compete with Merlin's new 106.9, they won't blow up an FM frequency in Boston where there seems to be no major threat.

 

[RadioPhillyFan]

Sorry for double post

 

[JIBGUY]

I meant to say that IF WBZ was to move its news format to one of its FM frequencies, Bob could move WJIB to 1030 AM.

I'll take it !

 

[Jimmy128]

Expanding the FM band to 76MHz would allow restrictive AM broadcasters to move there, i.e. day light and directional AMs. A portion of the band could be set aside for low power FMs with ERPs of less than 100watts. While it is true that many listeners would not have access to radio in the extended band, that would change as new radios come on the market at a modest pace overtime. As for formats in the market, if Entercom could get two FMs, then they could bring back Star and Mike. Could 95.3 move to 89.3? Would 101.7 be for sale at the right price?

Why not go all the way if you want to expand the FM band?

FM1 76 - 108 mHz (76 - 87 replacing channels 5,6)

FM2 174 - 216 mHz (replacing channels 7 - 13)

 

[JIBGUY]

Why not go all the way if you want to expand the FM band?

FM1 76 - 108 mHz (76 - 87 replacing channels 5,6)

FM2 174 - 216 mHz (replacing channels 7 - 13)

I think we AM-guys should be happy with just 76-to-108. The FCC is highly interested in auctioning ALL of that spectrum to wireless, satellite providers, data-companies, mobile internet, etc. The key word is AUCTION; as opposed to giving some spectrum to AM stations.

 

[iyiyi]

I don't know how the 700 mhz band has been utilized to the point where they feel compelled to auction viable, occupied frequencies from 54 to 700 mhz. The 30 to 50 mhz band is virtually vacant. Why not auction that band and put it to good use. Where is the pressing need to sell spectrum out from under extant stations currently doing business on those frequencies?

76 to 88 mhz can very easily accommodate radio AND television simultaneously. An excellent example is the current, shared usage of the low UHF channels by television and mobile (police, fire, etc.). Areas with a TV channel 6 could have radio stations assigned to 76 to 82 mhz. Regions with a channel 5 could have stations assigned to 82 to 88 mhz. Since all these stations would be full digital, interference issues would be moot.

Contemporary HD radio chips already have capability to receive 76 to 88 mhz signals. Simple software could easily make that band accessable by programming a couple of keystrokes!

The 800 mhz band was poor for broadcasting, yet ideal for cell phone and trunked communication systems. The 700 mhz band was also poor for broadcasting. Stations needed up to 5 million watts ERP to compete with those on lower frequencies. What use has this 700 mhz spectrum -- vacated by broadcasters -- been put to so far?


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[CTListener]

I don't know how the 700 mhz band has been utilized to the point where they feel compelled to auction viable, occupied frequencies from 54 to 700 mhz. The 30 to 50 mhz band is virtually vacant. Why not auction that band and put it to good use. Where is the pressing need to sell spectrum out from under extant stations currently doing business on those frequencies?

The key word here is "sell." Auctions raise more money for the government. Letting stations do what they've always been doing on a certain set of frequencies doesn't.