MyCountry 104.9 Gainesville/102.3 Ocala

[Kmagrill]

WTRS is licensed to Dunnellon and has to remain close enough to put a city grade contour over it. It would not be possible for a C2 licensed to Dunnellon to put a good signal over Gainesville, so WTRS was already fairly limited before WQLC came along, though they might have been able to optimize coverage a bit better than they did by moving NNE a few miles. Far too late for that now.

 

[Jeff2]

I assume Kiss prevents 104.9 from moving closer to G'ville?

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

Correct.

 

[MN Maniac]

WTRS is licensed to Dunnellon and has to remain close enough to put a city grade contour over it. It would not be possible for a C2 licensed to Dunnellon to put a good signal over Gainesville, so WTRS was already fairly limited before WQLC came along, though they might have been able to optimize coverage a bit better than they did by moving NNE a few miles. Far too late for that now.

Ah, but they still had WTRS-AM 920 at this point. Couldn't they have petitioned the FCC to change 102.3's COL to somewhere further north? Or did the FCC not allow this at the time? (I can't remember since the rules have changed so many times.)

When I was there (1991), the AM was still operational. It was a 100% simulcast of the FM and was questionable from a legal standpoint since we had NO way to monitor the air signal from the studios/offices in Ocala. I asked once why they didn't just sell 920 and was told "Nobody would want to buy it." Then, I asked why don't we just shut it off and turn the license back in to the FCC. I was told "We can't do that. We have to keep it on-the-air!" For what purpose? (They wouldn't tell me that.) Interesting.

 

[Kmagrill]

Ah, but they still had WTRS-AM 920 at this point. Couldn't they have petitioned the FCC to change 102.3's COL to somewhere further north? Or did the FCC not allow this at the time? (I can't remember since the rules have changed so many times.)

That is legal today, but not in 1991. Actually, today it could likely be argued that Dunnellon is part of the Ocala-Gainesville market and thus has no identity of its own. The FCC has changed its rules in an effort to crack down on stations jumping into bigger cities by changing their COL to a small unserved bedroom community. The assumption of the FCC is that you cannot abandon a small town in favor of a large one unless you meet several draconian criteria. One of these is that you have to demonstrate that the community you choose is unique with respect to the rest of the market. Of course, if you're already in a market and just want to move around within it, then the argument might be made in reverse.

When I was there (1991), the AM was still operational. It was a 100% simulcast of the FM and was questionable from a legal standpoint since we had NO way to monitor the air signal from the studios/offices in Ocala. I asked once why they didn't just sell 920 and was told "Nobody would want to buy it." Then, I asked why don't we just shut it off and turn the license back in to the FCC. I was told "We can't do that. We have to keep it on-the-air!" For what purpose? (They wouldn't tell me that.) Interesting.

Today, the AM would likely have new value as a source for a translator or translators. However, one always had the option to return the license to the FCC. No penalty for doing so, though turning off (almost) any broadcast property has probably always been a bad business decision.

 

[jmtillery]

When I was there (1991), the AM was still operational. It was a 100% simulcast of the FM and was questionable from a legal standpoint since we had NO way to monitor the air signal from the studios/offices in Ocala. I asked once why they didn't just sell 920 and was told "Nobody would want to buy it." Then, I asked why don't we just shut it off and turn the license back in to the FCC. I was told "We can't do that. We have to keep it on-the-air!" For what purpose? (They wouldn't tell me that.) Interesting.

It's interesting that you were told "We can't do that" in regards to shutting WTRS-AM off the air and returning its license to the FCC because in 1993 John Rutledge saw no value in the AM and convinced Fred Ingham to authorize him to shut WTRS 920 off the air and return the license. In other words Asterisk did exactly what they told you they cannot do.

As for no one wanting WTRS-AM, I would have bought it and even made several offers which were turned down repeatedly. No reason was given for not selling the AM.

 

[jmtillery]

Assuming JVC plans to actually move WTRS and WMFQ’s main studios to Gainesville, and this is a big “if”, another factor has not been considered and that is an FCC main studio waiver will need to be applied for and granted before such a move can be implemented. Remember, the main studio of any FM station must be located within the station’s 70dBu service contour unless a waiver is granted allowing the main studio to be located outside the city grade service contour. Neither station covers any part of Gainesville with a city grade signal. WTRS has a weak 60dBu over Southwest Gainesville while WMFQ barley covers Gainesville with a 50dBu signal. An application for a waiver will need to show cause that the public interest is being best served as a result of the waiver being granted. Once again as stated in a previous post from me, I’m sure that JVC and its respective FCC attorneys have already considered all the legal issues, again, assuming this is part of the JVC plan.

True, but this would be easily resolved by putting the official main studio at the Marion County sales office. No need for anything fancy, just a crude way to put the office on the air, a copy of the public file and a couple of employees during normal business hours (which I assume they would already have at a sales office anyway). That main programming can originate from anywhere.

While that is true, it also defeats the purpose behind any cost savings unless the main objective is to have the studio in Gainesville and not being done as a cost savings measure.

How far could WMFQ and WTRS be moved? Maybe lease space on the WSKY tower?

Neither station can move any closer to Gainesvile due to potential short-spacing conflicts.

 

[jmtillery]

I assume Kiss prevents 104.9 from moving closer to G'ville?

You are correct that WYKS is blocking WYGC from moving any closer to Gainesville. Both stations must protect each other by a minimum 19 miles tower-to-tower spacing. Also, WYKS cannot upgrade on 105.3 due to second adjancent WYGC; first adjancent WOMX "C" Orlando and first adjancent WDUV "C1" New Port Richey.

 

[MN Maniac]

It's interesting that you were told "We can't do that" in regards to shutting WTRS-AM off the air and returning its license to the FCC because in 1993 John Rutledge saw no value in the AM and convinced Fred Ingham to authorize him to shut WTRS 920 off the air and return the license. In other words Asterisk did exactly what they told you they cannot do.

As for no one wanting WTRS-AM, I would have bought it and even made several offers which were turned down repeatedly. No reason was given for not selling the AM.

This was before John Rutledge arrived on the scene. He was still with WMMZ at that point. I think the fear was that if Asterisk was to give up the 920 AM license, someone else would get it and...heaven forbid...might actually create a local radio station to serve the community they just pulled out of in order to move 102.3 to Ocala.

As best I could tell, the signal was of no use to Asterisk. It was a 100% simulcast of the FM. From what I was told, an FM tuner at the transmitter site was providing the audio. The AM transmitter could be controlled from Ocala (as required), but there was no way of monitoring the air signal from Ocala (which was also required.) The AM transmitter had to be turned on and off manually via a telephone remote control from the air studio. Because it couldn't be monitored, it was frequently forgotten about and accidently left on after dark. This made the nice people at 920/Atlanta quite unhappy!

 

[jmtillery]

It's interesting that you were told "We can't do that" in regards to shutting WTRS-AM off the air and returning its license to the FCC because in 1993 John Rutledge saw no value in the AM and convinced Fred Ingham to authorize him to shut WTRS 920 off the air and return the license. In other words Asterisk did exactly what they told you they cannot do.

As for no one wanting WTRS-AM, I would have bought it and even made several offers which were turned down repeatedly. No reason was given for not selling the AM.

This was before John Rutledge arrived on the scene. He was still with WMMZ at that point. I think the fear was that if Asterisk was to give up the 920 AM license, someone else would get it and...heaven forbid...might actually create a local radio station to serve the community they just pulled out of in order to move 102.3 to Ocala.

As best I could tell, the signal was of no use to Asterisk. It was a 100% simulcast of the FM. From what I was told, an FM tuner at the transmitter site was providing the audio. The AM transmitter could be controlled from Ocala (as required), but there was no way of monitoring the air signal from Ocala (which was also required.) The AM transmitter had to be turned on and off manually via a telephone remote control from the air studio. Because it couldn't be monitored, it was frequently forgotten about and accidently left on after dark. This made the nice people at 920/Atlanta quite unhappy!

Actually John Rutledge was there when the plug was pulled on WTRS-AM. The reason I know this is because I spent two hours in his Ocala office at the WTRS studio attempting to negotate an LMA with the AM back in 1992.

 

[MN Maniac]

Actually John Rutledge was there when the plug was pulled on WTRS-AM. The reason I know this is because I spent two hours in his Ocala office at the WTRS studio attempting to negotate an LMA with the AM back in 1992.

No, I meant when *I* was there, it was before John Rutledge was on staff. Ron Kight was still running the show from Panama City at that point.

 

[jmtillery]

Actually John Rutledge was there when the plug was pulled on WTRS-AM. The reason I know this is because I spent two hours in his Ocala office at the WTRS studio attempting to negotate an LMA with the AM back in 1992.

No, I meant when *I* was there, it was before John Rutledge was on staff. Ron Kight was still running the show from Panama City at that point.

Ah, yes, well that explains things.

 

[Jeff2]

According to a story on the Gainesville Sun Web site, Bubba the Love Sponge will take over mornings on 102.3/104.9 beginning September 3rd.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130815/ARTICLES/130819740?tc=cr

 

[Kmagrill]

It will be interesting to see if he can attract enough new listeners to make up for the ones that will be offended and leave for WOGK or WRUF.

 

[jmtillery]

It will be interesting to see how well Bubba is accepted in the Gainesville / Ocala market. The local tie-in with Bubba is his ownership of the former Ocala Speedway, and he does have a local following although I don't know how much of a local following Bubba has in this market. Regarding Dave and Bo, since they had to be moved to make room for Bubba, it was a smart move placing them on afternoons.