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News/Talk on FM gets uncomfortably closer to Tampa-St. Pete

TerryKay said:
WDBO also has at least two translators now: W239BS (95.9) Mount Dora; W274AX (102.5) Groveland.
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It would be a question to ask their management, "If the translators were helping the decision or was it the trend to FM?"

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
TerryKay said:
WDBO also has at least two translators now: W239BS (95.9) Mount Dora; W274AX (102.5) Groveland.
Click to expand...

Cox has relinquished those now that they're going to 96.5. CC is now going to lease 102.5 and simulcast a smooth jazz format from magic 107's HD-2.
 
W274AX (102.5) Groveland has moved it's antenna to Winter Garden and increased power from 99 watts to the max of 250 watts for a translator. I first noticed this around mid July in easern Hernando county, near the Sumter county line, inside I could get WHPT or the translator depending on which way I oriented the antenna on my Sangean PR-D5, this past weekend did not receive the translator and when I made an inquiry about it on the Orlando board, I was told it was off the air.

I would have thought WDBO would have kept the 102.5 translator on the air until the 15th of August........ unless there was a complaint within the Cox organization about the translator interfering with WHPT in eastern Hernando. (there would be some interference some of the time on a car radio just east of I-75, but by the time one would reach SR 50 and U.S. 301 going toward greater metro Tarytown (just south of Webster), the interference to the Bone was pretty bad).

At any rate after the 15th, I can't imagine why WDBO would need either of those translators.

drt
st petersburg
 
Parttimer said:
Cox has relinquished those now that they're going to 96.5. CC is now going to lease 102.5 and simulcast a smooth jazz format from magic 107's HD-2.
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Thanks for the info Parttimer, your post clears up several questions and with the loss of 103.1 as Smooth Jazz as of the first of August, CC will be filling a void and that 250 watt translator gets out pretty well, with its antenna height of over 700 feet, IIRC.

drt
 
drt said:
W274AX (102.5) Groveland has moved it's antenna to Winter Garden and increased power from 99 watts to the max of 250 watts for a translator. I first noticed this around mid July in easern Hernando county, near the Sumter county line, inside I could get WHPT or the translator depending on which way I oriented the antenna on my Sangean PR-D5, this past weekend did not receive the translator and when I made an inquiry about it on the Orlando board, I was told it was off the air.

I would have thought WDBO would have kept the 102.5 translator on the air until the 15th of August........ unless there was a complaint within the Cox organization about the translator interfering with WHPT in eastern Hernando. (there would be some interference some of the time on a car radio just east of I-75, but by the time one would reach SR 50 and U.S. 301 going toward greater metro Tarytown (just south of Webster), the interference to the Bone was pretty bad).

At any rate after the 15th, I can't imagine why WDBO would need either of those translators.

drt
st petersburg
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Why would Cox care about interference out there. Tarrytown is 80 Miles from WHPT's transmitter. That area is in HPT's extreme fringe coverage area. Anything could cause interference to a signal that weak. Just going down the road will mess up a signal like that.

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WHPT&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
 
quote from gamefreak:
Why would Cox care about interference out there. Tarrytown is 80 Miles from WHPT's transmitter. That area is in HPT's extreme fringe coverage area. Anything could cause interference to a signal that weak. Just going down the road will mess up a signal like that.
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As noted two and three posts above; evidently Cox of Tampa Bay didn't care about any interference from the Cox Orlando translator as explained by Parttimer as to what happened to the 250 watt translator in Winter Garden.

I was just grasping at straws as to why the Winter Garden translator was taken off the air, but as expalined by Parttimer, that translator is being leased to CC and it was implied that they will be back on the air shortly. (or maybe they already are).

As for the vehicle reception of WHPT in eastern Hernando county, I can only speak to vehicle reception in the two cars I have driven in that area, a 2004 Avalon and a 2007 Corolla and in both of those vehicles, up until mid July WHPT's reception was good and steady; the same indoors with the Sangean, the signal was strong and consistent enough to get WHPT in stereo and also strong enough to trigger the RDS.......... of course other car radios may have lousy reception in that same area; I can only speak from my own experience, at one point I had a car radio that was so bad that even in southern Pasco county WHPT's reception was marginal.

Strangely, I have never had a station over-ride 102.5 WHPT in that area (eastern Hernando); although WBTP 95.7 is almost routinely overpowered by the Hog-95.7 out of the Daytona Beach area and a religious station out of Gainesville on 90.5 on many ocassions gives 90.5 out of Tampa, a run for their money.

One reason I was grasping at straws, is that Hernando county, even extreme eastern Hernando county is in the St. Petersburg/Tampa radio market, so I'm assuming that some people in different parts of Hernando county do get the PPM meters. Whether or not Hernando county should part of the St. Pete/Tampa market is another thread or story.

drt
st. petersburg
 
I don't believe Hernando, nor Polk, or any of the other surrounding counties are part of the Tampa Bay radio market. I believe the official counties are Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco. Nothing else even though stations like WHPT are licensed to Sarasota and clearly cover way more area than where they are considered "local". Trust me when I say... it's nice to have a huge signal, but the managers at Cox Tampa for the most part don't sell outside the metro area. SO... it doesn't matter. I would find it hard to believe that the managers at WHPT are complaining about a low power translator in Orlando affecting their coverage in that city. It just doesn't matter!!
 
Speaking of 107.7-HD2, it's now silent... ???
I had that as a preset on my new HD Radio to hear Oldies that Sunny doesn't seem to play.

The Bone still roars at 102.5 at this moment.
Meanwhile, YHot (Z88.3) made the announcement that their "new signal" will be up in September.

There seems to be some sort of shuffle & flipping formats going on the FM dial around here.
So really who started this domino effect?
 
tngu77 said:
If the Tampa Bay area wants an 'FM talker,' start with blowing up WSUN-FM...
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Nope!

It will be 97.9. All they have to do is flip a switch. Everything else is already in place.

Check it out tomorrow on 96.5 in Orlando when WHTQ is put on the HD-2 and WDBO is taken from the HD-2 to the HD-1 vacated by Q96/96 Rock.

"...It's as easy as 1, 2, 3"

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
My money is on Play 98.7, I don't see how they survive against Hot, FLZ, Wild, Mix, and Magic. There are only so many women 18-34 or 18-49 here. Maybe even Q105 and the Eagle pull from the upper end of that crowd. Smaller signal hurts them too. Perfect for sports or news talk. They didn't make much of an impact before Hot came along, I don't know if they will make one after.
 
radiodork said:
My money is on Play 98.7, I don't see how they survive against Hot, FLZ, Wild, Mix, and Magic. There are only so many women 18-34 or 18-49 here. Maybe even Q105 and the Eagle pull from the upper end of that crowd. Smaller signal hurts them too. Perfect for sports or news talk. They didn't make much of an impact before Hot came along, I don't know if they will make one after.
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Hmmm....CBS already has an AM Sports Talker they could simulcast (WQYK AM).
 
Obtuse1 said:
radiodork said:
My money is on Play 98.7, I don't see how they survive against Hot, FLZ, Wild, Mix, and Magic. There are only so many women 18-34 or 18-49 here. Maybe even Q105 and the Eagle pull from the upper end of that crowd. Smaller signal hurts them too. Perfect for sports or news talk. They didn't make much of an impact before Hot came along, I don't know if they will make one after.
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Hmmm....CBS already has an AM Sports Talker they could simulcast (WQYK AM).
Click to expand...

They would have to put something much better on FM. When CBS does FM sports talk, it is all live and local.
 
Earlier this week, Dennis the news anchor from WFLA tweeted that he would be doing afternoon news updates "on 979 WFLA"... An easy mistake to make, as the "9" and "0" are right next to each other. (I reached to Dennis, and of course, he meant to put "970 WFLA" and not "979". He blamed having "sausage fingers" for the faus pax, lol.) Still, a convenient mistake, as rumors of a "97.9 (98?) WFLA" surface yet again...
 
tngu77 said:
badjef said:
It will be 97.9. All they have to do is flip a switch. Everything else is already in place.
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That was the rumor...FIVE YEARS AGO...
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Decisions, such as these, are not made on a spur of the moment. These are years in the making. 5 years ago may be when the idea was first floated. 970WFLA has been on 97.9 HD-2 for about 4 years. They have wanted northern coverage for the 970 signal but couldn't get it because of protection to other 970 stations in the "upper 47".

97.9 (HD-1) fills all the requirements short of the TV coverage in Tallahassee with WFLA-FM on 100.7. Whereas a duplication of 100.7 WFLA imaging in Tampa and Tallahassee would save money and appear as though the same station people are in both places at the same time. It makes both stations appear larger than they are.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
TerryKay said:
...W239BS (95.9) Mount Dora; W274AX (102.5) Groveland.
Click to expand...
Radio Locator recognizes neither callsign
Where'd they go?
 
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