Plans for FM/TV atop the new Freedom Tower?

[davideduardo]

Presentations and sales pitches have been made to the FM and TV players. It's assumed that the FM's that were on the WTC due to short spacing will go back, but that it'll be cost-prohibitive to TV to warrant a whole new buildout in 2013, and the other FM's that are fully spaced at Empire won't be able to make the move downtown.

OK, forgive my ignorance please. What does 'short spaced' and 'fully spaced' mean?

Spacing in the context of FM and TV is the distance that one station has to be from another to avoid overlapping signals.

For FM, the FCC has defined different classes of stations with specific maximum power and antenna height. A station of a particular class, by regulation, is afforded a certain number of miles of separation between any station on its frequency, and lesser amounts of miles to any station on an adjacent frequency, and even less to a second adjacent.

For 99.5, the co-channel spacing is for other 99.5 stations. Adjacent affects 99.7 and 99-3, while second adjacent affects 99.1 and 99.9.

Short spacing, often a result of stations that were granted before the current rules went into effect, occurs when there are stations that are closer than the current minimum requirements allow.

A spacing chart is at http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/fm-broadcast-station-classes-and-service-contours

 

[BMR]

OK, so why would being on Freedom Tower be of advantage to short spaced stations?

 

[WNTIRadio]

As an example, WPAT is currently short spaced at Empire to WHYN in Springfield, MA, it's been operating under an STA since the twin towers fell.

It's still technically "licensed" to WTC.

 

[BMR]

As an example, WPAT is currently short spaced at Empire to WHYN in Springfield, MA, it's been operating under an STA since the twin towers fell.

It's still technically "licensed" to WTC.

OK, starting to understand this now. Thanks.

 

[KML0224]

WPAT-FM is short spaced to Springfield, MA? The WHYN-FM 93.1 transmitter is to the north of Springfield on Mount Tom in Holyoke, MA. What about 94.7 FM of Newark, NJ and WMAS-FM 94.7 of Enfield, CT/Springfield, MA? (City of license was changed but the transmitter is still at the edge of Springfield, MA proper.)

 

[edarmsttrong]

WPAT-FM is short spaced to the Springfield station. It has been operating from Empire under an STA since 2001. The station is operating at a max of 4 Kw. The licensee applied to permanently move to Empire, and operate at a full 6 kw from there, but the FCC will not grant it due to overlapping interference contours.

IMHO, WPAT-FM should move back to 1WTC, and regain it's full Class B signal. It has the potential to be one of the best FM signals in the market from that location.

 

[Ai4i]

I believe WKCR is short spaced @ 4TS, but protectionss are based on contour overlaps as opposed to mileage spacings down in the reserved band. Were this not the case, I think they would be radiating 2K and not just 1⅓K.

 

[fybush]

WPAT-FM is short spaced to Springfield, MA? The WHYN-FM 93.1 transmitter is to the north of Springfield on Mount Tom in Holyoke, MA. What about 94.7 FM of Newark, NJ and WMAS-FM 94.7 of Enfield, CT/Springfield, MA? (City of license was changed but the transmitter is still at the edge of Springfield, MA proper.)

"Edge of"? Right in the heart of Springfield, actually. (But the heart of Springfield runs right up to the Connecticut River, and WMAS-FM does have its tower right next to the Memorial Bridge.)

And yes, WMAS-FM and WNSH are short-spaced. That's really the norm along the eastern seaboard, where most of the class B stations in densely-populated areas were on the air prior to the establishment of the current spacing rules in 1964.

Under current standards, those stations are considered to be grandfathered, and while any existing interference is allowed, no additional interference can be generated. So if WNSH were able to move to a Manhattan transmitter site (which it can't, because of short-spacing to second-adjacent WWSK 94.3 on Long Island), WMAS-FM's signal would have to be directionalized to reduce the amount of signal it sends toward Manhattan such that there's no increase in either the area or population that would experience interference between the two 94.7s.

 

[Tony_Ramirez]

So there is no way WNAS 94.7 can go on the new 1WTC?

 

[luperm]

So there is no way WNAS 94.7 can go on the new 1WTC?

Short answer is: no

 

[Ai4i]

(Never mind)

 

[fybush]

So there is no way WNAS 94.7 can go on the new 1WTC?

Short answer is: no

Longer answer: maybe, but not cheaply. It would require a deal between Cumulus (WNSH) and Connoisseur (WWSK) to move WWSK to a different location that would be fully-spaced to 1WTC or Empire or 4TS. That would be an expensive thing to make happen - and there's also a clause in the sale contract for 94.7 that stipulates that Cumulus must make an additional payment to Family Stations if it's able to move 94.7 to Manhattan within a specified time period.

 

[luperm]

What about 94.3 @ Asbury Park, NJ and 94.5 @ Trenton, NJ?

 

[fybush]

We beat this topic to death last year right here in this very forum, and then stomped on its bloody corpse for a while for good measure. WNSH is short-spaced to both those stations, but that short-spacing is grandfathered because it existed before 1964. The only thing WNSH has to do with respect to WPST or Asbury Park if it moves is to not increase the existing amount of interference. WWSK is different: it was fully spaced to then-WFME in 1964 and has remained so ever since.