Possible frequency change coming?

[atlanticcity1021]

I noticed today that 102.3 (Cape May) and 105.5 (Cape May Court House) are both simulcasting 95.1 WAYV (Atlantic City).

Does that mean a format change is coming? There would be no point in having both frequency’s in Cape May County playing WAYV. Any thoughts?

 

[TheBigA]

I noticed today that 102.3 (Cape May) and 105.5 (Cape May Court House) are both simulcasting 95.1 WAYV (Atlantic City).

Hasn't 105.5 been simulcasting 95.1 for a while? They already have similar call letters.

What does the population of Cape May drop to off season? I'd suspect it's pretty small.

It might be some off season cost cutting.

 

[nd2023]

It’s pointless for both to simulcast WAYV. In fact, one should simulcast 99.3 The Buzz, the other should simulcast 96.1 The Touch.

 

[lanceventa]

105.5 WAIV was sold to The Bridge of Hope in November and will soon flip to a simulcast of their Christian AC 88.7 WKNZ Harrington DE/92.5 WNKZ Pocomoke City MD.

Station Sales Week Of 11/20: WJAS Heads To A Nursing Home Operator - RadioInsight

radioinsight.com

 

[radiodx10]

105.5 WAIV was sold to The Bridge of Hope in November and will soon flip to a simulcast of their Christian AC 88.7 WKNZ Harrington DE/92.5 WNKZ Pocomoke City MD.

Station Sales Week Of 11/20: WJAS Heads To A Nursing Home Operator - RadioInsight

radioinsight.com

Oh great another religious station that absolutely no one wants or will listen to merely clogging up the airwaves. I mean come on, is this REALLY the best thing one can come up with to waste all that electricity?

 

[TheBigA]

Oh great another religious station that absolutely no one wants or will listen to merely clogging up the airwaves. I mean come on, is this REALLY the best thing one can come up with to waste all that electricity?

From what I can see, this is one of the stations that signed on as a result of Docket 80-90 in the mid-80s. This was an attempt on the part of the FCC to over-license the spectrum to increase the agency's budget. The people of Cape May Court House were well served with the radio stations they had then. They didn't need more stations to serve a growing population. Adding this station over-licensed the market, and made it harder for the other stations to make a profit, because the advertising pie was divided among more stations. So this is a natural thing, turning a station that glutted the market to a non-commercial operator.

 

[davideduardo]

From what I can see, this is one of the stations that signed on as a result of Docket 80-90 in the mid-80s. This was an attempt on the part of the FCC to over-license the spectrum to increase the agency's budget. T

I disagree. Docket 80-90 was a direct result of the decision of the Commission to change the rules and procedures after the horrible results of the "Bonita Springs" case. In that situation, a Class A wanted to upgrade to an adjacent Class C channel to increase coverage of the growing Ft. Myers-Naples market which had recently been consolidated by Arbitron.

The Bonita Springs station owner, Dick Friedman, owned only three stations: an AM/FM outside of San Juan, PR and the Florida operation. He thought that the upgrade would go through rather easily, yet something like ten applicants filed against him and that threw the matter into a hearing which Friedman lost after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

The result was that the FCC changed the policy on "major" upgrades so that they did not allow for competing applications. That meant that stations that could change class or change COL could do that without fear. At the same time, the Commission did a mass revision of the table of allocations. We ended up with many multi-station moves from rural to urban areas, many upgrades from A's to the various new types of B and C and lots of dropped in new channels.

The result was loss of service to many areas near large metros, and increased numbers of stations in more isolated areas that could not sustain even the stations that they had.

 

[MVB13]

It’s pointless for both to simulcast WAYV. In fact, one should simulcast 99.3 The Buzz, the other should simulcast 96.1 The Touch.

I respectfully disagree. WAYV's signal doesn't reach down to all of Cape May and it stops at around Sea Isle City. They need that simulcast. People do visit the shore down there in the summer and live down there year round. I do agree that those stations you mentioned have limited signals as well.

 

[TheBigA]

I disagree. Docket 80-90 was a direct result of the decision of the Commission to change the rules and procedures after the horrible results of the "Bonita Springs" case.

This station has nothing to do with that. This station was not an upgrade, but a new license in 1985. There were lots of new licenses printed as a result of 80-90, and more license fees for the FCC at a time when Reagan wanted to cut their budget.

 

[davideduardo]

This station has nothing to do with that. This station was not an upgrade, but a new license in 1985. There were lots of new licenses printed as a result of 80-90, and more license fees for the FCC at a time when Reagan wanted to cut their budget.

Correct. As part of the proceedings that included Docket 80-90, the table of allocations was changed and many, many, many new assignments were added.

As an example, the company I was with had previously bought the only FM in Lake City, FL, and one of the only two in the Live Oak-Lake City market. The change in allocations added 5 new signals in the area, causing everyone to lose money while the heritage stations cut local services, news and community work totally.

 

[joebtsflk1]

I disagree. Docket 80-90 was a direct result of the decision of the Commission to change the rules and procedures after the horrible results of the "Bonita Springs" case. In that situation, a Class A wanted to upgrade to an adjacent Class C channel to increase coverage of the growing Ft. Myers-Naples market which had recently been consolidated by Arbitron.

There was a similar case in my youth in Iowa. KRNA Iowa City started in 1975 on an old class A-only channel, 93.5. Unlike Bonita Springs, KRNA prevailed against its competing apps when it filed for class C 93.9 in the late 70s. (Another 80-90 shuffle in the early to mid 90s placed KRNA on 94.1)

This station has nothing to do with that. This station was not an upgrade, but a new license in 1985. There were lots of new licenses printed as a result of 80-90, and more license fees for the FCC at a time when Reagan wanted to cut their budget.

While it's true that more license fees may have helped the FCCbudget in the 80s and beyond, 80-90 was about increasing the availability of FM channels in general, before the budget pressures of the Reagan era. Docket 80-90 was first advanced by the FCC in 1980 in the Carter administration, with the final report and order not coming until June of 1983.

IMO, Docket 80-90 came about from a number of issues, of which one was the Bonita Springs case. Particularly in class C zone II land, the disparity of the old limits between the 3 kW/300' limits for class A and the usually over-protected class Cs with 100 kW/2000' didn't serve the public well. How the FCC handled the expansion that 80-90 allowed...guess that turned into a mess!

 

[TheBigA]

How the FCC handled the expansion that 80-90 allowed...guess that turned into a mess!

That's my point. It required the FCC to loosen ownership rules because the increased competition made it impossible for the heritage stations to bring in revenue at the same rate. Declining revenues led to some of the biggest radio owners, such as NBC, GE, and Nationwide to sell their stations and get out of radio forever. No point staying in a business with declining revenues.

The FCC could see they'd begun to kill the golden goose, and the only solution was to eliminate almost all ownership rules, which is what happened in the Telecom Act of 96. In the years since, the subsequent owners of those stations have found that revenues have continued to decline, and are now lowering market competition by selling commercial stations to non-com operators such as EMF.

 

[Radi0411]

I respectfully disagree. WAYV's signal doesn't reach down to all of Cape May and it stops at around Sea Isle City. They need that simulcast. People do visit the shore down there in the summer and live down there year round. I do agree that those stations you mentioned have limited signals as well.

I have to respectfully disagree myself, a 50kw station doesn't reach Cape May?? Maybe your radio needs a fresh set of batteries as WAYV is solid in every direction, even to the north where I can still hear it into Southern Monmouth county and even to the west as it is directional to protect WZZO.