Protest To Be Organized Against Wild 102.7

[nd2023]

104.9's already in HD, might even be at -14. It won't cost them anything to put S*ALT on 104.9 HD2 since they already are programming that format and already have HD on 104.9.

 

[Dancerev889]

104.9's already in HD, might even be at -14. It won't cost them anything to put S*ALT on 104.9 HD2 since they already are programming that format and already have HD on 104.9.

Everything costs money.

 

[tom]

104.9's already in HD, might even be at -14. It won't cost them anything to put S*ALT on 104.9 HD2 since they already are programming that format and already have HD on 104.9.

Everything costs money.

Yes it does.

Let's see ...

HD power upgrade requires a new transmitter $ 120,000
without a power upgrade, HD2 equipment $ 20,000
Equipment to get S*ALT from Ocean to Egg Harbor $ 10,000
Audio Processor $ 10,000
Monthly T-1 Line charge Ocean<>Egg Harbor $ 1,200

 

[hubcity]

HD power upgrade requires a new transmitter $ 120,000
without a power upgrade, HD2 equipment $ 20,000
Equipment to get S*ALT from Ocean to Egg Harbor $ 10,000
Audio Processor $ 10,000
Monthly T-1 Line charge Ocean<>Egg Harbor $ 1,200

Sounds about right - though (outside of budgetary considerations, which of course are the whole ball of wax, really) with hindsight being 20/20, an HD signal without multicast (HD2/HD3/HD4) doesn't make any sense any more. Nobody cares about CD quality radio, they care about "good enough". Now then, I'd argue it's also not even close to "good enough" without the higher injection power, personally.

But if the planets aligned and they already had multicast capability and weren't using it, and didn't need to buy a new transmitter to get the higher injection power (two BIG "if"s) it could be as low-cost as a best-effort cable connection, a not-even-top-of-the-line computer, and (balanced? eventually...) output to the sound chain leading to the HD2 feature of the transmitter. Some time spent making sure notifications that your HD2's gone off the air would be helpful...

The moral: If there's no money in radio, we've gotta learn to do radio for no money.

 

[nd2023]

I think they already are at -14.

Neglecting the sunk costs that Millennium has already spent up to this point, it would not cost much more to put S*ALT on 104.9 HD2. An Internet stream is good enough, since HD quality is a max of 48k. The audio would be processed at the 94.3 studio before being streamed to 104.9.

 

[hubcity]

I think they already are at -14.

Neglecting the sunk costs that Millennium has already spent up to this point, it would not cost much more to put S*ALT on 104.9 HD2. An Internet stream is good enough, since HD quality is a max of 48k. The audio would be processed at the 94.3 studio before being streamed to 104.9.

I'd say an Internet stream is good enough except that it should be at least double that of the perceived quality of the output. In other words, whatever quality the 48k represents (since it's supposedly better than MP3 or AAC+) should be doubled. I'd suggest a 192k or 256k MP3 stream for the link.

(Only because if I roll with a 128k MP3 on the HD stream, I think I take a bigger quality hit than the 128k mp3 itself does when it's compared to a 320k mp3.)

Ya never know, though - it could still sound like dogfood. Worth a try, though.

 

[d21ofnj]

Here's a thought. Equity should stop simulcasting AYV on 102.3 since they have a monster signal on 95.1. Why not alternative rock on 102.3?

 

[tom]

I think they already are at -14.

Neglecting the sunk costs that Millennium has already spent up to this point, it would not cost much more to put S*ALT on 104.9 HD2. An Internet stream is good enough, since HD quality is a max of 48k. The audio would be processed at the 94.3 studio before being streamed to 104.9.

Excuse me. I am the Chief Engineer of WSJO, and built the site.
The costs I outlined are accurate and the way we would do it.
We do things the right way.

 

[Zackster]

Here's a thought. Equity should stop simulcasting AYV on 102.3 since they have a monster signal on 95.1. Why not alternative rock on 102.3?

1. WAYV doesn't have a local signal in Cape May County on 95.1,
it takes a lot of interference and isn't clock radio quality like 102.3.

2. Equity owns WZXL, and isn't going to compete with it on 102.3.

 

[d21ofnj]

Here's a thought. Equity should stop simulcasting AYV on 102.3 since they have a monster signal on 95.1. Why not alternative rock on 102.3?

1. WAYV doesn't have a local signal in Cape May County on 95.1,
it takes a lot of interference and isn't clock radio quality like 102.3.

2. Equity owns WZXL, and isn't going to compete with it on 102.3.

Didn't realize 95.1 was that much hash out there in western Cape May Co since I was able to pick up 95.1 all the way to the tip.

As for 2, does it matter? Look at 99.3. Sometimes they sound as if they are competing with each other.

 

[hubcity]

Excuse me. I am the Chief Engineer of WSJO, and built the site.
The costs I outlined are accurate and the way we would do it.
We do things the right way.

No disrespect intended! (Personally, I think you did DOX the right way.)

 

[Dancerev889]

I think they already are at -14.

Neglecting the sunk costs that Millennium has already spent up to this point, it would not cost much more to put S*ALT on 104.9 HD2. An Internet stream is good enough, since HD quality is a max of 48k. The audio would be processed at the 94.3 studio before being streamed to 104.9.

Excuse me. I am the Chief Engineer of WSJO, and built the site.
The costs I outlined are accurate and the way we would do it.
We do things the right way.

I completely agree with Tom. If I am not mistaken the audio that comes out of the system into the transmitter chain needs to be at the highest quality and I believe that is in the IBOC agreement stations sign.

Rebroadcasting an internet stream is a bad idea. What happens if it buffers? What happens if you lose the stream? Too many what ifs

 

[nd2023]

What if the HD2 signal drops out? Same effect for the listeners, no audio for a few seconds. I'm sure there is a commercial-grade ISP at both Ocean and Egg Harbor with a service level agreement, so outages will be measured at minutes per year.

Something should be put on 104.9 HD2 to fill the format hole created by WJSE (either locally programmed or S*ALT), and perhaps also simulcast NJ 101.5 on 104.9 HD3 because its signal is weak in the area. There's no benefit for the listener (a.k.a. a complete waste of money) to just having an HD1 with no subchannels, the only good thing that comes from HD is spewing IBUZ over the competition located on the first adjacents.

 

[TonySantiago]

Re: Protest to be Organized against Wild 102.7

As much as I miss JSE and no option for alternative rock in South Jersey, I can't support the riot. It has nothing to do with the music, it has something to do with the "purists" that already judge the music on 102.7 as "gay techno" and "music for hair-gelled greaseballs." Bad enough some of these fans are still living in the "disco demolition day" that happened 31 years ago. If that's the kind of attitude or type of protest those fans are going to bring, you won't see me there.

First off, we're not planning a "riot"! That's not what I, personally, and the other people that I, personally, know are trying to do! It is about the music to us, we are now left with no station that plays the kind of music we want to listen to. While I agree that the new format is terrible, I also know that some people like it. It's just not my thing! We want our music back and we are going to continue making noise until someone starts to listen, however a riot is not planned and calling our protest a riot is a little over the top!

Then let me give you some advice, take it as you may see fit.

You would be MORE successful if you've gathered up all of the fans ticked off at what happened and form some sort of coalition, like I did. Call it the Atlantic City Rock Music Coalition or something. If you want to fight for your music, you would be more successful going at it in a positive manner and seeking A station in the area to do it. Don't focus on WJSE and 102.7 (and for the record, I'm not saying this just because I like dance music and want the station to stay) but get yourselves enough people to show the media in the region that you DO have the fans and support. Who knows, maybe you'll get another station to commit to the format.

We've done it here in New York City, getting the dance music community together and have been VERY successful at it Negativity will get you nowhere, along with a loss of credibility.

Anyway, that's my advice.

 

[tom]

Dancerev is correct. You want to present as high a quality, non-compressed
audio to any HD channel. Double or triple encoding results in an un-listenable
sound. The stereo image wanders all over, you'll hear odd squawking sounds
and more. There isn't a decent Internet based real-time delivery system
that's good enough to re-compress. We aren't talking about dropouts,
but quality.

Why would WSJO tweak their format to fill what you call a "hole" left by a
station with low ratings in a different area?

HD Radio's second and third channels came later, the original idea was a
quality increase. Yeah, it sounds good when you are close to the
transmitter. There aren't enough HD radios out there to bother with
simulcasts in a smaller market, maybe in the Top 10.

 

[bigtom101]

Dancerev is correct. You want to present as high a quality, non-compressed
audio to any HD channel. Double or triple encoding results in an un-listenable
sound. The stereo image wanders all over, you'll hear odd squawking sounds
and more. There isn't a decent Internet based real-time delivery system
that's good enough to re-compress. We aren't talking about dropouts,
but quality.

HD Radio's second and third channels came later, the original idea was a
quality increase. Yeah, it sounds good when you are close to the
transmitter. There aren't enough HD radios out there to bother with
simulcasts in a smaller market, maybe in the Top 10.

Too bad you couldn't send S*ALT from Ocean to Atlantic City, then to the WSJO tx site on the same STL as the main channel - would that be cheaper/easier than a T1 from Ocean to WSJO's TX? I would be pretty cool to have S*ALT on both 104.9 HD-2 & WSJO-HD-2...it would cover a nice chunk of the Shore & would be a good way to push both the S*ALT brand and HD Radio. I agree that if you can't do it right, don't do it at all. You are one of the better engineers for, as Spike Lee said, doing the right thing.

Sidebar: the worst thing about owning a HD Radio in suburban NJ (Western Monmouth) is the lack of local HD channels. I get WSJO in Millstone Township on the Sony tuner with the dipole (I live on a small hill), WAWZ 99.1, WWFM, along with some Philly FM stations. To get NY in HD, I need to use the 4 element yagi in the attic with a signal preamp. It sucks that many of the stations with big signals (class B's like WKXW, WCHR-FM, WPST) don't have it. Would be cool to have the classic hits on 24/7 on 101.5 HD-2, maybe a all deep cuts classic rocker on 105.7 HD-2 (or OLDIES since Ocean County lost JRZ), and a pure new music channel on PST HD-2.

When I was up in Boston recently, I brought the Insignia portable with me to see how it would do. It was great to be somewhere where HD just worked and there were some nice multicast channels to boot - all 70's on WROR, a blues channel on 100.7's HD2, and a all Irish channel on 96.9 HD-2. It's content that will drive sales (or not) of HD Radios - and S*ALT is great content (I like Hip Hop Anonymous personally).

 

[DToTheJ]

Looks like BringBack WJSE is trying to antagonize Wild's fans on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001372321680&v=wall&story_fbid=137282672963431

"Here is Wild 102.7's facebook page, tell them how displeased you are with them taking away WJSE http://www.facebook.com/pages/WILD1027/112111095499169"

One person commented, "sucks you gotta "like" them to make a comment"; Mr. WJSE replies that they "can like them, comment that you hate them, then unlike them."

How classy.

 

[d21ofnj]

And this is surely not going to being back ANY rock alternative format to the dial if this keeps up. The same occured on PartyFM's facebook when everyone flooded it with "Bring back Pulse 87" comments, and look where it got them. If someone were to get permission to use the JSE Rocks branding as an internet only station, would it be enough for the fans to settle for the stream like how pulse87 online was settled by the dance fans?

 

[dlewin]

This is getting to be nuts!!.. People what the hell is wrong with you!?!? is someone really that freekin stupid that you'd want to Protest a company!.. the hole thing is crap!! lol.... and people doing that isn't gonna change o NEWS FLASH they couldn't even get the WJSE call letters back at this point...

 

[MarcR]

If you guys genuinely want to send a message to terrestrial radio, lobby in support of the Performance Royalty Act! Corporate radio is experiencing existential angst over that piece of legislation, so do what you can to help it pass in Congress!