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Raleigh AMs taken off-air by April's tornado

R

RadioDaze

Three and a half months ago, the tornado that struck downtown Raleigh toppled the Maywood Avenue duplexed tower of Curtis Media's classic country WQDR 570 and Capitol Broadcasting's ESPN Deportes affiliate WCLY 1550. WCLY is back on the air via a temporary long wire antenna with 250 watts, but WQDR has been silent since the April twister.

Is there any progress or word on when the tower will be rebuilt? Are either of the two stations taking advantage of the rebuild to improve their facilities? WCLY is very weak outside of Raleigh at their normal 1,000 watts daytime power (and probably doesn't make it outside of downtown at night with 7 watts). Will WQDR return at all, given the current state of AM listenership and their long absence?
 
I think the News & Observer said September.

WCLY doesn't seem to be serving much of a purpose. Are there really that many Spanish speakers that like all-sports radio?
 
If approved at the WPTF site, WQDR (AM)'s nighttime power will drop slightly from 52 watts to 40 watts to protect co-channel WWNC in Asheville. The application is for the southernmost of WPTF's nighttime towers (the one closest to Chatham St). Looking at the proposed maps, the move should actually improve 570's daytime signal in Chapel Hill and parts of Durham with a relatively minimal impact to the east.

As for WCLY, they are back to their full 1,000 watts under Special Temporary Authority at the Maywood Avenue site via a makeshift horizontal radiator. Looks like they plan to remain and rebuild there.

I think there's definitely a market here for Spanish-language sports programming, but WCLY is missing lots of that audience with their weak signal. CBC originally tried to get ESPN Deportes on Durham's WTIK (1310 kHZ 5kW dir. day/1kW dir. night before the big sports swap, but to no avail. Durham has a significant Hispanic population, so CBC should get a simulcast partner or find some way to improve that facility (AM-FM translator or HD-FM translator, directional antenna, or new frequency)
 
Well, WCLY got back on the air fairly quickly, so they should do okay in that department. WQDR (AM), that's another story. It's very hard with AM in this day and time to regain an audience once they go away. There's not even an internet stream that's remained active since the tower collapse. The station will likely need some sort of a relaunch.
 
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