SMALL TOWN, BIG MARKET

[OhioMediaWatch]

I thought about this while driving around rural parts of Northern Ohio today.

Use this thread to name stations in small towns, that just happen to throw listenable signals into major metropolitan areas.

No, not rimshots attempting to serve that big city...but local, hometown focused stations that can be heard in large parts of the metro they're not trying to serve.

We have a couple of interesting examples here:

1) Dix Communications' WQKT/104.5 Wooster, which is the hometown station for Wayne and Holmes County. Their 52,000 watt B signal is listenable on car radios in pretty much all of the Akron and Canton markets, and makes it a good distance into Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), not to mention all of Medina County, which is in the Cleveland market. (Note: Holmes County has its own "hometown" station, WKLM/95.3 Millersburg, but that's a local station that really doesn't make it past Wooster.)

I thought about WQKT because it carries all of the major Cleveland sports teams' PBP, as well as Ohio State football and basketball. That's presumably what puts it in the lower end of the Canton book most books, and it shows up at the bottom of the Akron book occasionally (both Akron and Canton are not PPM measured, yet, though stations there do encode).

2) Clear Channel's WNCO/101.3 Ashland, a country outlet, covers much of the 71 corridor between Cleveland and Columbus. It doesn't make it as far north or east as WQKT, due to its location and first adjacents like WHOT-FM/101.1 Youngstown, but it is pretty reliable in the 71 corridor.

Like WQKT and Wooster, it makes no effort to serve anything but the Ashland/Mansfield area and nearby.

But WQKT is a larger example of my thread, because it has a very good signal in the nearby larger markets.

At one point, Clear Channel was sniffing around at it, intending to move it northeast to become the WKDD replacement for 96.5/Akron (now Cleveland market top 40 "Kiss FM"). 'KDD landed on 98.1/Canton instead, but that eventually did move back (with a Munroe Falls COL) to the Akron market, at the very same transmitter site which once housed 96.5.

As part of the plan, CC bought 107.7/Loudonville to move into Wooster as the WQKT replacement. When the deal for 104.5 didn't happen, CC moved 107.7 in with its Mid-Ohio cluster in Ashland.

 

[davideduardo]

1) Dix Communications' WQKT/104.5 Wooster, which is the hometown station for Wayne and Holmes County. Their 52,000 watt B signal is listenable on car radios in pretty much all of the Akron and Canton markets, and makes it a good distance into Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), not to mention all of Medina County, which is in the Cleveland market. (Note: Holmes County has its own "hometown" station, WKLM/95.3 Millersburg, but that's a local station that really doesn't make it past Wooster.)

I thought about WQKT because it carries all of the major Cleveland sports teams' PBP, as well as Ohio State football and basketball. That's presumably what puts it in the lower end of the Canton book most books, and it shows up at the bottom of the Akron book occasionally (both Akron and Canton are not PPM measured, yet, though stations there do encode).

The 64 dbu, which is where generally about 85% of in home and at work listening occur in diary markets (and there is little probability we might see Akron and Canton as PPM markets in the forseeable future) covers less than 400,000 persons, and, while it gets the southern part of Medina County, that is a lightly populated area compared to the part closer to Akron or Cleveland.

That's a station that just can't reach enough of any of those market's residents to have true impact.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

The 64 dbu, which is where generally about 85% of in home and at work listening occur in diary markets (and there is little probability we might see Akron and Canton as PPM markets in the forseeable future) covers less than 400,000 persons, and, while it gets the southern part of Medina County, that is a lightly populated area compared to the part closer to Akron or Cleveland.

That's a station that just can't reach enough of any of those market's residents to have true impact.

Step away from the ratings data, David. 

I did not mean to suggest that WQKT would ever be a factor in the Akron and Canton ratings.  I mentioned that it shows up in the bottom of the book in both markets, and suggested its carriage of Cleveland and OSU sports is probably why it does so - since the rest of its programming is very much focused on the Wooster area.

I don't intend to make this thread into a "wow, look at that small town station that's making a mark in the big city ratings!" kind of thread, or to try to prove that a small city station like WQKT is "doing anything better" than large, corporate owned stations in larger markets which often get criticized for their bland programming.

I intended to make this thread a place for stories about hearing small town stations clearly in big city traffic, as a curiosity, nothing more.  The 64 dbU contour of the station means nothing to what I'm trying to accomplish here (which is why I rather clearly indicated the station can be heard "on car radios"), and the ratings were only brought up as an indication that *someone* in the big city calls up these stations from time to time, probably to hear sports product on FM that could be on AM in the big city.

May I encourage people to continue?

 

[davideduardo]

The 64 dbu, which is where generally about 85% of in home and at work listening occur in diary markets (and there is little probability we might see Akron and Canton as PPM markets in the forseeable future) covers less than 400,000 persons, and, while it gets the southern part of Medina County, that is a lightly populated area compared to the part closer to Akron or Cleveland.

That's a station that just can't reach enough of any of those market's residents to have true impact.

Step away from the ratings data, David.

My point is essentially one related to the laws of physics, not the reality of ratings.

On the typical range of home and work type radios, the 64dbu signal is the point beyond which the sensitivity and other characteristics of the receiver make listening impossible or unpleasant. And, with about 70% of listening taking place in the home or workplace, that's a reality.

I think that the sports teams get it; they know the Cleveland (or Akron, or Canton) stations in this case do not put a good enough signal into this particular county, and also know that the fan base of a team includes surrounding areas. So they get affiliates, and increased revenue, by only protecting the most usable coverage of each station. Smart, profitable and realistic. It also lets local merchants advertise in the games, which benefits quite a few different interests.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

For crying out loud, David, you're missing the point.

I KNOW ALL THAT. YOU ARE RIGHT.

I was just focusing on the NOVELTY of hearing a small town station in a large city, not dissecting its signal or ratings potential in that large city it clearly does not serve or intend to serve.

My apologies for starting this thread.

 

[BRNout]

OK, unlike Old Gringo, I get it and it's a fun discussion if we let it be. So, in the spirit of OMW's original inquiry, I have a couple examples of this that I can think of:

WVLT 92.1 Vineland, NJ - which serves its community while having a reasonably listenable signal into metro Philadelphia;

WBOQ 104.9 Gloucester, MA - this class A can be heard from southern NH into the northern part of the city of Boston, yet it focuses on Gloucester and other North Shore communities while also being a FM affiliate of the Red Sox;

WTKM 104.9 Hartford, WI - an old-fashioned variety station that features high school sports, polka music during the evening and a VERY local focus which can also be heard over much of the Milwaukee area (especially north and west where local 104.7 isn't as strong). I can often actually hear a weak signal this class A signal from my home in Northern IL!

WLNG 92.1 Sag Harbor, NY - this station is a legend, yet it still super serves the East End of Long Island while easily heard in other markets like New Haven, Bridgeport, New London and the Nassau/Suffolk part of the metro NYC market.

These are just a few examples of 'small town' stations that reach - and can be listened to in - much larger markets. There are dozens of others elsewhere. Note that I have been careful to exclude those which try to be "rimshots" - rather sticking with those stations that are focused on their respective local areas.

 

[techie2]

Here in the southwest corner of Ohio, I can't think of any really good examples. Most all the surrounding signals near any of the major cities are trying to target the metro regardless of where they are located.

I suppose maybe WPFB-FM in Middletown counts, as it covers well into both Dayton and Cincinnati but the programming is targeted mainly toward Butler county and perhaps Warren. I am sure they have had lots of money shown at them (it's a likely target for a Cincinnati move-in depending on spacings) but the owners have to this point refused to sell it.

WBZI-AM and WEDI-AM are focused toward Greene and Preble counties instead of Dayton, perhaps mainly due to signal limitations since they are low powered daytimers (although WBZI now has a 24/7 FM translator that reaches into the east side of Dayton fairly well).

 

[justthenumbers]

I can think of two examples in and around the Phoenix area...

KKLD 95.9 from Cottonwood, AZ seems to put a decent signal into the Northwestern part of the Phoenix metro. I have a friend, living in that area, who used to listen to this station at home when it was still Modern Rock was KZGL "The Z". (My point is that the signal was good enough to be heard in a home - not just in a car.) While KKLD carries ABC Radio's satellite oldies format, they do at least air high school football games for one of their local teams.

KAHM 102.1 from Prescott, AZ can also be heard in the northern suburbs of Phoenix. It carries the rare Beautiful Music format.

(Wikipedia is the source of much of this information.)

 

[davideduardo]

WLNG 92.1 Sag Harbor, NY - this station is a legend, yet it still super serves the East End of Long Island while easily heard in other markets like New Haven, Bridgeport, New London and the Nassau/Suffolk part of the metro NYC market.

First, WLNG is located inside the Nassau / Suffolk market, since Sag Harbor is in Suffolk County. And Nassau and Suffolk counties are part of the New York MSA. The two counties are also an "embedded market" with a yet to be accredited breakout of that portion of the NY market. You try to make it seem that WLNG was serving the market from outside, which is not so; it is home to the market, but as a class A covers very little of it.

The 50 dbu of WLNG barely touches the 46 to the west, and a tiny area of CT around Westbrook and Niantic, but is down below 40 dbu in New Haven and even less at Bridgeport.

You also mention WVLT and seem to be trying to make a point about it being receivable in metro Philadelphia, yet the station has a 70 dbu signal over parts of two counties that form part of that metro... of course the station is listenable there!

You and Mr. Media are confusing stations that are somewhere between deep fringe and DX reception with usable signals. There is nothing miraculous about getting such a station... it's just something that nearly nobody except a radio geek would do today.

 

[techie2]

:

 

[charlestondxman]

Here, there are several examples. WALI 93.7 in Walterboro is a country music station that is very small town. Even though they are less than 50 miles from Charleston, they still run "Swap Shop" every morning, all of its county's public high school football games, and have news at the top of the hour often (with a one-man show, run by the owner).

They read the obituaries every day, have full five-minute weather summaries every morning, and even run a statewide sports talk show, in addition to Braves baseball, every NASCAR race, and South Carolina sports.

They are a 6kw station that easily reaches two of the three major counties in the Charleston market. Another example is WPUB, 102.7 in Camden, SC. They are a great oldies station which still runs news at the top of every hour, a heavy diet of local sports, local news briefs all day, and gets easily into the Columbia market.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Thank you for those who "get the point" of this thread, and understand why I created it.

My point is proven, I think, by the fact I stumbled onto and actually listened to the Cleveland Browns game on Sunday right here in urban Northeast Ohio, on the aforementioned WQKT out of Wooster. (And I was on "the other side of town" from Wayne County!)

I did not seek it out, and wasn't even thinking of the thread when I hit SCAN on my FM radio, and it stopped at 104.5. At some point while driving around, the station's signal started to flutter...I looked down at the radio, realized it was on 104.5 (the Browns network hadn't taken any local breaks in that time), and I tuned it over to 100.7, the Browns flagship, WMMS.

The signal did not magically go away because I was outside the 64 dBu contour. I was listening to the game until I heard signal anomalies that made me check the station, then, under DavidEduardo Law, I tuned to the proper in-market station before the Radio Police pulled me over and ticketed me.

It's a good example, IMHO, because I'm sure others do that...scan the station, they happen to be (in the car!!) in a listenable area for the small market, out of town station, then when they don't get a decent signal, they seek out the stronger station.

It doesn't mean WQKT is a powerhouse in the Cleveland/Akron or even Canton markets, thoiugh it is a 52,000 watt B signal that is pretty much a solid rimshot into nearly all the Canton market, and could probably market there if it tried...it already sells a limited amount of advertising in Massillon and Western Stark County.

DE can look at his signal maps and Arbitron ratings all he wants, and call these signals "deep fringe" or "DX" signals that only "radio geeks" are interested in. The fact is, they SHOW UP on the dial in parts of these markets, strong enough to stop the scan on a car radio, and if some programming (i.e. Cleveland/Ohio State sports) is of interest to people in the larger market, they might listen as long as the signal is strong/good enough while driving around.

The station otherwise plays country music and does local news and sports. There are plenty of options for country music in Northeast Ohio, and I suspect WQKT isn't choice number 5 in even the Canton market when you've got WQXK "K105" and WQMX/94.9 blowing into town, not to mention WGAR/99.5 out of Cleveland.

But they must be PPM encoding down there on Hillcrest Drive, as the station showed up even (believe it or not!) in the first Columbus PPM currency numbers with a small sub-1 share. I have no idea how far north the Columbus market goes, presumably this comes from whatever county is at the northern tip of the Columbus metro, assuming it isn't the radio ratings equivalent of a typo.

Again, I'm not at all stating that stations like WQKT are even remotely a factor even in the big city markets up here. The station actively makes no effort to serve those areas, and its 52,000 watt signal is primarily meant to reach its core market area of Wayne and Holmes County. (Its only current in-area commercial competitor is WKLM/95.3 Millersburg, which is a small class A that barely makes it to Wooster.)

But WQKT's signal was good enough for Clear Channel to consdier moviing it into the Akron market...the new facility would have been not far from Wayne County, probably in suburban Barberton or something, possibly with a COL of Doylestown (northeastern Wayne County).

It is what it is, and I'm not going to belabor the point with someone who doesn't get the point of this thread, and who is trying to make it into something it is not. Thank you all for the examples.

 

[BRNout]

WLNG 92.1 Sag Harbor, NY - this station is a legend, yet it still super serves the East End of Long Island while easily heard in other markets like New Haven, Bridgeport, New London and the Nassau/Suffolk part of the metro NYC market.

First, WLNG is located inside the Nassau / Suffolk market, since Sag Harbor is in Suffolk County. And Nassau and Suffolk counties are part of the New York MSA. The two counties are also an "embedded market" with a yet to be accredited breakout of that portion of the NY market. You try to make it seem that WLNG was serving the market from outside, which is not so; it is home to the market, but as a class A covers very little of it.

The 50 dbu of WLNG barely touches the 46 to the west, and a tiny area of CT around Westbrook and Niantic, but is down below 40 dbu in New Haven and even less at Bridgeport.

You also mention WVLT and seem to be trying to make a point about it being receivable in metro Philadelphia, yet the station has a 70 dbu signal over parts of two counties that form part of that metro... of course the station is listenable there!

You and Mr. Media are confusing stations that are somewhere between deep fringe and DX reception with usable signals. There is nothing miraculous about getting such a station... it's just something that nearly nobody except a radio geek would do today.

David, you're giving me a migraine!! :

The POINT is to tick off 'local' small-town stations that serve their respective communities while still being quite receivable in a nearby big metro area. Yes, technically WVLT is in a county that's part of the Philly metro. But it is a small class A that, rather than trying to be a rimshot, actually serves Vineland and nearby communities in South Jersey.

As for WLNG, you've clearly looked things up in a database without actually ever setting your 'boots on the ground' in the region in question. Most of the population of the Nassau/Suffolk market lies many miles west of WLNG's main service area. Yet I've listened to it from Fairfield County CT as far northeast as Tolland, CT. It comes in fine through the New London area and - thanks to broadcasting in mono - it's practical range is quite a bit further than the mapped contours would imply. You can listen to it in southern Rhode Island as well. Yet it "serves" only Sag Harbor, the Hamptons and other East End (of LI) communities. You can clearly hear police blotter reports, church service schedules and community happenings from that area, while sitting in traffic on I-91 headed into Hartford (market 32) or on I-95 in Bridgeport (part of market numero uno).

As for my example of WBOQ Gloucester, yes Gloucester is in Essex County, MA - smack dab within the Boston DMA. Yet it's area of service and focus is unique enough that neither the Boston Red Sox, nor Entercom Communications have an issue with their status as a Red Sox radio affiliate, despite the flagship station of that group being Entercom's WEEI Boston. They don't market to Boston, choosing instead to super serve the communities of the North Shore and Cape Ann ONLY. Yet they can be heard well beyond that target area.

Small town radio that makes its way into the big city. That's the point of this discussion.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

The signal did not magically go away because I was outside the 64 dBu contour. I was listening to the game until I heard
signal anomalies that made me check the station, then, under DavidEduardo Law, I tuned to the proper in-market station
before the Radio Police pulled me over and ticketed me.

Getting Tasered by the Old Gringo can be a real bummer! I hope the ticket didn't come with
any points against your DX license.

 

[davideduardo]

The POINT is to tick off 'local' small-town stations that serve their respective communities while still being quite receivable in a nearby big metro area.

And my point is that "quite receivable" to radio geeks and addicts is almost universally "unlistenable" to everyone else... and in most cases, not even capturable on nearly all radios being used by "normal" listeners.

Yes, technically WVLT is in a county that's part of the Philly metro.

Actually, Cumberland county is not part of the Philly MSA (the Arbitron MSA, not the OMB MSA, is usually used in radio discussions).

But it is a small class A that, rather than trying to be a rimshot, actually serves Vineland and nearby communities in South Jersey.

There is no way that a Class A whose signal only touches a small and semi-urban part of a market could be, in the wildest of dreams, considered to be a rimshot.

As for WLNG, you've clearly looked things up in a database without actually ever setting your 'boots on the ground' in the region in question.

I knew Paul Sidney and for well over a decade was part of a small, private broadcaster's group he was going back to just about a year or so after he and his partners put the 500 watt daytimer on 1600 on the air. I am familiar with the area, the market and the station.

Yet I've listened to it from Fairfield County CT as far northeast as Tolland, CT. It comes in fine through the New London area and - thanks to broadcasting in mono - it's practical range is quite a bit further than the mapped contours would imply.

On the average home and workplace radio, the signal is not strong enough in any of those locations to be useful. And about 70% of radio listening is not in the car (where such reception may be possible, depending on location and addiction to drop-outs, adjacent channel interference, etc.).

Again, to all but a few radio addicts, the WLNG signal is not useful, irrespective of format and programming, outside of that very small area. The 60 dbu covers just about 100,000 persons; that's a nice radio market based on signal and... since the station does not cover the other 16,000,000 people in the NY MSA, it's an easy decision for those operating the station to do good local service since they have no other option.

You can clearly hear police blotter reports, church service schedules and community happenings from that area, while sitting in traffic on I-91 headed into Hartford (market 32) or on I-95 in Bridgeport (part of market numero uno).

The Bridgeport portion of Fairfield County, called the "Bridgeport Split" is not part of the NY MSA. Only the SN Split is.

As for my example of WBOQ Gloucester, yes Gloucester is in Essex County, MA - smack dab within the Boston DMA.

With the advent of the PPM, there is no TSA or DMA. Radio markets are MSA, and that is generally the definition used for a lot of syndication and rights issues, too. Essex is, however, in the Boston MSA

Yet it's area of service and focus is unique enough that neither the Boston Red Sox, nor Entercom Communications have an issue with their status as a Red Sox radio affiliate, despite the flagship station of that group being Entercom's WEEI Boston.

And WEEI's night interference free signal does not cover the 190,000 people that are in the WBOQ 60 dbu coverage area (considering that there is essentially no listening at home and at work to stations outside the 64 dbu contour, I'm being generous) it makes sense to the team to fill in the gaps, particularly with so many games either being at night or ending at night.

They don't market to Boston, choosing instead to super serve the communities of the North Shore and Cape Ann ONLY. Yet they can be heard well beyond that target area.

Again, the listener definition of "listenable" can be found by mapping where each station is listened to. All stations can be heard well beyond the area where they are listened to... it's just that the signal is not good enough to be listened to, which is why such stations focus on the smaller area where they have a chace to make an impact.

Small town radio that makes its way into the big city. That's the point of this discussion.

You are focused on whether you can ferret out a signal in atypical listening conditions, while actual bread and butter listeners would never consider tuning in. And that is why station management has decided to focus on the local areas they do have a listenable signal... with the positive result that locall communities often get a radio service that is probably better on the service element side than most large metro stations can offer.

 

[davideduardo]

Getting Tasered by the Old Gringo can be a real bummer! I hope the ticket didn't come with
any points against your DX license.

Now that made even me laugh. ;D

 

[gr8oldies]

Best example I can think of is T-100 in Newark, OH, which is 30 or so miles east of Columbus with a flame throwing 50KW but markets to Newark and SE Ohio. It could easily be a move in and probably keep the tower where it is. Still locally owned by the Pricers.

 

[gr8oldies]

WQIO in Mt. Vernon OH is another example. WNCO does indeed get out. Traveling I-71 from Columbus to Cleveland makes for some interesting listening.
I'm still learning the dial here in East Tennessee but I can nominate 105.7 The Hog and WOWF 102.1 out of the Crossville area but gets in to parts of the Knoxville area.
In Indiana, 107.3 in Columbus reaches southeast Indianapolis with their 50kW, and WRSW, Warsaw IN also 107.3 reaches Ft. Wayne pretty well but it's not a move-in.

 

[davideduardo]

Best example I can think of is T-100 in Newark, OH, which is 30 or so miles east of Columbus with a flame throwing 50KW but markets to Newark and SE Ohio. It could easily be a move in and probably keep the tower where it is. Still locally owned by the Pricers.

That's a really good example, in that the station is home to the Columbus metro, and its 60 dbu comes within spittin' distance of downtown Columbus. The 60 picks up nearly half the market population, too.

So the decision to be a Newark station is a choice they made... they could have been deficient rimshot, or a really perfect local station. And they outbill all but about 10 of the Columbus stations, something a rimshot with partial coverage would likely not do. That's a smart business decision as the station had both options available to it. The real issue is when a station with very marginal coverage wants to cater to the big city instead of taking advantage of the area it covers well.

 

[fybush]

And now that we're all friends again (and I say that as one of the few people here who's broken bread with not only Sr. Gleason but also Mr. 6479 and Hizzoner OMW...), here are a few that come to mind amidst my travels:

WPLM-FM 99.1 in Plymouth serves a decent chunk of both the Boston and Providence markets, probably not enough to be a really serious rimshot player in either one, though probably enough to at least try...so it's nice to see that it's pretty much sticking to its knitting and focusing on Plymouth and Cape Cod.

I'm surprised OMW didn't mention WREO 97.1 in Ashtabula - it has a very usable signal in much of Erie, and I believe it even shows in the ratings there, but it's happier being the big fish in the small (and overstocked!) pond of Ashtabula radio.

WDFM 98.1 in Defiance, Ohio tried, once upon a time, to invade nearby Fort Wayne - it puts enough signal over the east side of FW that it was able to put a (rather effective) on-channel booster on the air there. A windstorm took down the booster's tower one day a few years back, and WDFM retreated across the state line, content to serve greater Defiance.

Another oddity is the former WTWR 98.3 out of Monroe, Michigan, which tried to rimshot Toledo and then moved all the way in, relicensing to Luna Pier, MI and moving its antenna into Toledo itself. And then, for reasons known only to Cumulus, it retreated last month, changing calls to WMIM and becoming "Monroe's My 98.3 FM," even though its transmitter is still in Toledo.

How about KSTN-FM 107.3 in Stockton? Huge booming signal over the East Bay, but until the LaRues sold it to EMF this year, it was always a Stockton station first, last and only.

KNXR 97.5 in Rochester, Minnesota? Another enormous signal that gets into the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities plenty loud, and it doesn't exactly turn away from that audience, but neither does it rush to identify itself with them...