Stations That Pretend to be in Bigger Markets

[K-Billy]

105.9 in Lawrence, KS when it was modern rock KLZR "105-9 The Lazer" claimed "Lawrence-Kansas City" in its ID, despite having poor coverage of the KC metro area. When they switched to CHR their ID changed to "Lawrence-Topeka" where it has better coverage.

 

[ScottBurns]

Last time I was in Kansas City, I didn't think that 105-9 The Lazer's coverage was that bad. A curious example of a station NOT targeting a larger market is K-Joe 105-5. I think their coverage in Kansas City is pretty good. Another station that could serve a larger market is 97.5 WPCV/Winter Haven. It could easily serve Orlando, where its coverage is good.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

This thread reminded me of a post on ABDX from a couple months ago…

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/message/60082

 

[ftballfan]

Last time I was in Kansas City, I didn't think that 105-9 The Lazer's coverage was that bad. A curious example of a station NOT targeting a larger market is K-Joe 105-5. I think their coverage in Kansas City is pretty good. Another station that could serve a larger market is 97.5 WPCV/Winter Haven. It could easily serve Orlando, where its coverage is good.

I could pull in WPCV (and WOGK) on a small radio in my hotel room in Orlando this past spring.

 

[CalebC]

KJCK on 97.5 in Junction City, KS used to claim they served Junction City-Manhattan-Fort Riley-Salina. I'm not sure as to what they say today. On KKSW, when I'm in the Kansas City area, it's listenable on the eastern portion of Kansas City, MO. I'm not sure I'm surprised if they used to say they served Kansas City.

 

[ScottBurns]

WOGK has decent coverage along the eastern stretch of I-4, but I have had trouble with it west of, say, Sea World. WOGK is a powerhouse, however. I have picked it up in Daytona and as far north as parts of the Jacksonville area.

Last time I was in Kansas City, I didn't think that 105-9 The Lazer's coverage was that bad. A curious example of a station NOT targeting a larger market is K-Joe 105-5. I think their coverage in Kansas City is pretty good. Another station that could serve a larger market is 97.5 WPCV/Winter Haven. It could easily serve Orlando, where its coverage is good.

I could pull in WPCV (and WOGK) on a small radio in my hotel room in Orlando this past spring.

 

[swfl]

WOGK has probably the best signal in all of Florida. 100,000 watts off a stick at 1,348 feet. It pretty much covers the entire northern half of the main peninsula of Florida. Along I-75 you can carry it from the north side of Tampa all the way to the Georgia line. It also gets down to the Orlando area and over to Daytona and up to the south side of Jacksonville. It has a monster signal for sure.

 

[ScottBurns]

Speaking of Ocala-area stations, 102.3 WTRS also has an impressive signal. I remember driving home to Palm Beach County from Gainesville and picking up WTRS for a more than half the drive. WMBX limits its range to the south, but the I have picked up WTRS in Orlando and Lakeland.

 

[Signal]

WPLM 99.1. They claim to be "Boston's home for true variety." The signal in Boston reeks.

 

[davideduardo]

Another station that could serve a larger market is 97.5 WPCV/Winter Haven. It could easily serve Orlando, where its coverage is good.

But WOKV bills only slightly less than Orlando's bigger signal country station, and likely makes more money by serving the Lakeland market.

In fact, WOKV's recent CP moves the 70 dbu a bit farther south, essentially leaving Seminole County without a 65 dbu signal... and Seminole is 25% of the Orlando market's population.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

I am surprised that no one mentioned WTOR 770 Youngstown, NY. They use very loophole to serve Toronto. Overlap with WJR 760 is excluded by treaty over Canada, and by policy and rules over Lake Erie. And I'm sure WABC isn't thrilled that there is another 770 in New York State.

 

[davideduardo]

But WOKV bills only slightly less than Orlando's bigger signal country station, and likely makes more money by serving the Lakeland market.

In fact, WOKV's recent CP moves the 70 dbu a bit farther south, essentially leaving Seminole County without a 65 dbu signal... and Seminole is 25% of the Orlando market's population.

Of course, I meant WPCV...

 

[cyberdad]

And I'm sure WABC isn't thrilled that there is another 770 in New York State.

You may be correct, but WTOR's owners (Baruch, IIRC) have zero interest in putting any signal stateside. The signal in the Toronto area, the intended target, is reasonably good, but wouldn't be adequate or competitive for anything other than niche programming.

Along the same lines, there's a religious station on 760 in northern Vermont that's intended to serve Montreal. There's also a station or two in northern Washington state intended to serve Vancouver, Canada. I can't recall the details offhand, so perhaps crainbebo or someone more familiar with the area can help me out.

 

[ftballfan]

KRPI (1550 Ferndale, WA) sends most of its signal north. In fact, it has a CP to move to Point Roberts (an exclave of the US) and upgrade to 50kW night.

WCHP (760 Champlain, NY) sends almost all of its signal north toward Montreal.

 

[mimo]

I did mention WTOR earlier in the thread. They chose the TOR in the calls to symbolise their intended target. From what I understand, their phone numbers are either 905 or 416 area code. They're a local phone call from Toronto. They're quite popular, as even CTV news featured them prominently in a story about the south asian community in Toronto. They didn't menion any other station.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

CKLW was pretty much accepted as a US station until the Canadian government started changing all the rules. First it was the foreign ownership rules, then the format rules (CanCon). No Canadian station has been as influential since.

 

[ftballfan]

CKLW was pretty much accepted as a US station until the Canadian government started changing all the rules. First it was the foreign ownership rules, then the format rules (CanCon). No Canadian station has been as influential since.

There are still some Canadian stations that get decent listenership in the US

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Maybe some FM stations have some US listenership, but nothing like CKLW had in its heyday. Detroit Metro, Cleveland and Toledo, and the whole East Coast at night. People in the outlying areas of New York City would listen to the songs Rick Sklar wouldn't let them play, call WABC, and force their hand. You just can't find radio like that these days.

 

[swfl]

Growing up east of Cleveland in Lake County Ohio I can testify that CKLW was like a local to us. It boomed in across Lake Erie day and night. In fact at night we received it better than a lot of the Cleveland based stations. Back in the late 60's and early 70's CKLW was pretty much the station of choice for our area even over WIXY 1260 out of Cleveland.

 

[Lawppy]

There are still some Canadian stations that get decent listenership in the US

CIMX 88.7 Windsor, ON comes to mind. They are an Alternative format known as '89X', targeting Detroit, on the other side of the river. Music is pretty standard for an Alternative format, but unique due to Canadian content rules.