• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

The WUMB Empire Strikes New Hampshire

N

notlob

In "The WUMB Empire Strikes New Hampshire" - https://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&note_id=497750516917647&id=134195766611374
"Towards Independent College / Community Radio WUMB" - https://www.facebook.com/FansofFolkRadioWUMB - reports that WUMB, licensed to UMass Boston, is now operating a transmitter located in Milford, New Hampshire.

Unsupported by the informaiton at "RECEPTION"* (which also does not its expansion to the Stow (added 2011) and Marshfield transmitters (added 2012), the WUMB Empire Expands to New Hampshire. Announced by Naomi Arenberg ("Fill-In Announcer, currently on Sunday morning's Acoustic Sunrise" - http://wumb.org/programs/announcers.php?AnnouncerID=16), but unsupported by neither a home page "WUMB HAPPENINGS" announcement nor mention in its blog - http://wumbradio.blogspot.com/ (last entry, "Remembering Doc", May 30, 2012),! not even a mention in its official Facebook page, WUMB Radio Network - https://www.facebook.com/pages/WUMB-Radio-Network/23985746031,
WUMB is now broadcasting from Milford, New Hampshire.

WUMB's transmitter network now consists of:
91.9fm WUMB (600 watts, Dorchester)
91.9fm WBPR (370 watts, Worcester)91.9fm, WFPB (6000 watts, Falmouth)
91.7fm WNEF (1000 watts, Newburyport)
91.7fm WUMG (660 watts, Stow)
91.7fm WUMT (1000 watts, Maarshfield)
88.7fm WUMV ( 670 watts, Milford, NH)1170am, WFPB (6000 watts, Falmouth)
Power source information from http://radio-locator.com

This expansion begs questions:
1. If WUMB is so proud of its out-of-state expansion, why is it (and the Stow and Marshfield expansions) such a secret by not being touted in ""RECEPTION" or its blog, as "WUMB HAPPENINGS" or any other website?
2. Why is the license holder, the University of Massachusetts, allo! wing brining on line a new OUT OF STATE transmitter? Are there! no bett er uses of taxpayer funds in Massachusetts, we now need to provide New Hampshire citizens free radio?
3. Milford, New Hampshire is 60 miles from UMass Boston, but only 24 miles from UMass Lowell. Wouldn't it be logical for the University system to expand the coverage area of the closest UMass radio station?
4. What are the associated costs (licanse application and transfer, site acquisition, site work, upgrade, maintenance, etc.)?
5. Are transmitters on Cape Cod, Newburyport, Metro West, Worcester, South Shore and now out of state needed to service the UMass Boston students when they are away from campus?
6. Why are the fiscal conservatives in the General Court not up in arms?
Click to expand...
 
The link isn't showing up because there are four dashes between the www and the .com (poss. a word blocked out here at radio-info?) Apparently the website name is blocked. It's a certain social network site.

There are some other cases of public/college radio networks branching across state lines like WAMQ 105.1 Great Barrington MA, // WAMC Albany Northeast Public Radio. That isn't far from the NY line though.

Is WUMB serving the needs of UMass students or public radio listeners? (At my own WMWM, the station is run by students and the majority of DJs are students plus some community members--I'm an '84 alum)
 
raccoonradio said:
There are some other cases of public/college radio networks branching across state lines like WAMQ 105.1 Great Barrington MA, // WAMC Albany Northeast Public Radio. That isn't far from the NY line though.
Click to expand...

A much better example is WAMC 90.3 itself. It may be licensed to Albany, but its transmitter is in Massachusetts on Mt. Greylock. More than half its coverage area is in MA, VT, and NH. See:
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WAMC&service=FM
 
Looks like 88.7 54 dbu contour gets into Nausha, Derry and parts of Manchester. I once got WAMC in Albany in my car at corner of Beacon and Hammond Sts. in Chestnut Hill. But it was gone an hour later when I turned on the transmitter to begin my show.
 
mgpt6 said:
I once got WAMC in Albany in my car at corner of Beacon and Hammond Sts. in Chestnut Hill. But it was gone an hour later when I turned on the transmitter to begin my show.
Click to expand...

thats the 90.3 on Greylock? they are pretty common into boston when WZBC is off air. especially if theres a bit of yellla on this map
 
raccoonradio said:
Most of it is in New Hampshire. Red: local (all in NH)
Click to expand...

As mgpt6 notes, a lot of that signal is going over the Nashua area - which, despite the state border, is part of the Boston DMA. It looks to me like this new signal is WUMB filling in a hole in the Boston market, rather than the start of a massive expansion and WUMB becoming the adult-alternative K-LOVE.

Speaking of another WUMB signal, WUMG (the Stow station) has been getting a lot of airtime, with WAVM off-the-air for the summer. Not sure if there have been any recent tweaks to the signal (or my former car's radio was total junk), but 91.7 FM has been coming in very well in the Framingham/Natick area, even with WDJM two doors down. The Framingham area was previously somewhat of a no-mans land for UMass - smack in the middle of WUMB and WBPR.
 
I’m in North Salem, NH, and tuned to 88.7 with the rotator pointed west, and I’m getting Z-100 from New York quite strongly. My guess is that someone in the vicinity is using 88.7 for their XM radio modulator. It’s strong enough that moving the rotator does little to change the signal strength. I’ll try again later to see if the XM is gone so I can see if the signal from WUMV really reaches this far.
 
I was on Route 93 between the MA/NH line and Manchester, NH a few weeks ago (Londonderry area), just before WUMV came on the air, and I noticed that co-channel 88.7 WSEW Sanford, ME (Christian format) was fairly strong in that area.

I doubt that WUMV would overcome WSEW along Route 93 or anywhere east of it.
 
Yesterday driving around Salem, NH with the radio tuned to 88.7 the only thing I heard was WSEW. I plan to be in Nashua later in the week, I’ll have a report from there if no one beats me to it.
 
Are they at full power? According to the charts, Merrimack should be in their local coverage area, but they are not very strong here. I'm having more problems with them than I expected.
 
raccoonradio said:
Is WUMB serving the needs of UMass students or public radio listeners?
Click to expand...

According to http://www.radio-info.com/markets/boston, with an average AQH% of 0.3-.04 and cume about 60k, I'd say it is serving neither.
With its repetitive music mix, it is serving a very small base of hyper-loyal fans; if management had any interest in serving a larger segment of the population it would allow its weekday staff to produce their own programs, as the weekend staff is somewhat allowed.
 
I live in NH (near Milford!) and for the longest time was wishing I could get WUMB. Just out of range.
Just last month or so I noticed I was getting it! :)
This station is such a perfect fit for the Monadnock region ... which has such a rich tradition of folk music ... e.g the Folkway.
I am just ecstatic about this and will do my part to support their efforts to broadcast up here.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom