Towering Questions: WBFO/WNED

[GeorgeKramer]

This is some interesting info that was brought to my attention this morning.

Now that the deal for UB to sell its radio stations WBFO, WUBJ, and WOLN to local public broadcaster WNED has been announced, new details of the transaction have come to light.

You can read more about it by clicking on this link to see this week's Artvoice article:
http://artvoice.com/issues/v10n32/w...sues/v10n32/week_in_review/towering_questions

 

[Play Freebird]

I expect at least one of the three tentative permitees sharing time on the new Amherst 92.1 noncommercial assignment will rent space on WBFO's tower and this should bring in a good amount of additional income. Actually, all three should build a common transmitter facility (and share in the rent) as this is the superior location to serve the Buffalo market while satisfying technical constraints.

The 92.1 antenna will need to be highly directional to protect a Canadian co-channel station, which probably means a large "panel" design similar to WBUF's Elmwood Ave installation. And heavy antennas usually justify higher rent.

In comparison, Family Life's translator antenna (a compact single bay, only about halfway up, fed with small diameter line) takes very little structural capacity, which explains the cheap rent they negotiated. Height, weight and windload capacity of vertical real-estate equate to square footage of horizontal real-estate -- so the more you use, the more you pay. The writer of this article apparently doesn't clearly understand how most tower lease fees are determined.

 

[Bob1370]

It's not just the Canadians that need protection on 92.1; there's a class B1 station in the Syracuse market, WSEN-FM, running a 25 kW nondirectional signal that may need a little help/protection as well because of some cochannel concerns. The signal pattern for the Amherst noncomm may be a little on the complex side and have to be peanut-shaped with bulges to the north and south and shallow nulls east and west to meet all the protection needs.

But of more interest in the context of this thread is, wou;d WBFO be the best place to move all the news programming now on WNED-AM? Once the 50 kW CP is built out, a look at the directional antenna pattern shows there's a significant null to the southeast toward areas like East Aurora where a lot of the upscale listeners live.

On the other hand, WNED-FM's got an omnidirectional blowtorch on 94.5.

Classical music often appeals most to older demos in cities and inner-ring suburbs, as the folks down at WNYC determined in researching where to put their classical service in New York and where to put news and talk at the time they acquired the 105.9 signal in NYC, WBFO is plenty adequate to serve that core audience well in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls market.

N/T programs cast a broader net demographically and geographically, and the AM 970 signal and even the WBFO signal to a lesser degree miss some of the potential audience that such programming could reach through the flamethrowing 105 kW omni FM they have at 94.5.

So might the WNED council wind up putting the classical programming service on 88.7 with a good enough signal to reach that station's core, while putting the news and talk on the bigger 94.5 signal picking up lots of new suburban pairs of ears who now get all their radio news from WBEN, and either creating a third jazz and arts service on 970 AM or else selling it off completely?

They may not change anything on any of the stations they pick up, but they now have options they didn't have before...

 

[Philip_Airtime]

So might the WNED council wind up putting the classical programming service on 88.7 with a good enough signal to reach that station's core, while putting the news and talk on the bigger 94.5 signal picking up lots of new suburban pairs of ears who now get all their radio news from WBEN, and either creating a third jazz and arts service on 970 AM or else selling it off completely?

They may not change anything on any of the stations they pick up, but they now have options they didn't have before...

The short answer is no. I have no inside knowledge of what Western New York Public Broadcasting will do. But WNYPBA is already on record as saying NPR programming will continue on WBFO. IMO, shaking things up as Bob is suggesting is asking too much of the radio listening audience for little gain. WBFO, with its Jamestown and Olean repeaters, already covers much of Western New York. Plus, newcomers to Buffalo and visitors are used to finding their NPR between 88 and 92. Why mess with that! Never in my memory has WBFO received complaints from listeners in East Aurora that they can't hear WBFO. WNYPBA will have enough of a challenge of getting AM 970 listeners to 88.7. Why involve the Classical station and make it even more difficult? Again, I don't see that happening.

I suspect Morning Edition and All Things Considered will be simulcast on both stations, at least for a while. I also think AM 970 will continue with such shows as Hear and Now, To the Point and The World while Talk of the Nation and Fresh Air run on 88.7. That way, public radio listeners will continue to have a choice. For example, t's great to be able to listen to Hear and Now on AM 970 on those occasions when Terry Gross' topic isn't of interest to me. Again, this is pure speculation on my part. But I don't see NPR programming going to 94.5.

 

[w9wi]

But of more interest in the context of this thread is, wou;d WBFO be the best place to move all the news programming now on WNED-AM? Once the 50 kW CP is built out, a look at the directional antenna pattern shows there's a significant null to the southeast toward areas like East Aurora where a lot of the upscale listeners live.

On the other hand, WNED-FM's got an omnidirectional blowtorch on 94.5.

For what very little it's worth...

Nashville Public Radio has had an 80,000-watt FM signal for decades, and an AM signal for about ten years. A few months ago, they acquired a second, 10,000-watt, FM signal.

They moved all the classical music to the new 10kw FM and flipped the legacy 80kw FM to all spoken-word. The AM, which was already a spoken-word format, was not significantly affected -- and I know of no move to sell it. (though I wouldn't be stunned if it happened)

 

[SirRoxalot]

One other consideration for keeping classical on the bigger signal is the content. Classical uses a much wider dyamic range than talk. Drop the modulation for a soft passage in classical music, and you may significantly affect the listenability in some areas of the metro.

WBFO gets out. I've yet to run into a real issue hearing it in the car. If you're in a building, you're probably going to need an antenna of some sort anyway.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Concur with Phil. WNYPBA has established Classical on 94.5. The station generates membership revenue from all the right people. There's no reason to tamper with that success. As to WNED-AM 970 and WBFO 88.7, both stations get significant cume and TSL from me at home and in my car. The WBFO signal blankets the two county Buffalo MSA and that's really all that matters. Beyond that, the signal is strong in most of western Genesee county and northern Chautauqua and Cataraugas counties. I listen to On Point and To The Point at least three times each week. Same for Fresh Air. (BTW, I'm thinking of doing an NPR show called "What's The Point?" or "Small Things Considered" ... rimshot, gray Fidelipac ... but I digress.) On Point is a consistent two hour show on WNED-AM, but split on WBFO. Because of this, I often listen to On Point on WNED-AM 970, unless I'm in my car and the exasperating nulls in the WNED-AM pattern force me to FM.

The WNED-AM signal limitations may be significant issues in WNYPBA's programming decisions. Those limitations would be a point of contention for any commercial news-talk operation. It seems that WNYPBA bought WBFO to enhance the news-talk reach of local and NPR programming, as well as to reach the purse strings of an audience that may not listen to WNED-AM because of the signal.

To get the full effect of the WNED-AM directional pattern, drive Transit road or Union road. Granted, the WNED-AM signal is gangbusters in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and the Northtowns, but to the east, even a few miles away from the Rogers road transmitter site, the signal is brutal. Then there's the image frequency cancellation effect of 1520-550 = 970, making the signal even more of a challenge. But enough tech talk.

The WBFO/WNED-AM programming issue is a moderate conundrum. Let's hope that if and when WNYPBA makes decisions regarding programming, those responsible for making the decisions explain their rationale: "Here's what we decided to do, why we decided to do it and how our decision will benefit listeners and members."

 

[SirRoxalot]

I think that they'll leave classical alone. My guess is that they'll put their strongest draws on WBFO. I hope that they'll combine the news staffs of WNED-AM and WBFO to create a strong challenger to WBEN. It would be interesting if they used 970 to focus more on city-based issues, and maybe even a little ethnic programming. It could expand their listening audience, and their pledge base.