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Waiting to see - WABC, WNBM and W232AL-FM.

Imagine what will happen after March 1st if people have a HD radio receiver

WPLJ 95.5

95.5 HD1--Main signal/K-LOVE

103.9 WNBM

103.9 HD1--Main signal/Radio 103.9
103.9 HD2--94.3 WFAS (rebroadcast of its 94.3 translator in White Plains).
 
According to Radio-Locator (if the information is current & accurate), it seems as though this translator will be picking up WNSH either as the primary offering OR via one of its HD channels which I believe they currently have an HD-2 and HD-3 vacant with a religious group on the HD-4... Could this be an indication of what is to come of 94.3 with the official end of WFAS too??

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=w232AL&sr=Y&s=C&x=0&y=0

Radio-Locator has always incorrectly listed it as relaying a subchannel of 94.7, so no that is not accurate.

They never built the CP to move to Rockland, it’s still on the AM/old FM 103.9 tower.
 
Imagine what will happen after March 1st if people have a HD radio receiver

WPLJ 95.5

95.5 HD1--Main signal/K-LOVE

103.9WNBM

103.9 HD1--Main signal/Radio 103.9
103.9 HD2--94.3 WFAS (rebroadcast of its 94.3 translator in White Plains).

WPLJ 95.5 will be on the air until late Spring early summer. K-LOVE won't be taking over until the sale closes. The only thing happening on March 1st is Entercom will be taking over operations of 94.7 WNSH in the NYC Market, 94.7 WMAS in the Springfield market, etc. Entercom will operate the stations, but technically they will still be owned by Cumulus until late spring/early summer when the sale closes.
 
The CP for the 94.3 translator in Rockland County expired. But there is another one that replaced it, which would use the Armstrong tower in Alpine, NJ.
Perhaps that one would be built if Cumulus sold off their site in Hartsdale, NY, which is currently being used to broadcast 'FAS 94.3.

94.3 CP: https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=W232AL&service=FX&s=C

WFAS/1230 still uses the Secor Road tower in Hartsdale and runs CBS Sports Radio.
 
The one thing no one has brought up yet is the land under WABC's tower in Lodi NJ. Cumulus has spent the last few years selling tower land in LA and DC. Those sales have netted over $170 million. If they in fact own the tower land in Lodi, they won't be selling WABC until after they sell that land. Because that land is worth more than the station.
 
They could sell the station without the land. In fact, they could sell just the license if they wanted, keeping the "WABC," format, etc. (Basically selling the frequency.) But I think that they will hold onto everything for now. WABC probably makes money for the company, even if it's more-or-less a stand alone AM.
 
I get all that, but my point is that in discussing the value of the station, let's not forget the tower land.

Would it make sense to build around the tower in a manner similar to what was done at WSB's transmitter?
 
Would it make sense to build around the tower in a manner similar to what was done at WSB's transmitter?

Have you been out there lately? They've pretty much done that already. It's a single tower with a transmitter shack. It's surrounded by other commercial buildings, with an access road to the highway. This won't be as lucrative as the Bethesda location, because it's not residential. But it's a nice chunk of land, similar to the WBBM site.
 
Have you been out there lately?

I have. Encroaching commercial construction has not (yet) surrounded the WABC tower by macadam as it has at WSB. The question is, whence would WABC transmit if its Lodi tower gave way to development? The Meadowlands? Furthermore, any relocation would undobtedly come at the expense of a downgraded signal.
 
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I have. Encroaching commercial construction has not (yet) surrounded the WABC tower by macadam as it has at WSB. The question is, whence would WABC transmit if its Lodi tower gave way to development? The Meadowlands? Furthermore, any relocation would undobtedly come at the expense of a downgraded signal.

Just looking at an aerial map of the WABC site, it looks as if the land may be classified as wetlands since it has a creek or ditch draining it and what looks almost like it's a dried up area that probably gets pretty wet during rainstorms. If so, there may be limits as to what can be built there. If the federal or state government classifies it as a wetland, any developer is going to have to jump through a lot of hoops in order to build there and they may have decided that it's not worth the effort.....that is even if whomever owns the land wants to sell it.
 
The question is, whence would WABC transmit if its Lodi tower gave way to development? The Meadowlands? Furthermore, any relocation would undobtedly come at the expense of a downgraded signal.

I think they know all this. Which may be why they're not rushing to sell. Gotta have a chair to sit in before you give up the one you got.

The tower itself is pretty historic, going back to the 30s.
 
In the 1960s, trading 770 for 99.5 would have been the deal of a lifetime for WBAI and the kiss of death for WABC. Nobody had FM radios back then.
 
I wonder if WNYC would be interested in 770. It would be a big upgrade from their 820 AM signal which currently simulcasts 93.9 part of the day. 770's much better signal penetration and coverage area might provide WNYC an opportunity to offer more original talk programming on the AM side if they were to trade up. And that is one broadcaster that is doing well financially.
 
There aren't many AMs in the country with the kind of coverage WABC has. Doubly so when it comes to ones potentially for sale.

But we have no indication that it's for sale. In fact the company CEO has said quite the contrary. Unless someone makes them a great offer, they seem prepared to hang onto it for a while. To be honest, the kind of coverage WABC has doesn't matter for WNYC.
 
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