WBOQ/104.9 signal (new site)

[pqgeorge]

Personally, (IMHO) it seems to me that they had a better signal at the old site. We used to get WBOQ quite well on the South Shore, thanks in part to that nice water path from Cape Ann to the South Shore. Except for the area near the Back Bay (WRBB), WBOQ used to have a fairly decent signal practically up to Manchester, NH. I think that this might be similar to another 107.3 scenario.... trying to aim their sights to the lucrative Boston market, instead of trying to super-serve the old coverage area. I think that they'd better off using the old site. It did very well for them for those many years. They don't hit the South Shore anymore. Downtown (Boston), it's much weaker than in the past. It's a great sounding format. Too bad we don't get it anymore. (*sigh*) Their audio also seems to be "missing something", unlike the old site which was superbly done. I'm sure they are still working out the "kinks" and such. But if they are on full-power, it doesn't match the old site. I used to get it in the car in Brockton. It's gone now.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Personally, (IMHO) it seems to me that they had a better signal at the old site. I'm sure they are still working out the "kinks" and such. But if they are on full-power, it doesn't match the old site. I used to get it in the car in Brockton. It's gone now.

The application for license to cover showed up today (Monday 2/4/2013) in the FCC Daily Digest. I think coverage of the South Shore has suffered because the Tx move was to the north and west (about 14 miles, IIRC). On paper, they add a lot of coverage to the west and lose an equivalent amount in the ocean east of the North Shore.

Where I live (Arlington Heights) I think the signal is worse but not markedly so. My CC Radio Plus tunes in 50-kHz steps. Tuning it to 104.9 used to bring in WBOQ just fine. After the move, 104.9 was swamped by splatter from first adjacent 105.1 in Providence. By resetting the pushbutton to 104.85, I brought back WBOQ. It doesn't seem quite as strong as it used to be but the splatter is gone, so I have to say that it comes in fine--at least on that radio.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Peter, though WBOQ was promoting serving more listeners "in the Boston market", they knew they couldn't increase power toward Boston itself due to first adjacent stations in Providence and Cape Cod. The part of "the Boston market" that they were actually referring to is the Merrimack Valley and the Metro-Northwest of greater Boston, the area along Route 495 from the Mass. Pike northward. Those areas are in "the Boston market", and listeners in those areas are reporting a dramatic increase in WBOQ's power, and they are also stronger in southern NH than before, though where I live in Somerville and around Boston it's noticeably weaker.