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Buffalo WGR to Simulcast on 107.7

Fighting Irish said:
I wonder if this WGR thing will work in Rochester...

radioinsight.com

WGR Expands To Rochester

After adding FM signals in Buffalo this week, Audacy Sports 550 WGR Buffalo will expand to Rochester on Sunday, February
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
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It would depend on what your definition of “work” is.

I think taking the WGR brand to Rochester is not a bad one. There is nothing going on there now. However, this is a great sales play.

The sales team can now present WGR as reaching 2 markets. That will work
 
TheBigA said:
It sounds similar to what they did in Detroit

audacyinc.com

Audacy Launches 97.1 Detroit Sports Radio Network | Audacy Inc.

DETROIT, MI – November 6, 2025 – Audacy will launch 97.1 Detroit Sports Radio Network, a new, centralized hub for sports fans across Michigan on December
audacyinc.com audacyinc.com
Click to expand...
Also similarly to what we see with WEEI in Boston & KFAN in Minneapolis. If only they'd done this before the Bills/Sabres breakup news broke, maybe Terry Pegula would've reconsidered his decision although the route they're going might be a more profitable/successful one. If Audacy had stations in Jamestown, they probably would've flipped a station there as well.
 
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NYAZSporty said:
Also similarly to what we see with WEEI in Boston & KFAN in Minneapolis. If only they'd done this before the Bills/Sabres breakup news broke, maybe Terry Pegula would've reconsidered his decision although the route they're going might be a more profitable/successful one.
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From what I understand, the Michigan network doesn't include the team play by play. That would be the case here as well. This simulcast only includes the content owned by Audacy.
 
Overall, it's not a bad idea. Audacy brings in syndication of local interest by rebroadcasting WGR for most of the day, replacing Westwood One content. Let's hope that the mid-day show and some of the sports news content gives some time to the Red Wings, Amerks, and Knighthawks instead of rehashing the Buffalo-centric content.

It's interesting that WROC is currently branding as 95.7 The Fan despite the fact that FCCdata.org says the 95.7was granted as a translator for WBEE, a 50KW FM that doesn't need any translator to cover the Rochester market. Is Audacy behind on their paperwork on this?
 
Is Audacy behind on their paperwork on this?
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No. 95.7 has been authorized by WBEE-HD2 since Audacy (well, Entercom) acquired it. WBEE-HD2 simulcasts WROC's main 950 signal. The translator was acquired by Entercom in 2014, before the FCC relaxed the rules in 2017 to the greater of 25 miles or 2mV/m. I don't know if 950's Brighton site would allow the full range of 95.7, but it's close. It's no worry for WBEE.
 
Fighting Irish said:
I wonder if this WGR thing will work in Rochester...

radioinsight.com

WGR Expands To Rochester

After adding FM signals in Buffalo this week, Audacy Sports 550 WGR Buffalo will expand to Rochester on Sunday, February
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
Click to expand...
As I think about it, it makes sense. WROC replaces some Westwood One programming for the WGR mornings, keeps two hours of local sports talk in the afternoon, and gets Buffalo sports for PM drive. Nights/overnights were already Westwood One.

And it keeps 107.7 from competing with 95.7 except for two hours 1-3. 95.7 is better on the east side and 107.7 comes in fine on the west side.
 
Ed Trefzger said:
No. 95.7 has been authorized by WBEE-HD2 since Audacy (well, Entercom) acquired it.
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This is a point that most people do not consider when they post a potential "gotcha" about a translator's originating station ... and I thank you for bringing it up.

It cannot be automatically presumed that a translator is rebroadcasting the main program feed of any FM station listed as their originator. There are a lot of markets where the HD digital subchannels exist primarily to feed analog translators. This is one such situation.

And, since there is no requirement (I don't think there's even a process to do so voluntarily) to specify a HD subchannel with the FCC, this happens. A lot.
 
Ed Trefzger said:
No. 95.7 has been authorized by WBEE-HD2 since Audacy (well, Entercom) acquired it. WBEE-HD2 simulcasts WROC's main 950 signal. The translator was acquired by Entercom in 2014, before the FCC relaxed the rules in 2017 to the greater of 25 miles or 2mV/m. I don't know if 950's Brighton site would allow the full range of 95.7, but it's close. It's no worry for WBEE.
Click to expand...
So 950 AM is rebroadcast on WBEE-HD2, and WBEE-HD2 is rebroadcast on a translator. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. It looks like the translator might be a bit outside of WROC's daytime 2 mv contour, and way outside their night pattern, so using WBEE-HD2 as the "primary" is a way to make it work. It does make you wonder about how they determine the "originating station." Hey, whatever works.
 
SirRoxalot said:
So 950 AM is rebroadcast on WBEE-HD2, and WBEE-HD2 is rebroadcast on a translator. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. It looks like the translator might be a bit outside of WROC's daytime 2 mv contour, and way outside their night pattern, so using WBEE-HD2 as the "primary" is a way to make it work. It does make you wonder about how they determine the "originating station." Hey, whatever works.
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I think you answered your own question before you asked it.

If the translator is outside the contour for WROC but is within the one for WBEE, then doing it this way makes it perfectly legal, which ends (at least for me) any "wondering".
 
IMO - all this talk about this frequency or that translator is like arranging the deck chairs on the titanic. If you’re under 50, most probably don’t care unless MAYBE it’s in the car. Even then, it is to one of the heritage stations that rolls off the tongue from years of being dominant in their formats - 550, 930, 96.9, 98.5, 104.1, 106.5, etc, Nobody is scanning the dial looking for some low power, niche frequency. If anything, they are going to listen on TuneIn or iHeart or Audacy which will guarantee they get what they are looking for at a reasonable fidelity.
 
However, in some diary markets -- Albuquerque among them -- Nielsen reports that many entries are only the frequency ... not the call letters or station branding.

Although KRKE did get one diary entry a couple of years ago for "Casey Kasem" on Sunday morning (we carry the classic 1980's American Top 40 shows).
 
K.M. Richards said:
However, in some diary markets -- Albuquerque among them -- Nielsen reports that many entries are only the frequency ... not the call letters or station branding.
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It varies by market, and, of course, by the number of people listening to streams and not OTA.

But before streaming was so significant... think pre-2008... station dial positions were the most common diary entries across markets. Either pure dial number or dial-plus-name were about 80% of diary mentions on average. Then came things like slogans and morning show talents, and then call letters.
K.M. Richards said:
Although KRKE did get one diary entry a couple of years ago for "Casey Kasem" on Sunday morning (we carry the classic 1980's American Top 40 shows).
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Even today in PPM markets it is important to give "name and address" often so listeners, in a crowded field of offerings, remember where to return on their next listening occasion.
 
TheBigA said:
It sounds similar to what they did in Detroit

audacyinc.com

Audacy Launches 97.1 Detroit Sports Radio Network | Audacy Inc.

DETROIT, MI – November 6, 2025 – Audacy will launch 97.1 Detroit Sports Radio Network, a new, centralized hub for sports fans across Michigan on December
audacyinc.com audacyinc.com
Click to expand...

As a resident of Michigan, I can tell you the execution of this has been pretty sloppy. Granted, it's still early, and things could change.

The on-air hosts in Detroit so far have made zero mention of the outstate affiliates, the on-air hosts are no longer able to mention "The Ticket" by brand name (because an obscure Cumulus-owned station in Grand Rapids that is not part of the network is known as "The Ticket"), and the play-by-play rights situation is a mess, meaning when WXYT-FM is airing a live game, one or more of the network stations have to air separate programming arranged for by Townsquare (generally, ESPN Radio).

WXYT-FM does still use "Ninety Seven One...the Ticket!" jingle sings leading into most commercial breaks; these jingle sings do not air on the network stations.

I've heard very little if any advertising from WXYT-FM duplicated on the network stations so far. It's mostly national network ads plus a few local ads sold by Townsquare (Audacy owns WXYT-FM but Townsquare owns the network affiliated stations in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Lansing). The advertising run on WXYT-FM is heavily local; the station is sold quite differently than how a typical cluster of FM music stations would be sold.
 
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Most surveys say that in car listening is mostly done on the in-dash entertainment system, not via phone link unless that's the only way something is available. That's true at almost any age. Once you establish a button that works on your in-dash system, it doesn't matter if it's AM, FM, SXM, or maybe an app. The less people fiddle with their phones in cars, especially when they're driving, the better. Personally, entertainment comes from the in-dash system, and maps, traffic, and driving directions come from my phone. I don't want one to interfere with the other, and I don't need a map display bigger than my phone for directions.
 
Here's a random question:
Why hasn't 107.7 moved its TX site closer to Buffalo?

I realize 107.7 cannot be used in or near Buffalo proper due to CJXY from Hamilton, but why couldn't 107.7 change frequency to 107.5 and move much closer to Buffalo? They could be within ~15 miles of WGRF and still meet FCC minimum IF spacing requirements, correct?

(I presume 107.7 as a Class B facility if it were to move much closer to Buffalo would create too much interference to CJXY on Canadian soil.)

WNBL 107.3 is only a Class A and should be far enough away to permit WGR-FM to move closer & relocate to 107.5, I assume.

The Buffalo station using 107.3 is a translator and therefore has no frequency protection.

Also, while a Buffalo station on 107.1 would be short spaced to Toronto's CILQ if CILQ were an American station, I do not believe those spacing requirements are applicable when a foreign station is involved. There are B1 to B spacings and Class A to B spacings involving Windsor and Detroit stations that would not meet minimum FCC spacing standards if all involved stations were U.S. stations, for example.
 
MarkW said:
Here's a random question:
Why hasn't 107.7 moved its TX site closer to Buffalo?

I realize 107.7 cannot be used in or near Buffalo proper due to CJXY from Hamilton, but why couldn't 107.7 change frequency to 107.5 and move much closer to Buffalo? They could be within ~15 miles of WGRF and still meet FCC minimum IF spacing requirements, correct?

(I presume 107.7 as a Class B facility if it were to move much closer to Buffalo would create too much interference to CJXY on Canadian soil.)

WNBL 107.3 is only a Class A and should be far enough away to permit WGR-FM to move closer & relocate to 107.5, I assume.

The Buffalo station using 107.3 is a translator and therefore has no frequency protection.

Also, while a Buffalo station on 107.1 would be short spaced to Toronto's CILQ if CILQ were an American station, I do not believe those spacing requirements are applicable when a foreign station is involved. There are B1 to B spacings and Class A to B spacings involving Windsor and Detroit stations that would not meet minimum FCC spacing standards if all involved stations were U.S. stations, for example.
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Why would they move closer to Buffalo when they want to reach Rochester?
 
Buddy Shula said:
Why would they move closer to Buffalo when they want to reach Rochester?
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Audacy has 950 / 95.7 for Rochester.

107.7 only has a predicted 48 dBu to maybe 50 dBu signal in Rochester anyway. Perhaps actual signal strength compares favorably; I am unsure.

Personally, I'd choose expanded city grade coverage in the Buffalo market at the expense of Grade B (or weaker) coverage of Rochester in a heartbeat. Audacy already has a cluster in Rochester it can sell to advertisers looking to reach consumers in that area. I'd be surprised if male-focused WCMF is not a top 4 biller there. Wouldn't surprise me if they are #1 or #2.
 


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