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WGYV-AM Greenville moving to...Cincinnati?

> Anybody know why WGYV is moving to an Indiana suburb of
> Cincinnati?
>
> It's at the FCC's web site:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=&call=wgyv&arn=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=1&dist> =&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9
>
>
> Thay have two applications pending, neither of which really
> gets into Cincinnati much.
>
The proposed new COL (Aurora, IN) once had an AM at 1270 (now WXGO/Madison, IN), which for some reason was allowed to cease 24-hour operation and become a daytimer (I didn't think any daytime-only apps were accepted anymore???). WGYV, which would move across 2 states and 350 kilohertz to 1030, is now a daytimer, but would have the ability to operate 24 hours from the new frequency and location.

Maybe someone on the Cincinnati board knows more. I know that market has had and is having a lot of shuffling with stations moving in and out and changing frequencies, so this is probably just one part of a really long chain.
 
Opp's WAMI-AM is moving to... Kanab

WGYV-AM isn't the only one.

WAMI 860 in Opp has applied to move to 1540 in Kanab, Utah. They have only applied for 250 watts in Kanab which appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Will they get to keep their "W" call letters in Utah?

WYNI 930 in Monroeville has also applied to move to 1190 in Harahan, LA (New Orleans) at 11kw.

I bet if someone dug deep enough they would find some more small Alabama AMs that have applied to leave. Are any stations going to Hawaii, Alaska... or maybe Puerto Rico?

> Anybody know why WGYV is moving to an Indiana suburb of
> Cincinnati?
 
Re: Opp's WAMI-AM is moving to... Kanab

> WGYV-AM isn't the only one.
>
> WAMI 860 in Opp has applied to move to 1540 in Kanab, Utah.
> They have only applied for 250 watts in Kanab which appears
> to be in the middle of nowhere. Will they get to keep their
> "W" call letters in Utah?

They applied for 1560 before applying for 1540. Odd, especially since a lot of new CPs have been issued in that underserved area as well.

> I bet if someone dug deep enough they would find some more
> small Alabama AMs that have applied to leave. Are any
> stations going to Hawaii, Alaska... or maybe Puerto Rico?

Why would they? Most of these are part of larger shuffles, and AK/HI/PR wouldn't be affected by anything going on in the contiguous 48.

It makes sense that owners would want to move small local AMs out of Alabama. Most of these areas are also covered by one or more FMs(usually owned by the same people as the AM), and all but a few AM signals in this state are useless at night anyway. If they can make some money by moving a station somewhere else where a new AM would have a chance, I say go for it.

>
> > Anybody know why WGYV is moving to an Indiana suburb of
> > Cincinnati?
>
 
> Anybody know why WGYV is moving to an Indiana suburb of
> Cincinnati?
>
These applications came about during the "AM window" a couple of years ago.

The FCC no longer grants NEW licenses for daytime only. If you have a market (Cincy, Atlanta, Las Vegas, etc etc) where there is a frequency that would work for a daytimer but no vacant frequency for fulltimer, you apply to move an existing daytimer, say all the way from Abbeville SC to Las Vegas Nev and apply for the frequency change at the same time.

Grant new daytimer: no, no. Move existing daytimer: maybe, maybe.

There is a second aspect which I don't know about. It is possible buying a cheap daytimer and moving it may avoid the auction process, and the winning bid in an auction could be more expensive than buying the puny daytimer. Someone else will have to spell out the realities of how the auction does or does not affect these strange moves.
 
Actually, 1270 is MOVING TO Cincinnati

AM 1270 was licensed to Madison, Indiana and has been for years. Madison is about halfway between Cincinnati and Louisville, KY. The owner of that station is also making an Auction 84 move by transferring that station to Aurora, Indiana. It's not a full market signal, but it does put 2 mv/m over downtown Cincinnati. You'll be able to listen to it, but it will be hard on the east and north sides of town and it IS only a daytimer.

I like Alabama. We drive through on the way to the Florida panhandle for vacation. One year, my father-in-law decided he wanted to drive from Montgomery ALL THE WAY to Destin without the interstate. We drove through Opp and Luverne and some other towns. There was an AM station IN STEREO on 1230 playing oldies. The Dodge van had an AM Stereo radio in it. I haven't heard AM stereo up here since 1987. We usually take I-65 to Georgiana, then all the way down 55 through Covington County. (I like that old blue police car they have parked right off the exit). I'm particularly fond of Andalusia and Florala. I even read the on-line newspapers sometime just to see what's going on there.
 
Drivin' through the country

This is off topic but locals would never consider taking an interstate from Destin to Montgomery. The normal route is US 331 with a few shortcuts on side roads depending on how well you know the area. There are plans in the mill to build an interstate from Atlanta through Columbus and Dothan ending in Panama City.

As for your fond memory of an AM stereo station on 1230, I'd have to guess that would have come from Florala. They have (or had) a station on 1230 that did a good job covering local news. I think they were playing gospel last time I was in the area. I've never owned an AM stereo radio, so I don't know for sure that they were ever in stereo.


> I like Alabama. We drive through on the way to the Florida
> panhandle for vacation. One year, my father-in-law decided
> he wanted to drive from Montgomery ALL THE WAY to Destin
> without the interstate. We drove through Opp and Luverne
> and some other towns. There was an AM station IN STEREO on
> 1230 playing oldies. The Dodge van had an AM Stereo radio
> in it. I haven't heard AM stereo up here since 1987. We
> usually take I-65 to Georgiana, then all the way down 55
> through Covington County. (I like that old blue police car
> they have parked right off the exit). I'm particularly fond
> of Andalusia and Florala. I even read the on-line
> newspapers sometime just to see what's going on there.
>
 
Re: Actually, 1270 is MOVING TO Cincinnati

> I like Alabama. We drive through on the way to the Florida
> panhandle for vacation. One year, my father-in-law decided
> he wanted to drive from Montgomery ALL THE WAY to Destin
> without the interstate. We drove through Opp and Luverne
> and some other towns. There was an AM station IN STEREO on
> 1230 playing oldies. The Dodge van had an AM Stereo radio
> in it. I haven't heard AM stereo up here since 1987. We
> usually take I-65 to Georgiana, then all the way down 55
> through Covington County. (I like that old blue police car
> they have parked right off the exit). I'm particularly fond
> of Andalusia and Florala. I even read the on-line
> newspapers sometime just to see what's going on there.
>

That may have been 1290 WOPP in Opp. They play
oldies and are one of the few AMs doing Stereo
in the area. I listen on one of my AM Stereo Receivers
when I have the OPPortunity. Pun intended.
 
Re: Drivin' through the country

I think that's the way we went that one time. Rt 331 all the way. When you've been driving for ten hours, you really want the interstate. But, that trip was pretty interesting. It probably was 1290 WOPP that I heard. I noticed they have a pretty good web site. Are they the dominant AM in Covington County? Their signal looks like it covers pretty well.
 
Re: Drivin' through the country

> I think that's the way we went that one time. Rt 331 all
> the way. When you've been driving for ten hours, you really
> want the interstate. But, that trip was pretty interesting.
> It probably was 1290 WOPP that I heard. I noticed they
> have a pretty good web site. Are they the dominant AM in
> Covington County? Their signal looks like it covers pretty
> well.
>

Jeff & all -
Great info! I remember some of those stations. I once had
the pleasure of loosing $$$ on WXCR-FM (98one Classic Rock/
WWSF 98 Surf) which was licensed to Andalusia. The tower
was in the Black Forest area and was pretty decent all the
way from Montgomery to the steps of the Gulf Coast in Destin/
Ft. Walton Beach. There was a free AM (off the air) in the
deal that I don't think anyone ever did anything with. It's
been 10 years though. You did not work at PCB's FM did you?
 
Re: Drivin' through the country

> > It probably was 1290 WOPP that I heard.


WOPP 1290 AM is probably the biggest station in Opp, but there's also WAMI 860 AM (102.3 FM), and I've known some of the people who worked there. You can hear either station all over Coffee and Covington counties; even into Geneva, Dale, Crenshaw, and Pike counties.

WTBF 970 AM - 94.7 FM (Brundidge-Troy) and WAAO-FM 103.7 FM share the same engineer. The original engineer at WTBF recently retired. WTBF's AM is down to like 44 watts at night, so at best you'll hear static. The FM has a good signal from south Montgomery county to northwest Florida.

Has anyone picked up WFXX 107.7 FM in Georgiana? A blind man owns this one. They have a great signal because I've been able to pick them up all over lower Alabama. I think their format is 80s music.

There's also WELB/WZTZ in Elba, and I've picked them up all over the place.
 
Re: Drivin' through the country

> > > It probably was 1290 WOPP that I heard.
>
>
> WOPP 1290 AM is probably the biggest station in Opp, but
> there's also WAMI 860 AM (102.3 FM), and I've known some of
> the people who worked there. You can hear either station
> all over Coffee and Covington counties; even into Geneva,
> Dale, Crenshaw, and Pike counties.
>
> WTBF 970 AM - 94.7 FM (Brundidge-Troy) and WAAO-FM 103.7 FM
> share the same engineer. The original engineer at WTBF
> recently retired. WTBF's AM is down to like 44 watts at
> night, so at best you'll hear static. The FM has a good
> signal from south Montgomery county to northwest Florida.
>
> Has anyone picked up WFXX 107.7 FM in Georgiana? A blind
> man owns this one. They have a great signal because I've
> been able to pick them up all over lower Alabama. I think
> their format is 80s music.

During one of the big DX openings last fall, I actually caught WFXX over Hot 107.7 for an hour or so. Good classic hits/AC station, from what I heard of it.

Caught WAMI 102.3 for the first time a week ago. I figured it was WELR and was about to pass it by when the temp and weather for Opp came on.
 
Re: Drivin' through the country

Why is WTBF dropping to 44 watts? Is it a new site and they only want to build one tower?

Do you have a 24 hour radio station that you turn to for weather emergencies? Or do you just use Montgomery or Dothan TV?
 
WTBF

WTBF dropped to 44 watts at night because only one of the three towers at the transmitter site still works. It's a directional signal that points southward. TBF is still 5000 watts during the daytime, and you can pick them up in Montgomery and Dothan on a good day.

The AM station is strictly bartered talk shows and ABC satellite music, with about four hours per day of live jocks. The management allows the college students to ride the board during the talk shows and break in with news and weather at the top and bottom of the hour, but that's about it.
 
> There is a second aspect which I don't know about. It is
> possible buying a cheap daytimer and moving it may avoid the
> auction process, and the winning bid in an auction could be
> more expensive than buying the puny daytimer. Someone else
> will have to spell out the realities of how the auction does
> or does not affect these strange moves.

As I understand it...

If you try to move an existing daytimer, and someone else files for a mutually exclusive change, both applications go to auction.

(actually it's my understanding the FCC notifies you of the mutual exclusivity & gives both parties a chance to amend their applications to make them both grantable; only if that fails do they go to auction)
 
Re: WTBF

In 2002, when Billboard magazine held its radio convention in Miami Beach, I drove there (and back) from Pittsburgh. After visiting a radio friend in Montgomery, I took US 231 south. One of the stations I really got a kick out of was WOZK AM/FM in Ozark, Alabama, which seemed to specialize in playing old easy-listening albums. I ended up staying in Dothan overnight to listen to them. They did the Swap Shop in the morning! I understand the FM has since changed.
 
Re: WTBF

> WTBF dropped to 44 watts at night because only one of the
> three towers at the transmitter site still works. It's a
> directional signal that points southward. TBF is still 5,000
> watts during the daytime, and you can pick them up in
> Montgomery and Dothan on a good day.


A bit of a correction on this. The old towers were dismantled. The present tower is a new, shorter tower, that is not required to be lighted or painted.
WTBF is now 5,000 watts, non-directional in the daytime and 45 watts, non-directional at night.

WAAO and WTBF do not share the same engineer. WTBF's engineer is employed in a non-engineering capacity at WAAO.
 
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