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What Market has the "Biggest" FM Signals?

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fordranger797

I was thinking about this question the other day, as certain cities/markets seem to have better FM coverage than others. Based on my assumptions, the following would probably have to be true:

1. Most stations that broadcast in the market are class C, and are not short spaced (this likely takes many markets in the Northeast out of the running).
2. Stations in the market probably use a location that is high in elevation to broadcast. This will likely eliminate many midwestern markets.

With this information in mind, there are a few markets that jump out at me as possible contenders:

1. Albuquerque NM (which harnesses the height of Sandia Crest).
2. Denver, Co (potentially)
3. Los Angeles, CA (Mount Wilson is hard to beat)
4. Portland, OR
5. Seattle, WA (this is my home market, but from my personal experience, these FMs have an extremely large footprint).
6. Vancouver BC (however, their FMs are limited by mountain terrain that is located right behind the transmitter site).
7. Phoenix, AZ
 
I would put Houston in this class. A lot of their most powerful FMs transmit from the Missouri City tower farm, and those sticks are almost 2,000 feet tall. Combine that with some of those FM signals being 100,000 watts and they get out a long way.
Even 97.1 and 106.9, both of which transmit from well north of downtown Houston, are at or near 100K on towers nearing 2000 feet. I lived on the opposite side of the metro from those towers, and about 20 miles east/southeast of the Missouri City sticks, and never had trouble picking up either station.
 
A lot of the coastal Southern cities get good range. I remember hearing 100.7 and 101.5 out of Brunswick, GA/Yulee Florida all the way up 95 into South Carolina (Ridgeland area) in the middle of the winter back in 2008. A good 130 miles.

I don't know if it's just tropo but I believe 95.1 and 96.9 out of Charleston/Jacksonville interfere with each other in Hilton Head Island.
 
Already discussed on the National Radio forum.
 
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