WHTK to simulcast on 107.3, makes lineup change

[Ed Trefzger]

During the WHAM 5 o'clock news hour, it was announced that WHTK will begin broadcasting its programming on 107.3 FM in addition to 1280 AM. John DiTullio will move his program to 3-6 p.m., putting him head-to-head with "Schopp & the Bulldog" on WROC. WHTK will then carry Dan Patrick from 9 to noon, according to that report.

 

[John C]

Interesting. I know a lot of people, not just on this board, who are fed up especially with Schopp. I've never heard John D. other than his WHAM morning sports reports but will check him out.

 

[qman]

I didn't hear the announcement. Did they say when the change would happen?

 

[Element9]

Wow, that 107.3 signal is a killer [/sarcasm] but it may serve to fill in some of those southern nulls when WHTK kicks into night pattern. Having a choice between Schopp & The Bulldog and Johnny Di is like having a choice of being stabbed in the ear by an icepick or a screwdriver.

 

[ThePickleReport]

I think it's a great idea. 107.3 is just an "annoyance" frequency for CC to counter-program their competitors anyway, and this actually might be a legit use for it. And if I were them I'd turn off the stereo pilot, it's talk after all, and it would get rid of some of the multipath on the fringe.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

And if I were them I'd turn off the stereo pilot, it's talk after all, and it would get rid of some of the multipath on the fringe.

I have to agree. When it's talk radio, who cares if it's mono or stereo?
That's odd.
There must be some reason why that wasn't done.

 

[dustintv]

Wonder why CC didn't start to start simulcasting WHAM on FM itself. Some markets are seeing their leading AM talkers move to FM with success for the most part. I wonder for how long the simulcast will last too, it'd be nice if CC flipped one to progressive talk but that's in my dreams.

 

[qman]

The change occured @ midnight. WROO ended the 11:00 hour with Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by Steam and Hello Goodbye by the Beatles (how original), then switched to the simulcast.

 

[Bob1370]

"Wonder why CC didn't start to start simulcasting WHAM on FM itself."

They can't duplicate the coverage they get with even the best class B FMs in their portfolio in Rochester (you'd need a full class C signal with 100+ KW and 1200'+ HAAT, which only Entercom's Star 102 in Buffalo has in all of upstate, everyone else upstate is either limited to 50 kW ERP or running higher grandfathered power at 750' HAAT or less, and no one's grandfathered at all in Rochester). They probably sell their 12+ numbers through the TSA quite nicely where they are, and don't need to have a simulcast.

If anyone's going to do news-talk on FM here (or almost anywhere else) it's going to have to be, 1)younger-oriented in presentation, 2)different than the same old, same old in both personalities and themes/topics, and 3)locally oriented--a whole station full of Becks, Dr. Lauras and Sean Hannitys isn't going to cut it now any more than it did when WROC tried it some years back.

 

[Play Freebird]

"Wonder why CC didn't start to start simulcasting WHAM on FM itself."

They can't duplicate the coverage they get with even the best class B FMs in their portfolio in Rochester (you'd need a full class C signal with 100+ KW and 1200'+ HAAT, which only Entercom's Star 102 in Buffalo has in all of upstate, everyone else upstate is either limited to 50 kW ERP or running higher grandfathered power at 750' HAAT or less, and no one's grandfathered at all in Rochester). They probably sell their 12+ numbers through the TSA quite nicely where they are, and don't need to have a simulcast.

Now that 106.9 WPHR has downgraded to B1 and moved east to Onondaga Hill, let's see if Clear Channel files to upgrade WKGS, the 106.7 on Seneca Towers licensed to Irondequoit. The recent changes to WPHR have opened up some room for WKGS to move east or southeast (perhaps to Pinnacle Hill) -- and with contour protection to WYRK, a power increase to 6 kW appears possible.

Then, CC might think about simulcasting WHAM on 106.7 to fill in the areas where formerly clear reception of 1180 is affected by ever-increasing power line noise, or self-inflicted IBOC punishment from 1170 WWVA.

 

[Bob1370]

"CC might think about simulcasting WHAM on 106.7 to fill in the areas where formerly clear reception of 1180 is affected by ever-increasing power line noise..."

Gonna need to raise it to at least a full B (possibility of which is doubtful) if not a full C (impossibility a given) to fill in whatever blanks exist for a full 1-A 50 kilowatt AM.

 

[aaronread]

Gonna need to raise it to at least a full B (possibility of which is doubtful) if not a full C (impossibility a given) to fill in whatever blanks exist for a full 1-A 50 kilowatt AM.

Why? The point wouldn't be to duplicate WHAM 1180's coverage inch-by-inch...as you astutely note: that's a virtual impossibility given the inability to have Class C FM's in this region. The point would be to put an FM signal where the majority of WHAM's listeners are. I have no idea how big a signal that would need to be, and in the absence of that knowledge it could be accomplished by WKGS's existing signal for all we know.

Plus I don't think the logic supports using any one FM signal to augment WHAM's massive AM signal. Instead, it makes more sense to take a badly-underperforming FM...probably a Class A that covers the core market, which WKGS happens to do...and use it to leverage the better audio fidelity of FM over AM. That's not a terribly imaginative solution, but that doesn't mean it's a bad solution - quite the opposite. I could see that being very easy to justify the ROI.

Personally I wish to hell WHAM would simulcast on an FM that can be pulled in cleanly (even if it takes some extra effort with directional, high-gain antennas) here in Geneva. At night WHAM is just such a crapshoot here on campus that it makes getting EAS from them a real pain in the neck; and I've put a LOT of work into maximizing the signal. During the day it sounds pretty good, but at night it just comes and goes randomly.

 

[mimic001]

So Country 107.3 flips to simulcast HTK-AM...? How many flips has it been for this signal in the past three years? HTK and DiTullio couldn't draw money if they were covered in honey and rolled around in a stack of bills. They are doomed to get their solid 1 share no matter where they are. How many of you listen to the Red Wings, the Amerks...?

Why not be more community minded and begin to air more high school sports. The Finger Lakes is rife with opportunities especially during football season. If they are going to draw 1's, they may as well make some money while they are at it.

But HS sports takes money, people, and effort, all of which CC has little of these days.

 

[Bob1370]

"Plus I don't think the logic supports using any one FM signal to augment WHAM's massive AM signal. Instead, it makes more sense to take a badly-underperforming FM...probably a Class A that covers the core market, which WKGS happens to do..."

Waste of wattage on all accounts, since WHAM's picking up virtually all of its possible core audience with what it's using now and a class-A FM would add virtually nothing to either the total quarter-hour or cume. Better off using the signal for something that can bring additional revenue to the cluster from audiences and advertisers that WHAM can't bring in (meaning anything younger than their core). Lots of ways to do that...

 

[Savage]

aaron, as you might expect, catching WHAM for EAS porpoises with a co-located studio-transmitter here is a feat. Our EAS endec lives 15 feet from the operating WYSL Nautel 25,000 watt transmitter. Needless to say any AM receiver operating that close to 20 amps of AM RF is completely swamped producing nothing but images from one end of the dial to another.

We use an active amplified "Q multiplier" type AM antenna located in the CELLAR. The antenna is pretty inexpensive, is housed in a PVC pipe "tee" and is made by Ramsey Electronics in Victor. I'd recommend trying one for your EAS woes.

 

[ericNY]

Finally an FM sports talk station in Rochester. Makes me miss WNSA a little less now. I really like this move by CC. the 107.3 signal will provide coverage in the eastern parts of Monroe County, plus Ontario and Wayne county that lose coverage at dusk. Living in Newark, I listened to HTK during the day, but could never listen at night. WHTK should broadcast all the NY yankees games next season on the 107.3 signal as only WACK had most the games this season with WHTK only broadcasting a handful for the Rochester area.

Too bad WROC has the Sabres games with its weak signal that barely gets out of the city.