Will Hot 106's signal ever get better?

[radiojay1]

First let me say this, the radios I use are good radios, because in the same area, I can receive Boston's Jam'n 94.5 without a problem as well as many other Boston stations. Let me start with my car radio, which is the best of them all. Here are the areas where Hot 106's signal sounds worst. Along Atwood Ave. in Johnston from Hartford Ave. to Plainfield Pike. Along Plainfield Pike from Atwood to Killingly St. Along Central Ave in Johnston. Along the 6/10 connector between 295 and Downtown Providence. In these areas the station fades in and out, but Jam'n 94.5 although not clear, sounds much stronger with little fade. On my portable digital radio at home in Johnston near Plainfield St., I can recieve only a very poor signal. I have tried everything from raising and lowering the antenna but the signal is just bad. I can get Jam'n 94.5 fine. On another portable with a sliding dial, forget it, the station does not even exist, only interference from other stations. Hot 106 should be embarrassed that they can barely be heard in this area but Jam'n comes in fine. Unless you have some top of the line radio with excellent adjacent channel separation, you will not get a good signal from Hot 106 in this area, but you can still listen to Jam'n. I think Jam'n probably has a lot of listeners in this area where Hot 106 cannot be heard well.

 

[wknd92]

Jay...it is a historically horrible signal that due to the facotrs of transmitter placement and wattage have affected their presence in the market since Day 1 and it will never be able to be overcome partly because of protection issues and some topographical issues in regards to reaching the areas you mentioned

 

[ScottBurns]

As Ted mentioned, Hot's signal has been historically bad. Originally intended to serve the Woonsocket area, the station's weak signal in significant parts of the Providence metro area - including parts of Warwick and nearly all of southern Rhode Island - has prevented Hot (and formerly Kix) 106 from ever being a major player in this market.

Anecdotally, it seems that Hot's signal has worsened in recent years. I have spent summers in the Narragansett area for years, and this summer, Hot was virtually unlistenable save for my car radio. On several of my radios, WCOD consistently blurted over Hot. There were many times when WBMW also made Hot tough to hear.

 

[wknd92]

Scott...you were getting the "Narragansett Bay bounce". I get it all the time during the summers (like we had this year) with very little rain and on humid days, the signals from the Cape (not limited to WCOD) seem to bounce over toward Narragansett and You'd hear MVY better than Coast, Lite & HJY...Pro always seems to bounce in big time along with the former WRX (for obvious reasons)....hell when BLQ & PJB were up and running, MVY would come in better than them on some days.

 

[aqualung]

The signal issue aside I don't even know why Citadel persists with that format. They don't need it. It isn't like the KISS and JAMN situation in Boston. I swear the only reason they keep it is to take the pressure off PRO FM to play more hip hop. At best it's the same demo PRO FM is after but probably younger and not that desirable to advertisers. If any group is more apt to listen to CDs and Ipods it's urban listeners.

 

[ssetta]

Remember they USED to have a translator station on 102.7, which I think is from somewhere South of Providence. I bet that's why they had it. Why do you think they cancelled it?

 

[wknd92]

Remember they USED to have a translator station on 102.7, which I think is from somewhere South of Providence. I bet that's why they had it. Why do you think they cancelled it?

That was prior to Citadel purchasing the frequency if my memory serves me right....and that was indeed to try and help their presence in the state; but the 102.7 signal had it's own problems and quirks.

[/quote]
The signal issue aside I don't even know why Citadel persists with that format. They don't need it. It isn't like the KISS and JAMN situation in Boston. I swear the only reason they keep it is to take the pressure off PRO FM to play more hip hop. At best it's the same demo PRO FM is after but probably younger and not that desirable to advertisers. If any group is more apt to listen to CDs and Ipods it's urban listeners.
[/quote]

The demo is a lot different than Pro's target...while the female end of it (more tending to the 18-34 side) may cross over, they are more concentrating on the male 18-34 demo (which actually is HJY/BRU area) with Hot, obviously they are targeting the Rhythm/Rap/Urban end while BRU/HJY looking at the Rock/Alternative side...

 

[Runrigger]

Somehow the fact that Peter Ottmar once owned an urban station still cracks me up to this day.

 

[B-Rock]

Somehow the fact that Peter Ottmar once owned an urban station still cracks me up to this day.

It wasn't as urban in those days as it is now. If anything, it had more energy and better production.

 

[ScottBurns]

Remember they USED to have a translator station on 102.7, which I think is from somewhere South of Providence. I bet that's why they had it. Why do you think they cancelled it?

Per government approval, Hot was forced to abandon 102.7 when 106.3 was sold to Citadel. 102.7 helped Hot's signal tremendously in the southern part of the state. 102.7's stick, which is in Narragansett, reached the beaches as well as the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. However, the signal was so weak that it did not extend far west, and could barely be heard in Westerly.

 

[LA_Guy]

Hot is on WBRU's IF frequency...

Stations that are separated in frequency by either 10.6 or 10.8 mHz need to be separated so many miles from each other due to receiver IF issues.

106.3 - 95.5 = 10.8

Therefore, WBRU and Hot's transmitter are required to be separated by at least 10 air miles. Hot's signal only is protected from interference over a 15 mile radius. WBRU's move to Johnston in 2009 might allow Hot to move a bit closer to downtown, but I'd have to study things to say for sure.

 

[DG02816]

Dana is correct on the frequency and physical spacing. Here's a bit of history that I remember: 106.3 was originally WWON-FM, and originally ran all of 390 watts! I can remember now-Coventry Police Chief Roger Laliberte doing imaging for the place when it was Stereo 106. I visited the old WWON site on Getchell Ave.many years ago and can remember the Collins 20V2 transmitters 1240 had.

 

[rapking]

The owner of WWKX should had tried to purchase 103.7 ( if they didnt tried to ) and put WWKX Format on 103.7 . "Hot 103.7" could had been great in R.I. and" Hot 103.7" would had knock off "Jamming 107.7" in New London CT .

 

[ScottBurns]

Had there been a Hot 103.7, it might have even cut into some of Hot 93.7's numbers. The latter has a strong signal into Southeastern Connecticut (and even in parts of Southwestern Rhode Island).