webcastboy said:
I'm sure Dan can explain the particulars, but is WBAL is the main reason why WILD can't have night power? If so, I wonder...because WILD diplexed with WXKS a few years ago, didn't they? Couldn't they use WXKS's second tower to create a similar pattern to 1430? Just eyeballing the azimuth it seems about right.
Granted, it'd probably mean that WILD's signal wouldn't reach most of Boston, but it'd beat shutting down completely after critical hours ended.
Forget about WILD operating at night on 1090. As others have pointed out, the only way to do that would be to buy WBAL and follow the approach that ICBC did with WOWO. Someone here estimated that WBAL would fetch as much as $40 million. I could believe that number is too low and that a more probable number is north of $50 million. But I am a true amateur at radio station valuations.
According to the now-rescinded information on PSSAs and PSRAs at
www.fcc.gov (the Cookie Company !@#$ed up the calculations back in February), WILD was to have had its PSSA adjusted to 14W in two months, 18W in two others, and 25W in the other eight. That covers the period between Boston sunset and Baltimore sunset (1/2 hour in the majority of months but only 15 minutes in a couple of months--I believe). I suspect the bolluxed-up PSSA powers for WILD are lower than those the station was originally granted (20 years ago or so), but I don't know. The guy who MIGHT know is Grady Moates who used to do contract engineering for WILD.
As for a PSRA, WILD has never used one but it was granted one in February for 10W to be used only during the month of April after the start of Daylight Saving Time. I think this is another example of an FCC !@#$up. PSRAs are to be used only between 6:00AM local time and local sunrise. If I'm not mistaken, FCC Boston sunrise in April during DST is 6:00AM. If I'm right, then WILD can use its PSRA for exactly zero hours per day--but only in April ;>) Nice going FCC!
Now the biggie--day power: I believe that an owner willing to spend big money (my guess, north of $4 million) on the little daytimer (financially, a highly questionable idea) could boost the day power A LOT--perhaps even to 50 kW, by moving the transmitter site across the street to the WEZE site, adding a tower midway between WEZE's existing pair, and installing a day pattern very similar to WRKOs for use during noncritical daylight hours. During critical hours (the two hours after local sunrise and the two hours before local sunset), the pattern would have to be more similar to WRKO's night pattern to protect WBAL from daytime skywave. Since the move to the WXKS (AM) site, WILD has been running 1900W ND CH. During noncritical hours, the major protection is to WTIC, which is only about 100 miles away. Although, before moving its tansmitter, WILD used to run a nominal 5 kW during noncritical hours, radiation was limited to the equivalent of just 4 kW. Because the WXKS towers are shorter, and hence less efficient, than WILD's old tower, the non-CH power (which is now actual as opposed to nominal) was changed to 4800W.
The only real beneficiary of this expensive project would likely be Salem Communications, which owns WEZE. Presumably Salem, which itself leases the WEZE site, would collect rent from WILD for use of the towers and other facilities. WILD would wind up with a killer daytime signal northeast and southeast of Medford, but would that mean more listeners? Maybe some--but enough to justifiy the huge engineering, legal, and other costs of the move? Count me as VERY skeptical.
