The FM band in Western New York is loaded to the gills. Full blown signals from Canada and Buffalo, plus translators. Canada doesn't have a designated "non-com" allocation range from 88.1 to 91.9. Drive to the Boulevard Mall, one of the best areas to pull in signals from the US and Canada turn on your car radio and press Scan. It will stop almost every 300k. Drive east to the Eastern Hills Mall... do the same and you'll score full power FM stations from Rochester as well as some of the Canadian FMs, plus the non-com FM from Lockport and WLVL's FM translator. Drive a few miles east to Akron, and WBTA's FM translator and WGCC from Genesee Community College break into the fray. The FM band in WNY is saturated.
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The signal is horrible. Daytime only No processing. It’s a schizophrenic radio station. No consistency. No purpose. They should just turn off analog and go to HD, but that would require blowing off the 300 listeners they have on AM. Plus they have no translators as FM backups. I have thought about going all HD. But that is because I have total FM coverage in the metro. They have zero. If WJJL goes the HD route, not only would it crush them financially, but they would lose most of their very small audience. If WECK went HD, watch out. We have total FM coverage for any disenfranchised listener.
Good point Rusty. The FM band is loaded with frequencies, and unless there is a good translator for sale, which there is not, as I have checked numerous times, translators of any significance will not be available to purchase. The FCC told me directly that they do not foresee another open window to buy or get a translator. So that leaves that out.
AM radio is becoming noisier by the second. Infact, Buffalo is rare in its like for AM radio. Most other large cities do not pay much attention to it. But Buffalo is older, so it hangs on. I also give a lot of credit to the corporate and local owners of AM stations in Buffalo for keeping the frequency relevant in this area.
HD radio has never caught on. In and of itself, or as a side channel. I have thought of making Weck all HD, however, that would be taking a big risk for our AM listeners who would no longer receive WECK on AM. In Buffalo, that is very risky, especially since our weekly cume is topping 70,000 mainly in Erie County
The upside is WECK has 3 great FM METRO translators all in different parts of the metro and all at maximum wattage. Also pretty high up on tower. We know from our nIelson research that about 50 percent of our audience listen on AM. Our hope would be that those 50 percent, would go to our FM’s. But there in no way I would go all HD if I did not have three great translators.
This is really an interesting time for radio. We continue to evolve and it’s in all of our interest to see each station flourish. The more people to radio, and different radio audio platforms, the better.
We have seen in home smart speaker usage skyrocket in the past year. Which makes sense. These are the new radios.
AM radio is becoming noisier by the second. Infact, Buffalo is rare in its like for AM radio. Most other large cities do not pay much attention to it. But Buffalo is older, so it hangs on. I also give a lot of credit to the corporate and local owners of AM stations in Buffalo for keeping the frequency relevant in this area.
HD radio has never caught on. In and of itself, or as a side channel. I have thought of making Weck all HD, however, that would be taking a big risk for our AM listeners who would no longer receive WECK on AM. In Buffalo, that is very risky, especially since our weekly cume is topping 70,000 mainly in Erie County
The upside is WECK has 3 great FM METRO translators all in different parts of the metro and all at maximum wattage. Also pretty high up on tower. We know from our nIelson research that about 50 percent of our audience listen on AM. Our hope would be that those 50 percent, would go to our FM’s. But there in no way I would go all HD if I did not have three great translators.
This is really an interesting time for radio. We continue to evolve and it’s in all of our interest to see each station flourish. The more people to radio, and different radio audio platforms, the better.
We have seen in home smart speaker usage skyrocket in the past year. Which makes sense. These are the new radios.
Just heard an announcement new transmitter will be installed on September 1st. They will be off for several hours but still available on the internet.
This isn't the music of my generation but I like it. It's a refreshing change, and not something you can find everywhere. It's one station where I have no idea what the next song or artist will be and that's kinda fun!
This isn't the music of my generation but I like it. It's a refreshing change, and not something you can find everywhere. It's one station where I have no idea what the next song or artist will be and that's kinda fun!
C
CAVEMANager
Guest
If you look at the FCC data base you will discover that in January 2006 the commission awarded a construction permit to WJJL to build a four tower array near Transit Road in East Seneca. The proposal called for 5,000 watts daytime and 190 watts at night. This would have created a vastly better signal over the Buffalo area than anything that WEBR has today. But for some reason the permitted facility was never constructed. I have no idea if the real estate was ever available or if it is available now. Obviously it would cost far more to build this upgrade than what was paid for the station earlier this year. But the important point is that if the FCC would approve an upgrade 14 years ago they probably would approve something similar today. Whether it could pay off in today's market is another matter.
Is 1120 still off the air? Maybe WEBR could buy it cheap and improve its signal to the south. That's another thought,.
Is 1120 still off the air? Maybe WEBR could buy it cheap and improve its signal to the south. That's another thought,.
Its a daytimer, why would they want that?
Four towers properly spaced and installed would have required a lot of money to sink into land, copper and steel. The CP might have served as a bargaining chip for a potential sale, "Daytimer with full time CP, Top 75 Market." Broadcasting Magazine in the 60s and 70s carried more than a few ads with such notations.
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