WLGN to move to Lancaster

[LittleJerrySeinfeld]

I have heard that Positive Radio Group/Big River Radio out of Blacksburg, VA (owners of WLGN Logan) is planning to move the station to Lancaster. Has anyone else heard about this? If this happens, what will it mean for the small stations that currently exist in Lancaster?

 

[xmusicmatt]

I dont see an app with the FCC to move the tower, they do have an app for 6kw in logan an up from their 3kw.

I was down that way to athens a few weeks back and actually heard silence on WLGN 98.3.. when I flipped by.

With the exception of WLOH I dont think WLGN serving lancaster would have a big effect on the non coms in the area. WHOK does not count as they primarly serve columbus in their targeting.

 

[nmoore6676]

I dont see an app with the FCC to move the tower, they do have an app for 6kw in logan an up from their 3kw.

I was down that way to athens a few weeks back and actually heard silence on WLGN 98.3.. when I flipped by.

With the exception of WLOH I dont think WLGN serving lancaster would have a big effect on the non coms in the area. WHOK does not count as they primarly serve columbus in their targeting.

They also have an CP to move the AM, which appears to be at the same location as the FM, if you can rely on Google Maps. They must for some reason be moving the tower farther away from the building as it looks to be at the exact same spot now. The new site is a short distance away from the present site but essentailly the same address. Maybe to eliminate self interference?

 

[markbohach]

I believe they plan to open an office in Lancaster. Whether they actually originate programming from Lancaster is yet to be seen. The transmitter has to stay in Logan- they are land locked by (among others) WNCI which keeps 98.3 from moving north.

Their 6KW upgrade will still put the 1mV contour about three miles south of Lancaster. Couple in the blanketing signal of WHOK and the 175 KW plus HD sidebands of WNCI and the 98.3 signal penetration will still be lacking.

Roger Hinerman regularly sold advertising in Lancaster when he had the station and it had no impact on local stations.

 

[techie2]

The current application for the AM is just to correct their site coordinates. The FM app is to correct coordinates and increase to 6kW.

Mark is correct, they can't move any closer to Columbus because of WNCI.

 

[knowbetter]

I believe they plan to open an office in Lancaster. Whether they actually originate programming from Lancaster is yet to be seen. The transmitter has to stay in Logan- they are land locked by (among others) WNCI which keeps 98.3 from moving north.

Their 6KW upgrade will still put the 1mV contour about three miles south of Lancaster. Couple in the blanketing signal of WHOK and the 175 KW plus HD sidebands of WNCI and the 98.3 signal penetration will still be lacking.

Roger Hinerman regularly sold advertising in Lancaster when he had the station and it had no impact on local stations.

So Mark, a subjective question... on WNCI...

Some people tend to think that WNCI would probably benefit just as well for a taller, local transmitter site, they probably don't see that much revenue from their 175kw "signal", they would probably go further with reduced power and a higher stick.

Bragging rights, okay, but it seems that they just hold a lot of other signals hostage, because of their paper/predicted contours. Is there any real reason to keep the grandfathering anymore??

(I know you are not affiliated with them, just a techie type question).

 

[fybush]

So Mark, a subjective question... on WNCI...

Some people tend to think that WNCI would probably benefit just as well for a taller, local transmitter site, they probably don't see that much revenue from their 175kw "signal", they would probably go further with reduced power and a higher stick.

Bragging rights, okay, but it seems that they just hold a lot of other signals hostage, because of their paper/predicted contours. Is there any real reason to keep the grandfathering anymore??

Even grandfathered superpower stations are only protected from interference to their class maximum - so 98.3 protects WNCI as though it were a normal 50 kW/150 m class B station. Nobody's being "held hostage."

 

[markbohach]

So Mark, a subjective question... on WNCI...

Some people tend to think that WNCI would probably benefit just as well for a taller, local transmitter site, they probably don't see that much revenue from their 175kw "signal", they would probably go further with reduced power and a higher stick.

Bragging rights, okay, but it seems that they just hold a lot of other signals hostage, because of their paper/predicted contours.  Is there any real reason to keep the grandfathering anymore??

Even grandfathered superpower stations are only protected from interference to their class maximum - so 98.3 protects WNCI as though it were a normal 50 kW/150 m class B station. Nobody's being "held hostage."

This is correct. WNCI is protected just like any other Class B station. WLGN has other spacing issues as well. For example, the distance to the 98.3 in Fredericktown (my old station) is very close to the 72 mile limit. (The current 6KW A to A minimum spacing) There is also the 98.3 in Bellefontaine.

I know this spacing situation very well. When I owned the 98.3 in F-Town, I studied the possibility of moving closer to Mount Vernon. WLGN was in my way. The best I could do was about a mile closer. Not enough to mess with.

MB

 

[kentuckymedia]

While WNCI does seem to be in the way, it ponders the question why is Big River doing this in the first place. They also own C98-The Bull in Ripley. I dont think their plan is to make it more appealing to Licking County as it is to create a continuous station that people can listen to from Ripley, Athens, Pomeroy and up to Logan and Nelsonville. Prior to the upgrade, there was a space between Darwin to West Virginia where it was everything bleeding all together.

I was sitting down with a few old friends this weekend talking about another move that was supposed to take place. Clear Channel had made plans to move 93.7 to a Sunbury city of license but place the tower on a hill near Mount Liberty/Centerburg. Then they had the option to move 93.3 to Asheville and gave up on the prior plans. What could that have meant.

We were also talking about when WNCI used to have to look out for Super Q 93.7 when it was Mid-Ohio's flame throwing Top 40. Those were the days, look at the mess its become now!

 

[xiradiodotcom]

Clear Channel had made plans to move 93.7 to a Sunbury city of license but place the tower on a hill near Mount Liberty/Centerburg. Then they had the option to move 93.3 to Asheville and gave up on the prior plans. What could that have meant.

We were also talking about when WNCI used to have to look out for Super Q 93.7 when it was Mid-Ohio's flame throwing Top 40. Those were the days, look at the mess its become now!

My guess is that 93.3 in Obetz is much better than 93.7 in Sunbury. I didn't live in Columbus until 1992, but frequently listened to 93.7 from the other side of the signal as a Top-40 alternative to the Akron/Cleveland stations where I lived. I remember hearing "Open House Party" on Power 108 in Cleveland and 93.7 at the same time. I'm surprised WNCI would have even cared about WQIO considering the signal strength in all but the Westerville/NE area.

 

[schmave]

Clear Channel had made plans to move 93.7 to a Sunbury city of license but place the tower on a hill near Mount Liberty/Centerburg. Then they had the option to move 93.3 to Asheville and gave up on the prior plans. What could that have meant.

We were also talking about when WNCI used to have to look out for Super Q 93.7 when it was Mid-Ohio's flame throwing Top 40. Those were the days, look at the mess its become now!

My guess is that 93.3 in Obetz is much better than 93.7 in Sunbury. I didn't live in Columbus until 1992, but frequently listened to 93.7 from the other side of the signal as a Top-40 alternative to the Akron/Cleveland stations where I lived. I remember hearing "Open House Party" on Power 108 in Cleveland and 93.7 at the same time. I'm surprised WNCI would have even cared about WQIO considering the signal strength in all but the Westerville/NE area.

In those days at least, 93.7 was dependable pretty much all over the metro, including in areas like Dublin and the Brice Road area where I grew up.

 

[csneed5]

I knew it.. I just knew it.
This rumor was floating around back in 1992, when I left WSWZ-FM, 103.5 doing the news there (remember the oldies Z-103) in Lancaster..
In '97, When my bosses Dickie Schorr and Johnny Garber and Carl Heister sold WSWZ to that mom-and-pop who turned it into a jazz satellite of their station in Dublin, there were rumors that eventually, they would talked back into the radio business, and WLGN would be the target (FM, but not the AM).
Garber and Schorr programmed the best oldies station in the market, and their 6 KW from Water Tower Hill in Lancaster went up way past Columbus to Plain City, down to Wilmington (the Dayton 103.5 cut 'em off there), down past Athens and over to Waverly.
When people in Columbus started listening to Z-103, that was the time when WBNS took the hint and switched their own FM to an oldies format.
WSWZ only had about 15 employees, but Dickie and Johnny cultivated a family and that came through over the airwaves.
I got a great job right now in a Southern Sunbelt, but if I ever came back to the frozen tundra of Central Ohio, it would be to work for them.