WMRN, 102.5 Zanesville Status

[xiradiodotcom]

As for the translator, I don't think they have always simulcast WOSU. For awhile it was WWCD if I recall... and WHOK for awhile. They probably just wanted to retain the right to rent it out to *someone*.

It was a translator for WSMZ 103.1 originally in 1998/99, then CD101 and now WOSB I believe. I'm guessing the first two were tests for the station owners to see if the translator would help their coverage. Rent was probably not worth the minimal benefit it provided. Now they are getting a discount on tower rental by hosting WOSB while they wait for someone that might want to rent the signal.

 

[columbus radio fan]

As for the translator, I don't think they have always simulcast WOSU. For awhile it was WWCD if I recall... and WHOK for awhile. They probably just wanted to retain the right to rent it out to *someone*.

It was a translator for WSMZ 103.1 originally in 1998/99, then CD101 and now WOSB I believe. I'm guessing the first two were tests for the station owners to see if the translator would help their coverage. Rent was probably not worth the minimal benefit it provided. Now they are getting a discount on tower rental by hosting WOSB while they wait for someone that might want to rent the signal.

I tuned it in while over in that area...it is a simulcast of WOSU-FM because it was classical music. As for waiting for someone to rent the signal, with WMRN moving to Columbus the translator will be no more. That's why the owner of it was one of the people fighting the move in the first place.

 

[kentuckymedia]

Question now remains on the formats. What will all the new formats exist to be?

101.7 moving into New Albany / Columbus
102.5 moving into Baltimore / Columbus
106.7 moving into Dublin / Columbus

Saga is sniffing for another FM. Wonder which one they will buy?

Clear Channel is moving in 106.7. That leaves Nabco, Radio One and Wilks to fight over the other signal moving to town. I really doubt Runnymeade has the funding to run a Market 35 station extremely competitive.

My thought is 106.7 will become WTVN-FM News/Talk simulcast

As for what will happen with 102.5 and 101.7? Im not too sure on.

 

[phatdaddy]

Don't forget about Salem. The only thing they have in this market is WRFD.

 

[fogedabowdit]

My thought is 106.7 will become WTVN-FM News/Talk simulcast

Why would CC waste a brand new signal on a simulcast? WTVN's ratings are consistently in the top 5 so a simulcast doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[CatFM]

As for the translator, I don't think they have always simulcast WOSU. For awhile it was WWCD if I recall... and WHOK for awhile. They probably just wanted to retain the right to rent it out to *someone*.

It was a translator for WSMZ 103.1 originally in 1998/99, then CD101 and now WOSB I believe. I'm guessing the first two were tests for the station owners to see if the translator would help their coverage. Rent was probably not worth the minimal benefit it provided. Now they are getting a discount on tower rental by hosting WOSB while they wait for someone that might want to rent the signal.

There was a time when Xavier's WVXC Chillicothe was carried on it.

As far as I know, WOSB Marion is a full time satellite of WOSU-FM, which makes me wonder why it is carried on there. I also have to wonder why OSU spent (or wasted) the money to put WOSB on the air in the first place. Considering the signal WOSU-FM has, and considering how flat it is between Columbus and Marion, why is it necessary? I have never had any trouble picking up any of the Class B Columbus stations in Marion.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

My thought is 106.7 will become WTVN-FM News/Talk simulcast

Why would CC waste a brand new signal on a simulcast? WTVN's ratings are consistently in the top 5 so a simulcast doesn't make much sense to me.

93.3 proves that CC is more than capable of wasting a brand new signal (a significantly better one than 106.7,  for that matter).  Hopefully that won't happen again with 106.7.  Given that this market will still be quite low on really good signals even after the upcoming move-ins, duplicating TVN's programming -- or creating a separate talk/news/sports outlet -- would indeed fall squarely into the "Oh no, they're wasting another one!" category.  That said,  I've decided to be optimistic this time.  (I just wish there wasn't all this talk right now about the fact that WIBC in *NON*-under-radioed Indy is migrating to FM.)

 

[xiradiodotcom]

I tuned it in while over in that area...it is a simulcast of WOSU-FM because it was classical music.

Not that it really matters, but it's WOSB according to recnet: http://www.recnet.com/cdbs/fmq.php?facid=10906&jaws=0

 

[xmusicmatt]

I tuned it in while over in that area...it is a simulcast of WOSU-FM because it was classical music.

Not that it really matters, but it's WOSB according to recnet: http://www.recnet.com/cdbs/fmq.php?facid=10906&jaws=0

and does WOSB really have a local studio and presence in Marion I doubt it... I got a feeling that likely WOSB rebroadcasts WOSU-FM 24/7.. In fact if I remember the last time I listened to "WOSU Classical Network" they ID all their Full Power stations in one ID

 

[boyphenom]

WOSB used to have different programming than WOSU-FM, depending on the time of day. I believe WOSB also carried some of the lesser OSU sports every so often.

 

[CatFM]

I must be missing something on the WSRW-FM move to Chillicothe. Their proposed Class A service in Chillicothe will not give them much more than that city and Ross County. As it is now in Hillsboro, their city grade signal takes in not only Chillicothe, but also Wilmington, Washington Court House, and Waverly, none of which will be within city grade of their proposed Chillicothe signal. If the Hillsboro signal is weak in those other cities, they could put up boosters in each city that would adequately cover each market since they are all within the city grade contour of the present signal from Hillsboro. It doesn't appear that the current signal affords any less protection to Columbus than the proposed downgraded Chillicothe signal, so why would they want to lose the coverage they currently have with the additional markets just to downgrade and put all of their eggs in one basket in Chillicothe?

 

[fybush]

The WSRW move gets them off 106.7, which has to happen to allow WMRN to move to that channel. WSRW can't move to 106.5 at Hillsboro, because it would then be short-spaced to Greenville/Dayton. This move gets WSRW out of the way, essentially sacrificing it for the WMRN move-in.

 

[CatFM]

I didn't notice the frequency change in the application. They could have done like they did in Washington Court House and moved the TX site farther south to eliminate any short spacing, but I suppose there was something in that direction that kept them from doing it or they would have. By the way, didn't they have plans to move 106.5 Greenville into Dayton earlier? Did they drop that? I couldn't find anything when I looked.

 

[kentuckymedia]

There once was a plan to move 106.5 from Greenville to Dayton, but they would have to move 106.3 in London to southern Pickaway County and Radio One told them to jump a ship.

Then they realized that 106.5 was just more valuable in Greenville as a sale. Hence the chatter about that being one of the two spin off's in Dayton.

While Chillicothe doesnt make them much money, they want 2 FM's in Chillicothe to offer a full Ross County smorgasboard. Hillsboro to them is more or less a spot on the map while Chillicothe is more valuable. Washington Court House will have to play the FM for both cities in this.

 

[gabigley1]

This may be of interest to some you who are interested in some of the controversy created by the move
of WRMN to Columbus.

Click here for more:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2002/11/18/story5.html?t=printable

Friday, November 15, 2002
Rivals disputing Clear Channel station proposal
Business First of Columbus - by Kathy Showalter Business First

Clear Channel Communications Inc. wants to move a Marion radio station to Dublin, but rival executives think the request is more about profit than good service to the affluent suburb.

Clear Channel wants to provide Dublin with its first hometown radio signal, according to documents filed with Federal Communications Commission. Clear Channel proposes to move Marion country station WMRN-FM to Dublin and concurrently shift Hillsboro's WSRW-FM, also a country station, to Chillicothe.

To ensure the signals from the relocated stations won't interfere with signals from other stations, Clear Channel also proposes to downgrade the channels of WMRN and WSRW.

The moves would leave Marion and Hillsboro with one radio station apiece, but it would raise Clear Channel's stake in metro Columbus to six stations.

"It's bull----," Alan Goodman, president of Franklin Communications Inc., said of Clear Channel's request.

 

[CatFM]

"It's bull----," Alan Goodman, president of Franklin Communications Inc., said of Clear Channel's request.

That doesn't have much credibility coming from the guy who moved stations from Lancaster and Richwood to Columbus, not to mention Bucyrus to Marion.

The FCC needs to just say "Enough!" and make everything stay where it is licensed. This has been just one more disaster from a regulatory agency with a long history of bad policies and decisions.

 

[boyphenom]

"It's bull----," Alan Goodman, president of Franklin Communications Inc., said of Clear Channel's request.

That doesn't have much credibility coming from the guy who moved stations from Lancaster and Richwood to Columbus, not to mention Bucyrus to Marion.

The FCC needs to just say "Enough!" and make everything stay where it is licensed. This has been just one more disaster from a regulatory agency with a long history of bad policies and decisions.

Wrong!

The economy isn't static, things change. That's like saying everybody still needs to keep shopping at Lazarus downtown. You can see what that kind of thought has given us in the form of a big white elephant mall downtown, while a ton of potentially charming buildings were razed. Let the market decide where those signals belong rather than some government edict. If anything, I think there should be a realignment with big 100kw super signals in all big cities, and the crap Class A stations can stay in the Marions of the world.

 

[CatFM]

The FCC, like many other government agencies, has a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another. When several companies opposed the move of 93.3, the FCC ruled against them and made the completely ridiculous statement in their ruling that they do not allow rural stations to move to larger markets in order to increase revenue, yet it is obvious to everyone that it is happening day after day with the blessing of the FCC. They rubber stamp every application for a move. The only one I know of that was turned down was one in Kentucky where the applicant (whom I believe was Clear Channel) tried to move a station closer to Lexington, but the little podunk place they named on their application didn't have any type of organized government, a post office, or even a stop sign.

If the FCC intends to continue this stupid hoax, they should at least come clean and admit the obvious. And in case you haven't been paying attention, even the "little crap Class A stations" have been stripped from the smaller communities. Those stations served a purpose by providing the smaller areas with local news, plus they offered affordable advertising for their areas. Merchants in the rural counties can't afford the rate cards of the major market stations, nor do the major market stations serve their smaller areas with any local news.