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WQUS (Flint) Flips to The Ticket

U

umfan

radioinsight.com

WQUS Joins Detroit’s Ticket Network

Townsquare Media has brought the programming of Audacy's "97.1 The Ticket" WXYT-FM Detroit to another market as Classic Rock "US
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

From Classic Hits to sports. This brings 'The Ticket' to a prominent Michigan market. 97.1 can be fairly well received in a good portion of the market, but this opens up the potential for more local advertisers to buy spots on this content.
 
The translators on 103.1, especially the Owosso one, make a mess of it. It would have been much better if Townsquare had kept WFNT 1470. It's signal covered the Central Genesee County area very well, and went West very well. It was the equivalent of close to 10 kW to the West. I tried to influence Townsquare's predecessors on some other things in the late 1990s to no avail. It doesn't help to have large out of state owners and corporate engineers. They had no interest in a translator either at the time. 1470 and 103.1 simulcast would have been a much better affiliate combination.

The 97.1 signal was one of the strongest in the area in the 1960s. Now the FM band is overcrowded. Worse than the AM band was ever overcrowded.
 
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Schroedingers Cat said:
The translators on 103.1, especially the Owosso one, make a mess of it. It would have been much better if Townsquare had kept WFNT 1470. It's signal covered the Central Genesee County area very well, and went West very well. It was the equivalent of close to 10 kW to the West. I tried to influence Townsquare's predecessors on some other things in the late 1990s to no avail. It doesn't help to have large out of state owners and corporate engineers. They had no interest in a translator either at the time. 1470 and 103.1 simulcast would have been a much better affiliate combination.

The 97.1 signal was one of the strongest in the area in the 1960s. Now the FM band is overcrowded. Worse than the AM band was ever overcrowded.
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I suspect the dropping of 1470 was due to site/tower maintenance costs. It suurprised me when they divested it.
 
It has been said that most of today's radio engineers are "IT Guys and Board Changers". Very few know much about AM DA maintenance. Thus many DAs have been neglected. A good old fashioned radio engineer knew how to maintain them effficiently and cheaply. Now, with corporate engineers thousands of miles away, the go to way that large corporations deal with it is to go nondirectional Day and Night with 10-50 watts maximum Night, and sell the land if possible. If not, shut it down. We are seeing some of the best facilities shut down or seriously downgraded. Many of the old Clear Channel I-A and I-B stations have been downgraded. It all started with the sad downgrade of WOWO. Now that fate has reached WMVP, WSCR, and WBBM. What is also sad is to see 50000 watt stations with 99 or 250 watt translators, or Class A, B1, or C3 rimshots to simulcast on. The translators were supposed to "save AM radio", but they can only do it in smaller markets.

With all the 80-90 and subsequent rulings, rimshot drop ins, translators, and IBOC side bands, the FM band now reminds some radio people of "multiple CBers whistling into microphones on the same channel". No one can hear anybody anymore. IBOC should be called IBOTC, "in band on three channels".
 
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Schroedingers Cat said:
It has been said that most of today's radio engineers are "IT Guys and Board Changers". Very few know much about AM DA maintenance. Thus many DAs have been neglected. A good old fashioned radio engineer knew how to maintain them effficiently and cheaply. Now, with corporate engineers thousands of miles away, the go to way that large corporations deal with it is to go nondirectional Day and Night with 10-50 watts maximum Night, and sell the land if possible. If not, shut it down. We are seeing some of the best facilities shut down or seriously downgraded. Many of the old Clear Channel I-A and I-B stations have been downgraded. It all started with the sad downgrade of WOWO. Now that fate has reached WMVP, WSCR, and WBBM. What is also sad is to see 50000 watt stations with 99 or 250 watt translators, or Class A, B1, or C3 rimshots to simulcast on. The translators were supposed to "save AM radio", but they can only do it in smaller markets.

With all the 80-90 and subsequent rulings, rimshot drop ins, translators, and IBOC side bands, the FM band now reminds some radio people of "multiple CBers whistling into microphones on the same channel". No one can hear anybody anymore. IBOC should be called IBOTC, "in band on three channels".
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Yes. All because engineers don't know how to properly maintain a directional array...

Or perhaps the land beneath most stations are now worth more than the licenses since very few people under the age of 70 listen to AM regularly and its hard enough to sell spots on an FM let alone AM? This isn't 1994 or 1974. Directional arrays aren't the problem. Having an infinite dial in ones pocket is.
 


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