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WSB-AM Debuts On FM Today at Noon

Lots of people are getting mad. This is what one person posted on Twitter: Completely bummed that 95.5 the Beat is no longer, now gotta change my presets, but V103 is way too ghetto for me. what to do?
 
Something else to consider is the fact that AT&T is now limiting the amount of data you can download to an iPhone without paying extra fees. A lot of people are wondering how this will impact data-intensive uses such as streaming. This surely will negatively impact usage of the WSB-AM iPhone app, and Cox is wisely looking for other options for listening to WSB.

Personally, I'm waiting for the WSB-AM app (or, even better, a Cox version of CC's iheartradio) for Android.
 
For some reason the 95.5 signal is now terrible up here in North Habersham County. I could usally get it inside through the static, but now it is nothing but static. It is very weak out in the car as well. Very strange, usually turning off the stereo "thickens" the signal.

As for you swapping the call letters folks, the question is... why? With PPM, it does not make an ounce of difference who has what call letters. From a top of mind awareness standpoint, I would keep WSB-FM on 98.5. Even though it is only said once an hour, you still have the brand "WSB" broadcast on FOUR broadcast stations in Atlanta. The more the merrier!
 
WSB has become such a damaged brand lately, that it's probably the less the merrier.

It's a shame, because it was once a respected station.
 
I don't understand why anyone would pick a jockless Beat on HD2 over any number of rhythmic options online. If there's no jocks and presumably little local content, it's even less valuable.
 
NoWayNoCC said:
WSB has become such a damaged brand lately, that it's probably the less the merrier.

It's a shame, because it was once a respected station.
Click to expand...

hmmm. WSB-TV has been a solid number one since 2006. In almost every local news time slot, their ratings are more than WXIA, WAGA, and WGCL combined.

WSB-AM is still number 3 12+ and number 1 in more important demos... even in an area with some of the worst soil conductivity in the country. WSB-FM has been in the top 10 for many years, often times sitting right next to WSB-AM in the top 3.

I wish my stations were as "damaged" as WSB!
 
ExNuYawker said:
95.5 The Beat is going to start trending on Twitter. Lots of pissed off teenagers doing their thing on Twitter. Interesting to watch.
Click to expand...

Well I guess you can add me to that group of "pissed off teenagers" (even though I'm really not mad). Cox has made a stupid decision, talk belongs on AM. Plus how is WSB-AM doing terrible? They are #4 with a 5.9 in the market. Get your facts straight, Cox Radio. Looks like ATL is stuck with Q100 and Star 94... Clear Channel, please, this is your chance to since and put Groove on a stronger signal!
 
I understand there won't be any swap of calls "at this time."

I think this is a great idea. They are sure promoting it strongly on the air. AM 750 and NOW 95.5 FM NewsTalk WSB!
 
day1radio said:
I understand there won't be any swap of calls "at this time."

I think this is a great idea. They are sure promoting it strongly on the air. AM 750 and NOW 95.5 FM NewsTalk WSB!
Click to expand...

Tell me, if they're "promoting it strongly on the air", who is hearing the promotions? The people who are already listening to 95.5? What are they doing to let the people who would like to listen to talk radio but who refuse to listen to AM that there is now talk radio on FM? If I wasn't a radio geek and participating in this forum, how would I have found out that there is now talk radio on FM? I never had a preset button for 95.5, so the chances of me stumbling on it by accident are pretty much nil. What are they doing to reach people who might start listening to them if they knew that the new format was on the air?
 
artsutton said:
This primary 60 dBu contour closely equates the 2 mVm contour of WSB(AM) which is considered an AM's primary signal nowadays.
Click to expand...

You will "love" the results of the analysis of about 15 top-100 markets done over a several year period. Based on (pre-PPM) diary identification of at home and at work listening, 80% of such FM listening was in the 70 dbu contour and fully 95% inside the 64 dbu contour. On AM, about 90% was inside the 10 mV/M contour, which, even if you adjust for lower population density outside the core of a metro, means that noise level and receiver quality is such that larger market AMs can't count on much listening even between the 5 mV/m contour and the 10... in some noisy markets, it was more like the 15 mV/m countour where nearly all stationary listening happened.

The exceptions generally were for niche formats that also had a core of passionate liteners, such as classical.
 
musicman3355 said:
Cox has made a stupid decision, talk belongs on AM. Plus how is WSB-AM doing terrible? They are #4 with a 5.9 in the market. Get your facts straight, Cox Radio.
Click to expand...

WSB AM is 8th in 25-54 and 14th in 25-49 based on an average of the April, May and June books. The gradual erosion of under-50 listening reduces the salability of the station, while the experience of many good news talk AMs that have added FM (or moved to FM) has been a nice improvement in the sales demos.

I believe Cox has a positive experience from simulcasting this format on FM in Dayton and Jacksonville.
 
I'm assuming they are promoting it strongly on air for AM listeners who'd like a nice stereo FM signal. Plus, there's a lot of word of mouth about this already.
 
I think Cox got tried of blowing up 97.1. Now it is 95.5’s turn!

Seriously, this is a very smart move on to levels:

#1. The 95.5 signal will help WSB 750 which might be Cox’s Flagship station now.

#2. IMHO this move probably kills any chance of an all news station in ATL. A well done all news operation would possibly hurt 750 even more than WABE is doing now.
 
JimmyJames said:
I don't understand why anyone would pick a jockless Beat on HD2 over any number of rhythmic options online. If there's no jocks and presumably little local content, it's even less valuable.
Click to expand...

Maybe because music fans aren't radio geeks, and care more about the music than the extraneous filler.
 
jabba17 said:
Some observations:


4) I would expect 95.5 to become WSB-FM and WBTS to move to 98.5. Why wouldn’t they? Is there some advantage to having heritage calls on a frequency for a long time? Or does the FCC “use it or lose it forever” rule for 3-letter calls come in to play here? Yes, I know the FCC has waived that rule on occasion. If that is the rule, then I would expect a derivative like WSBB or WWSB (WSBF is taken by Clemson) for 95.5.
Click to expand...

FCC allowed 98.5 in Boston to get WBZ-FM call letters in Aug 2009 (last year). They share the calls with WBZ on AM and WBZ-TV.
 
If I ran WSB, I would run a simulcast from 5am-10pm, but separate programming during overnights (10pm-5am). You could run regular programming on the AM, and other shows on FM. I'd run Jim Bohannon 10-1, or perhaps have a local host during that time. Then I would run Phil Hendrie from 1am-4:30, and I would start the morning news at 4:30 on 95.5, with 750 joining at 5am.

AM 750 would run what they run now.

There are people with early flights on the road that would listen, plus early risers commuting into town from far away. Plus, three out of four local morning newscasts start then, and you could get people leaving the house at that time who have nothing else to listen to.
 
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