WSB-AM Debuts On FM Today at Noon

[RhubarbFan]

I'am old enough to remember when 95.5 was WNGC in Athens,then Southern Broadcasting bought it and moved it to 106.1 and sold 95.5 to Cox,and the beat was born.

 

[jabba17]

Here are some observations:

Someone needs to tell Captain Herb that he can mentioned WSB AM/FM. Every report I heard this morning he said "News Talk 750 WSB." Either that or maybe he isn't doing team traffic and he has gone rogue.

Something to ponder, if WSB-FM is a sustained success, what will Cox do with WSB-AM?

I'm sure Cap'n Herb has messed a few up along the way, but every time I've heard him he had it right.

Cox will likely keep WSB AM as is...there are still some people with AM-only radios and a class A clear is still quite valuable.

Cox may make a run for the Braves when the Dickey/Cumulus deal is up...but that won't be a done deal by any stretch. If anything, depending on who gets the advertising money, Cox may be able to drive a harder deal than before because of the FM side and better coordination with UGA sports than previously. Did the Braves go with Cumulus/Dickey over Cox last time because they wanted an FM side more than they wanted sheer coverage (including secondary service)? Or was it pure dollars and cents? Or was it wanting to avoid coverage being platooned over several different signals based on conflicts with UGA football?

I know it's all about the Benjis at the end of the day but was it about the sellability and attractiveness of the programming, or actual cash money changing hands between the Braves and their broadcaster?

 

[gr8oldies]

Interesting that they wouldn't have had Capt. herb drill "AM 750 and NOW 95.5, Newstalk WSB" in his reports. (BTW, if WSB Jr.-WHIO- in Dayton is any indication, it will still be "NOW 95.5 FM for years".). So far Cox hasn't made any changes to AMs in any markets that are simulcasting the AM news talker on FM, I don't see that Atlanta would be any different . Maybe in 10 years sign it off. WIBC in Indianapolis quit AM cold turkey when it went to FM and put sports on 1070; but that is Emmis.

 

[Talk_Dude]

Cox will likely keep WSB AM as is...there are still some people with AM-only radios and a class A clear is still quite valuable.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just both of the people who only have AM-only radio new receivers? They could even milk it as a publicity stunt. Better yet, they could trade those people new radios for their old AM-only radios, and sell the AM-only radios to a museum or put them on Antiques Roadshow.

 

[Nate Wesley]

Something to ponder, if WSB-FM is a sustained success, what will Cox do with WSB-AM?

ESPN Radio or Fox Sports would get a lot more mileage out of 750 than the little sticks the Dickeys have them on. More than likely, 750 will keep the news/talk on for habit's sake.

 

[DToTheJ]

Interesting that they wouldn't have had Capt. herb drill "AM 750 and NOW 95.5, Newstalk WSB" in his reports...

Yesterday, on KXNT/Las Vegas - the other market to make a similar switch on the same day as WSB - everybody but the weather lady was promoting both signals. I guess the weather lady, only referring to "AM 840" and not "FM 100.5" must have missed the memo...

 

[jabba17]

BTW, if WSB Jr.-WHIO- in Dayton is any indication, it will still be "NOW 95.5 FM for years"

If The NEW 97.1 The River is any indication, you're probably right. River's going on, what, 6 years now?

 

[jabba17]

Cox will likely keep WSB AM as is...there are still some people with AM-only radios and a class A clear is still quite valuable.

They could even milk it as a publicity stunt. Better yet, they could trade those people new radios for their old AM-only radios, and sell the AM-only radios to a museum or put them on Antiques Roadshow.

That's not a bad idea gimmick-wise, and could be a real poke in the eye to WGST.

 

[Talk_Dude]

Cox will likely keep WSB AM as is...there are still some people with AM-only radios and a class A clear is still quite valuable.

They could even milk it as a publicity stunt. Better yet, they could trade those people new radios for their old AM-only radios, and sell the AM-only radios to a museum or put them on Antiques Roadshow.

That's not a bad idea gimmick-wise, and could be a real poke in the eye to WGST.

And it shouldn't cost more than a few bucks. They could make an on-air offer to anyone who had an AM-only radio to turn in to bring it to their studio, where they could trade it in on a radio that gets FM. All they'd need is a few cheap FM portables to give away.

 

[davideduardo]

Can WSB split their airchain into separate AM and FM feeds to provide processing optimized for AM and FM, or do they have to try and find a happy medium or sacrifice one band's processing for the other? I ought to tune in AM and see if it sounds "worse".

Processing is generally transmitter or transmitter site specific, with devices like the Optimod and the Omnia coming in AM and FM and even HD/Digital versions. The processing for each transmitter is tailored to the format but it often takes a fair amount of time to get it right so all programming material sounds good within the format.

 

[amos]

there's nothing in the world that is so interesting to listen to that it could make up for the terrible audio quality of AM radio, at least to my ears.

no matter how much we talk about the programming on SB, the fact remains that a LOT of the listeners feel EXACTLY the same way as Talk_Dude.

I like AM. I am happy that WSB has been SO successful for all these years. But there are just too many people that will NEVER listen to AM no matter what the programming.

Once upon a time WSB cancelled Ludlow Porch and put on David Paul to get a younger audience. The die-hards thought it was blasphemy, but it worked. where would they be today if they hadn't evolved?

it's not programming this time. the medium is the message. mr mcluhan taught us that.

maybe it's not time to move WSB to fm yet, but it will be one day. sooner than you think.

-amos

i know i wasn't the only one to express these sentiments, but it feels good to see how right i was.

july 22 to august 17. i called this one! ;D

 

[radiolives]

What is Cox's best FM signal that covers Atlanta? As was 95.5 the best choice to flip to News/Talk. I could have seen them use 98.5 instead plus already uses WSB-FM calls.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

What is Cox's best FM signal that covers Atlanta? As was 95.5 the best choice to flip to News/Talk. I could have seen them use 98.5 instead plus already uses WSB-FM calls.

Note to Caller10, he was just kidding. They won't take away your 98.5 minutes of music every morning.

 

[GRS86]

I'm not an engineer, but I wonder has Cox's engineering team ever given any thought to moving the AM 750 transmitter out of the strip shopping center across from Northlake to a marshy or swampy area somewhere in the general vicinity that would be a lot more conducive for the ground conductivity that a 50K watt AM signal needs.

This is not about coverage, it's about the age of listeners and sales.

With the right ground conductivity, WSB's daytime ground signal could easily cover a 250 - 300 mile radius much like WGN in Chicago, or WLW in Cincinnati does now.

The conductiviy of N. Ga. is terrible. No matter how damp the site itself is, the ground conductivity, like that around WSM, will not permit the same kind of coverage that a station like WGN gets in the high conductivity area that surrounds it.

WSB's nighttime signal isn't an issue, considering that it covers 38 states and parts of Canada.

Most AM listening is in the daytime hours, and most ad sales are in that time period. And with the interference on 750, and the protection now in effect, the reliable skywave coverage is perhaps 400-500 miles around. Of course, the 100 kw station in Venezuela does not help, nor does all the junk on 740 from the Caribbean, Mexico, etc.

Since radio is bought locally, the local Atlanta metro is what matters. There is really no significant revenue to be gotten from outside that area.

Part of the reason why the Braves became America's team was because of TBS going to cable nationally and WSB being able to air the games at night on the 50K Blowtorch of the south. I lived in another state and would tune into WSB just to hear the Braves play. There are many other Braves fans in other states who can't hear the Braves on radio anymore because their local stations are not in the Braves' network. For many years, WSB got revenue from night airing of Braves games.

True,

Used to listen to Braves games on WSB on the way home from work during my stint in suburban Detroit back in the mid 80's. Outside of the bleed over from WJR 760 in Detroit, WSB came in reliably clear at night. Of course, that part of the country was really great when it came to listening to baseball on the radio. Even though I don't generally listen to AM 750 when here in the city, I do tune in on the half hours after dark to get the news updates when I'm traveling around the country.

 

[caller10]

What is Cox's best FM signal that covers Atlanta? As was 95.5 the best choice to flip to News/Talk. I could have seen them use 98.5 instead plus already uses WSB-FM calls.

Note to Caller10, he was just kidding. They won't take away your 98.5 minutes of music every morning.

Thank goodness! I never quite got over missing the "8am All Music Hour" on Today's Peach 94.9

 

[AJ JAM]

WOW....I cant believe that 95.5 The Beat is gone....I would listen to them when V and Hot were on commercials...lol...now what. It was a good nearly 11 year run though. Hot 107.9 prolly will see the biggest increase. Q100 now is your chance...before Star 94 comes back.....

 

[DToTheJ]

Used to listen to Braves games on WSB on the way home from work during my stint in suburban Detroit back in the mid 80's. Outside of the bleed over from WJR 760 in Detroit, WSB came in reliably clear at night. Of course, that part of the country was really great when it came to listening to baseball on the radio...

Of course, back then, IBOC didn't exist, either.

Would it be fair to argue that IBOC was an accessory to WSB's move to FM?

 

[BIGSTICK]

Question-----What is IBOC?

Thanks

 

[Bengalsfan]

Question-----What is IBOC?

It's another name for HD radio. The letters IBOC stand for In Band On Channel which is the method of placing the HD "subcarrier" on the same channel as the radio station they are being broadcasted on. It differentiated the other system where broadcasters were to get new frequencies and the FM band was to eventually migrate there which was scrapped.

 

[jabba17]

The FCC needs to get HD Radio off of AM...or at least off of nights (didn't they already?) and critical hours.