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Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
cckadlec
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Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by cckadlec » Sun Mar 31, 2019 5:35 pm

I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned the fact that 97.5 and 92.5 have swapped frequencies to Sunny 92.5 and 97.5 Nash Icon. As I noticed this, I thought of how I swore someone in their babbling about who should do what and what will happen in the future, etc. had actually once said this should happen. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it sounded like a familiar scenario.

While it makes sense to move the formats following the 94.5 - 107.3 swap, meh. Still the same stations. Grant, Whitehall... what's the difference really, aside from that 92.5 gets out ridiculously far and the majority of 97.5's signal gets caught up over Lake Michigan? Which is good. Because Nash Icon kinda sucks, so it should be contained in a small area. :razz


[ Radio and weather geeks, beware! Coastal tropo studies, the 3-hr. Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide, 6-hr. 500 Top-of-Hour IDs, and Chinese FM at www.chriskadlec.comTuner: Grundig G8 • Location: Fremont, Mich. ]

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MWmetalhead
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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Mar 31, 2019 5:45 pm

It is a pointless move. Dial position is only a small reason why Nash Icon's ratings have stunk.

Most people in Muskegon County will continue to pick WMUS over WLAW. I don't think an improved signal in the northern part of the county will be enough to overcome the innate crappiness of the programming.



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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Mar 31, 2019 5:49 pm

Sports play by play considerations might be a reason for the switch.

92.5 seeps into parts of the GR market. 97.5 delivers a 60 dBu or better signal to none of the market.

Cumulus may prefer to place play by play on the country station over the AC station.

So, perhaps this isn't a pointless move. I've rethought my initial position on the matter. Time will tell.



JeremyAndrews
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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by JeremyAndrews » Sun Mar 31, 2019 11:05 pm

I believe it puts a stronger signal for Nash Icon into parts of Muskegon

It also pulls the format out of listening range of Grand Rapids, thus removing some competition for 107.3

That's the only reason I can see them doing this other than play-by-play.

I believe this will be the third country format in 97.5's history. I know it started with Country, went to 70s and Rhythmic Oldies (Westwood One) and "Kickin' Country" under Noordyk.

I was going to start a thread here about this last week but decided against it.



cckadlec
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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by cckadlec » Mon Apr 01, 2019 12:12 am

JeremyAndrews wrote:
Sun Mar 31, 2019 11:05 pm
I believe it puts a stronger signal for Nash Icon into parts of Muskegon

It also pulls the format out of listening range of Grand Rapids, thus removing some competition for 107.3
Well, stronger, perhaps, but not really by any notable measure. 92.5 is only 15 miles outside of Muskegon and can be heard all the way past Holland, butting right up against Castle heading into Lansing, and quite a way north. It's a potent as hell signal on a pretty open frequency. I remember before that stupid station came on in my town, West Bend was a 24/7 good signal here as it was the closest on that frequency at 120 miles or so.

But you're right about 97.5. That one barely gets out. Of course, they know they can't compete against 107.3. So they run away :). The new Jethro station with its limited coverage probably has more listeners than Nash Icon. I've always felt like 92.5 was just an automated space-filler station. At least 97.5 has local ads and quality content. I think they're a good local station. I wonder if they'll move those ads and content to 97.5 or keep it on 92.5.


[ Radio and weather geeks, beware! Coastal tropo studies, the 3-hr. Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide, 6-hr. 500 Top-of-Hour IDs, and Chinese FM at www.chriskadlec.comTuner: Grundig G8 • Location: Fremont, Mich. ]

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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by cckadlec » Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:25 am

The two made the switch between 10:30 and 11 this morning. I was recording 92.5 for 12 hours unattended as I had never heard a station actually switch formats and was excited to learn of it ahead of time to get that chance for two of my closest locals.

I noted different music when I checked at 11 and it turned out it had switched 2 minutes before, but the recording isn't worth saving as they ran ads, said "92.5 Nash Icon," and then went into 25 minutes of dead air before starting a hot AC song at 11am and then continuing onward with some dead air between songs.

I suppose it would have been more interesting if they didn't have to do work at two different tower sites to make the change and have all the dead air between. Oh well.


[ Radio and weather geeks, beware! Coastal tropo studies, the 3-hr. Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide, 6-hr. 500 Top-of-Hour IDs, and Chinese FM at www.chriskadlec.comTuner: Grundig G8 • Location: Fremont, Mich. ]

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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by JeremyAndrews » Mon Apr 01, 2019 12:04 pm

Both run straight from Westwood One satellite. They have for many years. I’m guessing the dead air was problems switching the satellites in the computer, then they have to put in the liners, etc. I’m streaming 92.5 (I never hear 92.5 here) It sounds like they’re running the Westwood One AC network raw without liners. Either the automation is having trouble or they couldn’t get the liners in. Otherwise they probably didn’t have enough time to prepare. Usually this kind of thing doesn’t happen, but I have heard it happen before.



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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by cckadlec » Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:17 pm

JeremyAndrews wrote:
Mon Apr 01, 2019 12:04 pm
Both run straight from Westwood One satellite. They have for many years. I’m guessing the dead air was problems switching the satellites in the computer, then they have to put in the liners, etc. I’m streaming 92.5 (I never hear 92.5 here) It sounds like they’re running the Westwood One AC network raw without liners. Either the automation is having trouble or they couldn’t get the liners in. Otherwise they probably didn’t have enough time to prepare. Usually this kind of thing doesn’t happen, but I have heard it happen before.
Yeah, I wasn't hearing any liners in the time that I listened. Just everything was dead air between songs where anything would usually go. Then I promptly lost interest and moved on because... just another day on the radio. 92.5's signal picks up just north of your place. It's easy to hear at my Oak Creek site basically any time I tune in, but far stronger at Sheboygan, Two Rivers, etc. Same on this side of the lake from Ludington down to South Haven. It seems to show up with good signal quality at my Zion site as well just down the road from you. But in your area, certainly one of those that you need to be right on the water for. I'm assuming DeKalb is too much to get through (maybe West Bend off the side?).

I'm pleased that it's easier to hear which station is which between West Bend and Newaygo now, but a bit harder between Bridgman and Whitehall now. :(


[ Radio and weather geeks, beware! Coastal tropo studies, the 3-hr. Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide, 6-hr. 500 Top-of-Hour IDs, and Chinese FM at www.chriskadlec.comTuner: Grundig G8 • Location: Fremont, Mich. ]

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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by JeremyAndrews » Mon Apr 01, 2019 2:00 pm

West Bend mostly. I have not heard DeKalb in a long time, and now W223CN Zion (Lake Villa). I’ll have to try harder. I did hear it once when it was The Outlaw. It’s at the same tower site as WZZM (13) and WHTS. I’ll keep an ear out for it.



weathernut
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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by weathernut » Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:52 pm

I know that there was a lot of theories before 94.5 and 107.3 did their switch, I believe one of those theories was an LPFM going up in Muskegon at 99.1 FM to broadcast “The ticket”. Could it be possible that there are scrapping the 99.1 FM and the Nash icon and putting “The Ticket” on 97.5 in the near future?

Just a thought?
Last edited by weathernut on Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:39 am, edited 1 time in total.



cckadlec
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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by cckadlec » Tue Apr 02, 2019 2:46 am

weathernut wrote:
Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:52 pm
I know that there was a lot of series before 94.5 and 107.3 did their switch, I believe one of those theories was an LPFM going up in Muskegon at 99.1 FM to broadcast “The ticket”. Could it be possible that there are scrapping the 99.1 FM and the Nash icon and putting “The Ticket” on 97.5 in the near future?

Just a thought?
They better be scrapping that 99.1. The Mix has been one of my presets for 15 years and I don't need that stupid sports station to be messing with it. Perhaps they've realized that 96.1 is enough for sports. But it's not often that station groups get authorization for a new station and don't follow through unless they are running out of money. Or just slow. 106.1 supposedly took some time to get on the air. Do people really listen to sports blabber on the radio, seriously? I'm sure there is some type of male who does, but I dunno anyone personally who does, especially with so much online content.


[ Radio and weather geeks, beware! Coastal tropo studies, the 3-hr. Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide, 6-hr. 500 Top-of-Hour IDs, and Chinese FM at www.chriskadlec.comTuner: Grundig G8 • Location: Fremont, Mich. ]

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MWmetalhead
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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by MWmetalhead » Wed Apr 03, 2019 8:37 pm

The RDS on 92.5 when I checked early this afternoon still said "92.5 NASH ICON." What a cluster----!!!

I did hear liners on-air with local IDs, however.



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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by cckadlec » Wed Apr 03, 2019 9:07 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Wed Apr 03, 2019 8:37 pm
The RDS on 92.5 when I checked early this afternoon still said "92.5 NASH ICON." What a cluster----!!!

I did hear liners on-air with local IDs, however.
92.5 is mostly correct in their RDS. All PS info shows as Sunny. However, the engineer needs to change the RT and PTY still. 97.5's PTY remains the same as before (PTY None, which in itself isn't so correct, but it was that from the start) and also needs to be changed, though they changed the old 97.5 RDS (typical RDS format for 98.3, 100.1, etc. as "Muskegon's [insert station name]" and added it as Muskegon's Nash Icon for the PS.

You can always spot a "just doing my job but don't really care too much" engineer when just the PS data is changed, or better yet, when they use RDS instead of RDBS for the PTY. 94.5 did that for the longest time. Seems to especially be a country station issue in all my experience with it, though unsure why. You know that when the station shows up as "PTY PTY 25" instead of "PTY Country," (25 is Country on the RDS system, but it should 10 should be selected for RDBS, which is the system we use here), though it depends on which technology is being used to display it (older, newer, etc.) and if it automatically tries to fix that issue. Mine, which is some of the earliest RDBS technology, does not.

My thoughts: if you can't (or don't know how to) use your equipment correctly, don't waste your money on it. (Or: don't waste your money on an engineer who does a half-ass job that has to come back and fix it because they didn't care enough the first time). I know some damn good engineers and this kind of stuff is very basic for them. I know not everyone is a crazy tech wizard, but it makes you wonder... if someone can't get this little detail right, what else can't they do?

If I were the engineer, I would get all the RDS details right. Then the station would promptly go off the air because I know nothing else about engineering :razz At least they're on the air I guess.


[ Radio and weather geeks, beware! Coastal tropo studies, the 3-hr. Seoul AM Radio Listening Guide, 6-hr. 500 Top-of-Hour IDs, and Chinese FM at www.chriskadlec.comTuner: Grundig G8 • Location: Fremont, Mich. ]

ftballfan
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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by ftballfan » Thu Apr 04, 2019 9:21 am

I wonder if Cumulus has bigger plans up their sleeve, such as making 97.5 a simulcast of Thunder 107.3



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Re: Sunny 92.5 / 97.5 Nash Icon

Post by andymuskegon » Thu Apr 04, 2019 5:59 pm

truth be told. no one gives a shit here. people in muskegon are beyond disgusted at radio and the newspaper being farmed in from out of town. on the roosevelt park city council, they came to us asking to make mlive stop throwing the coupon clipper in their yard. you know what we got? "if you tell us that, you'll hear from our attorney because we put one article in there and your blocking freedom of speech"

the giant media companies can GTFO of here anytime. they are doing nothing for muskegon and they have ruined a once fairly healthy media market. this is not to say that the people working there are bad, muskegon wants it's own stuff....not what's crammed down it's throat.


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