The New K107.3 Flint's Classic Hits

[Clay]

WWCK 1570am and W297CG 107.3fm

[CK-722]

This is happening to HUNDREDS of Class As ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. You'd think that CUMULUS would have objected to the supercharged translators on 92.7 and 105.5 on TV Transmitting Towers near Detroit. Those do interfere with their signals in areas where they were clear and listenable. And this is just a FIRST ADJACENT on 107.3 vs. 107.1, not a COCHANNEL, like those translators on 92.7 and 105.5 are, and the one you mention for WJMK 1250 MeTV in Bridgeport/Saginaw which already moved from 98.5 to 99.3.

I'm assuming that they are moving or combining the Talk programming with the Sports on WTRX, since Sports Talk and PBP has really fallen due to the crisis. Maybe the OP could help fix their facility.

And I don't know why they didn't put the translator on the WTRX North Tower where the WFBE TL is . That might have given them more options and less restrictions, plus a better signal in Grand Blanc and Fenton areas, which are at least holding their own, at least before the crisis and chaos of COVID.

I have a plan, and a set of rules, to accommodate 1000+ translators to a new 2 MHz band with 1 kW/100 meters, but of course, that has a bunch of hurdles I'm sure you'll soon point out.

[CK-722]

But WTLZ is on a FIRST ADJACENT CHANNEL.

Many people DRIVE from Genesee County to JOBS in Oakland County (US Census says around 25,000), and why shouldn't they be able to listen to their LOCAL stations on the way to work? They can't even listen peacefully to WCRZ with that blasted (and at the very least) overmodulated translator for WDTW 1310 within WCRZ's protected 54 dBu contour.

I don't know why some "cows" are sacred and some aren't. Apparently, for some of you, WIOT, WUPS, and WTLZ are sacred. However, the FCC does not recognize "sacred" cows.

Keep in mind that WWCK-FM and WIOT were (originally) modeled after each other under the tutelage of Peter C. Cavanaugh.

Anyway, it all takes us back to the argument of relocating translators to a new band of frequencies.

[Realist]

Seems like a decent programming move to me.

However, ditching country from 95.1 in favor of classic hits might've been an even better move.

What would you expect from the corporation that has done continuous bone headed moves in the Tri City and Flint cluster?

- They dropped the classic hits format from blowtorch WHNN, which has a Class A signal into Flint, for a blah AC format? Result - overall ratings are HALF of what they were before the format change.
- They keep a redundant format (CHR) on in Flint at CK105, only to essentially compete against themselves as WIOG’S signal is also Class A into Flint.
- They drop the Tigers from their Sports talk station in Flint, which was one of the biggest reasons to actually listen.
- They rely on voice tracking for most of their shifts on all their Tri City stations, as they’ve fired a lot of on air staff.

I still think the best thing that could happen is the Cumulus file for bankruptcy and sell off these stations to a smaller operator

[Realist]

IIRC, WHNN got between a 4-5 share overall in Genesee County as classic hits...

It’s bad logic, if you ask me, as we share the same TV market. I see ads for Flint businesses that I wouldn’t patronize and I’m sure it’s Vice versa for Genesee County residents for Saginaw and Bay City businesses

[CK-722]

For many years, WNEM-FM/WGER had very good numbers in Flint with Beautiful Music, and rivaled WGMZ. A very common misconception is that WIOG and WHNN put City Grade 70 dBu signals over Flint. But it's 60 dBu at best over the central part of the county. WIOG just misses the Northwestern High School annexation, so 0% of the City proper. WHNN is even less. And consider though that only a small fraction of the County population is within Flint. And the Southern Townships and Cities add up to a larger and increasing portion of the market and County. They also receive less than 60 dBu from WIOG and WHNN. The reason those signals have done well is not that they are overwhelmingly strong, but serve format niches that can't be covered by local signals. This is what WWCK and W297CG are doing in a small way. But they would probably do it better from the WTRX tower, and this would produce less interference to a signal from WTLZ, even though it demographically has always tried to serve the Northern parts of Genesee County, and has since it was WWWS, W3 Soul, in the late 1960s.

[Realist]

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2036 ... -in-flint/

They even mentioned Cumulus flipping WHNN. Can’t believe it’s been 5 years

[audiophile]

I thought it was Westwood also.

[CK-722]

For many years, WNEM-FM/WGER had very good numbers in Flint with Beautiful Music, and rivaled WGMZ. A very common misconception is that WIOG and WHNN put City Grade 70 dBu signals over Flint. But it's 60 dBu at best over the central part of the county. WIOG just misses the Northwestern High School annexation, so 0% of the City proper. WHNN is even less. And consider though that only a small fraction of the County population is within Flint. And the Southern Townships and Cities add up to a larger and increasing portion of the market and County. They also receive less than 60 dBu from WIOG and WHNN.

You basing those readings on Longley-Rice or FCC predicted contours?

I bet Longley-Rice outperforms the FCC predicted contours, especially for WIOG. I've never heard even the tiniest hint of fuzz while listening to WIOG in that region in the car - granted, I haven't driven through downtown Flint in at least 15 years. Compare that to WSNX in the Grand Rapids area, which has all sorts of weak reception areas, yet has been a top performing station in that market for 25 years continuously.

If CK105 were to head in a different direction and Cumulus were to consolidate CHR listenership onto 102.5, it's not as if another signal would flip to CHR/Pop with a stronger signal in southern half of Genesee County. Club 93.7 has a weaker signal than WIOG there, Banana 101.5 is probably on par with or slightly weaker than WIOG there, and there's not a chance in hell Townsquare would ever program anything other than AC or Hot AC on 107.9.

Too bad 98KCQ no longer buys the Genesee County book; I bet their numbers are very close to those of the much stronger signaled Gnash FM.

Two formats that would be good backfill formats for 105.5 would be Classic Rock and Classic Hits. The fact 105.5 remains CHR/Pop to this day suggests to me Cumulus is restricted from hoisting a format that would compete directly with 103.9 WRSR on a full power signal.

Longley Rice does predictions at each point/location. Very few people, except maybe 10 percent of listeners, have/had antennas at 30 feet AGL, which is what the FCC uses for signal prediction to this day. Most people are at near zero to perhaps a 20 feet AGL maximum in an apartment building. Central Genesee County is 30-40 miles away from WNEM-FM/WGER/WIOG. WHNN is further still. Despite the idea that the terrain is flat, there are areas in between where the elevation is more than 200 feet higher than the approximately 587 feet AMSL site that the WIOG transmitter in on. Let me get an FMFool Study at my former RL near Hemphill and VanSlyke to demonstrate this location which is not unique in it's elevation, 761 feet.