Will WGST return to talk on FM?

Now that WSB has began to simulcast at 95.5, can WGST be seriously thinking of putting it's talk format back on
FM, maybe to rebrand themselves as "Rush Radio 105.7"?, i'm sure they would like to get Sean Hannity away from
WSB, and with all the other powerhouse talkers on their now(Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin) they
could give them some good competition.

WGST really needs to be back on FM. I like some of the shows on GST and listen to Coast to Coast on WUBL's HD-2 Channel. 640 am after sunset is a no go for me. 650 out of Nashville booms in killing any of WGST's signal.

If I were CC, I would wait to see if I could get traction with Groove with Beat out of the picture. If Groove succeeds, move them to one of the 100k FMs and move WGST to either 105.7 or 105.3 (and move Patron to the other if needed). If Groove fails, just move WGST to 105.7 or 105.3.

With 105.7 vs. 105.3, it really comes down to how important Gwinnett and the NE quadrant (vs. intown and the southern suburbs) is to your coverage. I think Roddy has made a good case for moving Patron to 105.7 if CC wants to simul WGST on one of their sub-100k move-ins.

Why not use 96.7? You could strengthen them to 3,000 watts, and you could add the areas just S of downtown and some of the western suburbs to FM coverage. I'd do 105.3 for WGST, however. It's the strongest signal. 105.7 would be good too for the northern suburbs and the best fit if Groove fails.

charlestondxman said:

Why not use 96.7? You could strengthen them to 3,000 watts, and you could add the areas just S of downtown and some of the western suburbs to FM coverage. I'd do 105.3 for WGST, however. It's the strongest signal. 105.7 would be good too for the northern suburbs and the best fit if Groove fails.

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A simul of 96.7 and 105.7 would work...CC did it before.

tothedj said:

Now that WSB has began to simulcast at 95.5, can WGST be seriously thinking of putting it's talk format back on FM, maybe to rebrand themselves as "Rush Radio 105.7"?, i'm sure they would like to get Sean Hannity away from WSB, and with all the other powerhouse talkers on their now (Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin) they could give them some good competition.

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I would argue that the AM/FM simulcast would serve as a bargaining chip for Cox to actually hold on to Rush, Sean et al. Of course, this hasn't stopped CC from yanking these shows from heritage stations in markets like Boston and Raleigh, yet to this day, Rush remains cleared on major market blowtorches in cities like Dallas, Philadelphia and his "home base" of New York.

*Correction* Rush is on WGST-AM. See how easily that signal is overlooked? :

WGST has 50,000 watts during the day on AM, but only 1,000 watts at night, which is not enough to cover all of
the Atlanta market, so to those in charge of Clear Channel here, move to FM now!

tothedj said:

WGST has 50,000 watts during the day on AM, but only 1,000 watts at night, which is not enough to cover all of
the Atlanta market, so to those in charge of Clear Channel here, move to FM now!

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In the outer suburbs (pretty much anywhere OTP), WGST is unlistenable at night. It's really bad during winter drive time with the late sun-ups and early sundowns that cut deep into AM and PM drive.

IF CC does Rush Radio on FM here in Atlanta it will only be after Hannity's contract expires on WSB. They will only do it if they can get all three of their big names-Rush, Beck, and Hannity. When is Hannity's contract up at WSB? That's when the launch will happen.

charlestondxman said:

Why not use 96.7? You could strengthen them to 3,000 watts, and you could add the areas just S of downtown and some of the western suburbs to FM coverage. I'd do 105.3 for WGST, however. It's the strongest signal. 105.7 would be good too for the northern suburbs and the best fit if Groove fails.

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There's a better reason to simulcast GST on 96.7, and it has nothing to do with adding coverage. While 96.7 in mono would shore up coverage in fringe areas a bit, the important thing is putting the content on FM where it can be discovered by those who simply never use the AM band and have little to no awareness of what's there. As far as a signal upgrade goes, forget it. To many shortspacings. It's the best it will ever be.

InSearchOfGear said:

charlestondxman said:

Why not use 96.7? You could strengthen them to 3,000 watts, and you could add the areas just S of downtown and some of the western suburbs to FM coverage. I'd do 105.3 for WGST, however. It's the strongest signal. 105.7 would be good too for the northern suburbs and the best fit if Groove fails.

Click to expand...

There's a better reason to simulcast GST on 96.7, and it has nothing to do with adding coverage. While 96.7 in mono would shore up coverage in fringe areas a bit, the important thing is putting the content on FM where it can be discovered by those who simply never use the AM band and have little to no awareness of what's there. As far as a signal upgrade goes, forget it. To many shortspacings. It's the best it will ever be.

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96.7 + 105.7 simuls seem to have worked good in the past...?

I heard it's in the works for 640 am to simulcast on FM. 96.7

amlover said:

I heard it's in the works for 640 am to simulcast on FM. 96.7

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Source or wishful thinking?

Neil Millman said:

amlover said:

I heard it's in the works for 640 am to simulcast on FM. 96.7

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Source or wishful thinking?

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Or a joke? 96.7 alone ain't gonna cut it.

Neil Millman said:

amlover said:

I heard it's in the works for 640 am to simulcast on FM. 96.7

Click to expand...

Source or wishful thinking?

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I really don't care one way or the other what FM WGST will wind up on if they do it at all. It's all slock programing anyway and who cares. I listen to Coast to Coast at night but off my satellite radio.

jabba17 said:

96.7 + 105.7 simuls seem to have worked good in the past...?

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At the moment they appear to have viable formats on both 105's. I'd put it on 96.7 first and see if new cume resulted before going with a bigger signal.

InSearchOfGear said:

jabba17 said:

96.7 + 105.7 simuls seem to have worked good in the past...?

Click to expand...

At the moment they appear to have viable formats on both 105's. I'd put it on 96.7 first and see if new cume resulted before going with a bigger signal.

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That would make sense...sounds like what they did with Buzz/Project. Then they can decide what they want to do with 105.3, 105.7, 94.9, and 96.1. But I wouldn't expect any long-term success or big numbers with 96.7 by itself.

As an aside, do other markets have this same issue with AOR stations, where you have three stations (Dave with AAA, Project with active rock, and Rock100.5 with classic/heritage rock) that seem to peacefully coexist with smallish ratings and none of them really dominate? The reason I ask is that blowing up Project for a Groove "promotion" or a WGST simul would leave a large and conspicuous format "hole", despite Project's so-so numbers. Bull seems like a more likely choice with the way Kicks is doing. OTOH, would CC entertain the idea of a Groove/Project frequency swap? I think that CC would just throw in the towel on the Bull versus swapping.

Of course, Groove really needs to find its groove before they earn a 100k signal. It will be interesting to see how Groove does with Beat out of the picture.

I can't help but notice that CC continues to hold on to the domains "peach949.com" and "967litefm.com", both of which bring up The Legend's page. A Google search for "Atlanta 96.7" shows "peach949.com" as the first result. Coincidence, or a sign of things to come?

So if 640 stays am only it's going to be a battle for also rans on the talk side between 640, 920 and 1160 with 640 winning by having a 1 share?