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97.5 W248BV Cumming, Ga

A

acheron1982

Star Participant
So according to an article on Radio Insight, Clear Channel has purchased a translator with a pathetic 4 watts at 199.5 meters. Coverage area includes Cumming and some rural areas. The plan is to rebroadcast 105.7.

One questions: What the freak is the point?

1- The translator is not even worth the electricity bill
2- Even so, why translate a station that is already coming in clear on one frequency in that area.

Someone care to chime in on thoughts because I'm lost on the point of this.

http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/89487/clear-channel-acquires-suburban-atlanta-translator/
 
There are currently several things happening in the area that have us collectively scratching our heads. I suspect in a few months a few dominoes will fall and the "game plan" will become obvious. What it will be, who knows.

The translator site is one of those that just sits there and teases you: "Why don't you put a tower and transmitter RIGHT HERE."

In the last 20 years there have been all kinds of moves where owners interested in serving (and harvesting) Atlanta have purchased all the FMs for miles and miles around. Many significant players in the Atlanta market have frequencies originally granted to serve communities 20, 30 and 40 miles out. They have moved them as close to the center of the Metro as possible, and there are some successful Atlanta stations that are getting the job done with a "crippled coverage pattern".

This application has to be something of a place-holder and/or a stepping stone. The site is a small "mountain" in the center of a non-mountainous county. Hilly. But not mountainous. I assume under translator rules they can apply for a power increase... what.. maybe up to 250 watts? The mountain amounts to a 600 foot tower for free. (There is a non-profit religious station atop the same little pedestal. 8900 watts. 91.5 bodacious coverage!)

If we were going to have an office pool on this one, here would be my pick of a scenario. There is a station, a frequency in the metro area they REALLY want! If they can get this translator going, pair it up with some other main freqency that does a lousy job in Atlanta but would maybe serve some rim-shot broadcaster who just wants to be local in his area, they could eventually do a frequency swap. CC gets better coverage of Atlanta than one of their current frequencies gives them.... some operator out here in the donut ends up with an improved facility. (I love watching these "frequency-swap chess games!)

Information you may not see from a distance but could be important to this whole scenario: The county where this mountain and this 4-watt teapot (C.P.) are located has NO commercial radio station. (Maybe doesn't need one?) The south end of THIS county and the very tip-top north end of Fulton County probably make up the nearest thing to "Georgia's Silicon Valley" you are going to find. (Some other Atlanta area folks will dispute that. :cool: ) The translator tower site is in the county with the highest average income per family in the state. I has over the last 10 to 15 years always been in the top 10 of "Fastest growing counties in America".

Maybe somebody (NOT C.C.) really wants to "own the franchise" for this financial power-house market in the coming years. If C.C. can put the puzzle pieces together for someone, that someone may have a really interesting puzzle piece to offer C.C. in return.
 
I forgot, how far can you move a translator and how often? IIRC this rule has required some translators to "leap frog" a couple of times to get where they are viable.
 
Cumming used to have an Americana station on 1170. Then it simulcast a station at 1160 in the Atlanta area which played adult standards.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Cumming used to have an Americana station on 1170. Then it simulcast a station at 1160 in the Atlanta area which played adult standards.
Click to expand...

And then they "snuffed 1170 out" so they could implement a power increase on 1160. About 10 years ago.
 
How much of an impact can they have with Radio One already dominating Atlanta with the MAJIC 107.5/97.5 combo? Is Radio One planning on selling off 97.5?
 
ShawtyBlack_ATL said:
How much of an impact can they have with Radio One already dominating Atlanta with the MAJIC 107.5/97.5 combo? Is Radio One planning on selling off 97.5?
Click to expand...

I think a number of us assume that the immediate goal is to simply take ownership of the translator.

You can't apply for a new translator just any day of the week, any month of the year. They open an "application window" once every three million years (well... I exaggerated that one a little bit). BUT, if you have an existing translator, then you can apply to relocate the thing, apply to change its power and arrange to rebroadcast a different station than it currently re-broadcasts.

So we can assume the consulting engineers are already putting together a plan to move it to a more "productive" location. And what signal would they then choose to translate? We don't know. But it doesn't have to be 105.7 WRDA forever.
 
Ok, don't jump on me but help me understand. How much of a move can they do considering MAJIC bleeding in on 97.5? Lets say if they were in crease to 250 watts and move anywhere north of the Metro. At one point I thought Radio One would sell off 97.5 after 107.5 increased coverage, but I doubt they'd sell considering the Urban coverage of 97.5. I'd assume a move similar to what Steve Hegwood did with 94.5 is what you speak of when he moved the signal from East Metro to Moreland Ave.
 
ShawtyBlack_ATL said:
Ok, don't jump on me but help me understand.
Click to expand...

I have NO PLANS to jump on you! It is a reasonable question. I wrote poorly in my previous post... or you wouldn't be asking the question that you did... but maybe you would have a different question in that case.

The process is: You can't apply for a NEW translator except during scheduled application windows. (That could be years away, and like the last window, take years to process at the FCC.) BUT, if you have an existing translator, there are rules that let you buy and sell the translator, rules that let you relocate the translator, and catch this feature: rules that let you switch to another frequency. I think that is the key to this whole transaction.

The smart guys (the consulting engineers) and the crafty guys (the communications lawyers)*** will spend some time putting together a plan where a translator can be located maybe toward the center of the city, and a translator can be located on a frequency that does NOT get beat up and does not in turn beat up on some one else's frequency..... well maybe a little bit of "beating" that is within the rules and accepted practice.

Or they might not go for center of the city. Maybe they have a station that is a bit of a rim shot from one direction so they want a translator to cover the far side of the city carrying that programming.

Which programming? Which station and frequency? Who knows!



*** Maybe in a move like this, both professions have to be BOTH smart and crafty. :cool:
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:


I think a number of us assume that the immediate goal is to simply take ownership of the translator.

You can't apply for a new translator just any day of the week, any month of the year. They open an "application window" once every three million years (well... I exaggerated that one a little bit). BUT, if you have an existing translator, then you can apply to relocate the thing, apply to change its power and arrange to rebroadcast a different station than it currently re-broadcasts.

So we can assume the consulting engineers are already putting together a plan to move it to a more "productive" location. And what signal would they then choose to translate? We don't know. But it doesn't have to be 105.7 WRDA forever.
Click to expand...

Ignoring the possibilities of moving the translator, could it be used to simul 105.3? Or would "El Patron 105.3/97.5" be too confusing with R1 already using 97.5 on the southside?

Art Sutton has WNGA on 105.1 that goes on and off the air. CC used to own that station a while back; Art Sutton moved the CoL from Helen to Cornelia and upped the power and also IIRC took it from a class A to a class C3. Art also has a translator licensed to Suwanee, not sure what it's doing. Either of those would be a good NE fill-in for 105.3 and better than one in Cumming.
 
jabba17 said:
Ignoring the possibilities of moving the translator, could it be used to simul 105.3? Or would "El Patron 105.3/97.5" be too confusing with R1 already using 97.5 on the southside?

Art Sutton has WNGA on 105.1 that goes on and off the air. CC used to own that station a while back; Art Sutton moved the CoL from Helen to Cornelia and upped the power and also IIRC took it from a class A to a class C3. .
Click to expand...

Art has sold WNGA to EMF:


https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...text=25&appn=101574440&formid=1&fac_num=26854
 
This thread symbolizes the state of Atlanta radio, i.e., a discussion of a 4-watt translator. It makes better sense to stand on top of Sawnee Mountain with a megaphone and yell down to the City of Cumming. The yell-in-the-megaphone signal would probably carry further.
 
fishpond said:
This thread symbolizes the state of Atlanta radio, i.e., a discussion of a 4-watt translator.
Click to expand...

That may be true.... and what remains to be seen is: Is that an insult that radio in Atlanta is pathetic when this is all we have to discussl.... or is it a compliment that radio so vibrant in Atlanta that EVERYBODY wants a piece of the action and they will take a 4-watt translator, put some lipstick on the pig and see what they can make of it.

I don't expect the translator to stay on Sawnee.... as currently granted. Someone will negotiate a frequency swap and either end up with a great signal on Sawnee, or end up in a totally different location with more power.

Then we can finish our discussion on the state of Atlanta radio. :cool:

fishpond said:
It makes better sense to stand on top of Sawnee Mountain with a megaphone and yell down to the City of Cumming. The yell-in-the-megaphone signal would probably carry further.
Click to expand...

In the commercial radio market, 4 watts up on that hill would be a nothing. If, however, someone had applied for an LPFM to serve Cumming, trhe LPFM signal would not cover the county very well. But for an LPFM to have a 4-watt translator at that HAAT would be golden. But the price that it took to acquire the translator means it was out of reach for an LPFM dream all along.

Maybe the Cumming Playhouse would be interested in buying your megaphone. :rolleyes:
 
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