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98.7 Fox Sports Radio / The End Of Simon 98.7 For Charlotte Radio Listeners

S

Steve.Gates

I noticed some interference while listening to Magic 98.9 today while on Billy Graham Blvd. I thought, Simon is REALLY coming in strong today. Turns out there is a ''new'' Radio Station in Charlotte. Or rather a re-vamped one that I had forgotten about. Translator Station is located in Belmont, N.C.

Just what we need... another Sports station. Groan. Steve.

http://charlottechamber.com/news/2014/08/13/member-news/fox-sports-radio-to-launch-in-charlotte/

PS: The FCC Database says this Translator re-transmits WHQC but it is actually HD2 for WRFX.
 
I was in Concord on Saturday and I turned on 98.7. It was obvious that Simon would have had a clear signal if not for the Fox Sports station because the signal was going back and forth. I looked at their coverage maps on Radio Locator and Simon's fringe contour reaches into Charlotte. They may be legally spaced by FCC rules, but just barely. Since iHeartMedia owns 102.9 The Lake, I personally think that they chose 98.7 to eliminate their out-of-market competition.
 
mcy919 said:
I was in Concord on Saturday and I turned on 98.7. It was obvious that Simon would have had a clear signal if not for the Fox Sports station because the signal was going back and forth. I looked at their coverage maps on Radio Locator and Simon's fringe contour reaches into Charlotte. They may be legally spaced by FCC rules, but just barely. Since iHeartMedia owns 102.9 The Lake, I personally think that they chose 98.7 to eliminate their out-of-market competition.
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And that is a disservice to radio listeners in Concord who get poor reception from both stations. A wasted frequency. Which is why these low power stations should be legally spaced a bit better. Otherwise you get interference in a large area, and a good signal from the LP station in a very limited area. Same problem in Greenville, SC with 107.9, which would otherwise have a good signal except for interference from low power WXRU. Fortunately I get WLNK clearly in the house with rabbit ears, including the HD version.
 
mcy919 said:
I was in Concord on Saturday and I turned on 98.7. It was obvious that Simon would have had a clear signal if not for the Fox Sports station because the signal was going back and forth. I looked at their coverage maps on Radio Locator and Simon's fringe contour reaches into Charlotte. They may be legally spaced by FCC rules, but just barely. Since iHeartMedia owns 102.9 The Lake, I personally think that they chose 98.7 to eliminate their out-of-market competition.
Click to expand...

Several things irk me about this: (a) How in the world can a Radio Station get permission from the FCC to MOVE the Transmitter's Antenna from point a to point b but CONTINUE to state their Call Signs are in point a? The Transmitter on 98.7 claims to be transmitting from Belmont, N.C. (''point a'') (which it was under previous ownership) when in fact it has now been moved (with FCC Approval) to the big tower off of Stuart Andrew Blvd in Charlotte (''point b'') right off of I=77, putting it smack dab right in the center of Charlotte?

The other thing is that we did not really need W254AZ. It is already available as HD2 on 99.7 WRFX and, as most modern-day automobiles can now receive HD Radio, completely unneeded in this day and age.

Steve.
 
The Fox Sports translator was previously located in Belmont and was owned by Positive Alternative Radio. It seems that Belmont was far enough west to not cause too much interference to WSMW. I think iHeartMedia got really lucky for the fact that PAR sold them the translator which just happened to be on the same frequency as WLKO's out-of-market but still receivable competition, and because the FCC allowed them to move it to Charlotte AND make it non-directional.
 
mcy919 said:
The Fox Sports translator was previously located in Belmont and was owned by Positive Alternative Radio. It seems that Belmont was far enough west to not cause too much interference to WSMW. I think iHeartMedia got really lucky for the fact that PAR sold them the translator which just happened to be on the same frequency as WLKO's out-of-market but still receivable competition, and because the FCC allowed them to move it to Charlotte AND make it non-directional.
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Awful ''Lucky'' I would say. The first thing the new owners did was to get permission from the FCC to move the translator from Belmont to the radio tower on Stuart Andrew Blvd just off I=77. So now the translator is smack dab in the center of Charlotte. So two things come to mind:

1) Why would the FCC allow this move? 2) Why is W254AZ permitted to state they are in "Belmont, N.C."? When in fact they are no longer there.

-Steve
 
tylerSC said:
And that is a disservice to radio listeners in Concord who get poor reception from both stations. A wasted frequency. Which is why these low power stations should be legally spaced a bit better. Otherwise you get interference in a large area, and a good signal from the LP station in a very limited area. Same problem in Greenville, SC with 107.9, which would otherwise have a good signal except for interference from low power WXRU. Fortunately I get WLNK clearly in the house with rabbit ears, including the HD version.
Click to expand...

It also makes it nearly impossible to get Magic 98.9 anywhere within 3-4 miles of the I=77 Clanton Road exit. My car's radio is pretty good at eliminating interference but is just no match when you're close to that part of Charlotte. Fortunately it only lasts for about 10 minutes and then you can get Magic 98.9 again.
 
Steve.Gates said:
It also makes it nearly impossible to get Magic 98.9 anywhere within 3-4 miles of the I=77 Clanton Road exit. My car's radio is pretty good at eliminating interference but is just no match when you're close to that part of Charlotte. Fortunately it only lasts for about 10 minutes and then you can get Magic 98.9 again.
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WSPA Magic 98.9 has always had good reception in the Charlotte area, especially Gastonia and Rock Hill. But unfortunately another case of interference from a low power signal. And WFBC B93.7 used to have a better signal near Charlotte, but they made some modification to their antenna a few years ago.
 
This station also had the Knights at one time but I don't know what else they did. And there was a traffic only frequency but I seem to recall it being at 98.9.
 
tylerSC said:
WSPA Magic 98.9 has always had good reception in the Charlotte area, especially Gastonia and Rock Hill. But unfortunately another case of interference from a low power signal. And WFBC B93.7 used to have a better signal near Charlotte, but they made some modification to their antenna a few years ago.
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Actually I thought about this last night. Perhaps... they moved it to the new location to get it FURTHER AWAY from the corner of Mecklenburg and Gason County? As it stands, it would be more likely to hurt Magic 98.9 at the county line -verses- smack dab in the center of Charlotte. Maybe they were being considerate of Magic 98.9, or maybe it is all just a coincidence? As for WFBC, it has a good signal in West Charlotte but in East Charlotte, not so much. 93.5 out of Wingate also starts to cause interference right about where the old Best Buy is on Independence Blvd. Steve.
 
vchimpanzee said:
This station also had the Knights at one time but I don't know what else they did. And there was a traffic only frequency but I seem to recall it being at 98.9.
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98.7 rebroadcasted Joy FM IIRC. I also heard the Charlotte Knights on 87.9 or 87.7 FM as I passed by them on I=77N. Probably the former as the latter can't be found on older tuners. I got the impression it was very low powered. It disappeared after about 2-3 miles. Steve.
 
Steve.Gates said:
Actually I thought about this last night. Perhaps... they moved it to the new location to get it FURTHER AWAY from the corner of Mecklenburg and Gason County? As it stands, it would be more likely to hurt Magic 98.9 at the county line -verses- smack dab in the center of Charlotte. Maybe they were being considerate of Magic 98.9, or maybe it is all just a coincidence? As for WFBC, it has a good signal in West Charlotte but in East Charlotte, not so much. 93.5 out of Wingate also starts to cause interference right about where the old Best Buy is on Independence Blvd. Steve.
Click to expand...

That's a possibility, but I think they did it to hurt 98.7 Simon since its format is similar to 102.9 The Lake and Simon actually plays a wider variety of genres.
 
Steve.Gates said:
Actually I thought about this last night. Perhaps... they moved it to the new location to get it FURTHER AWAY from the corner of Mecklenburg and Gason County? As it stands, it would be more likely to hurt Magic 98.9 at the county line -verses- smack dab in the center of Charlotte. Maybe they were being considerate of Magic 98.9, or maybe it is all just a coincidence? As for WFBC, it has a good signal in West Charlotte but in East Charlotte, not so much. 93.5 out of Wingate also starts to cause interference right about where the old Best Buy is on Independence Blvd. Steve.
Click to expand...

Yes the folks at iHeart Radio are very thoughtful and considerate. I’m just so happy they gave us another “sports talk” station here in town. Now all four of them can fight for listeners of that big 1 to 2 % share of the local radio audience.

All these translators popping up over the years and no room for one Charlotte LPFM?

I guess you’ve just got to have that “BIG MONEY”!
 
Also, sports radio is simulcasted on hd-radio. 99.7 HD2 now broadcasts 98.7 Fox sports. They dropped the classis hits format just to add another simulcast of Sports.
 
hschutte said:
Also, sports radio is simulcasted on hd-radio. 99.7 HD2 now broadcasts 98.7 Fox sports. They dropped the classis hits format just to add another simulcast of Sports.
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By rule a translator has to translate something. In order to have FOX Sports Radio on 98.7 it has to be on another station in town. The Commission allowed for translators to translate HD sub-channels a while back.

Personally I don't think it should be allowed. The HD-2 of 99.7 gets out far better than the translator on 98.7. No need for the station to be translated.

t123
 
It's translating digital to analog so one doesn't need an HD radio to receive it (which effectively - and cheaply - gives you another station in the market). I agree it shouldn't be allowed.
 
mp3RadioGuy said:
Yes the folks at iHeart Radio are very thoughtful and considerate. I’m just so happy they gave us another “sports talk” station here in town. Now all four of them can fight for listeners of that big 1 to 2 % share of the local radio audience.

All these translators popping up over the years and no room for one Charlotte LPFM?

I guess you’ve just got to have that “BIG MONEY”!
Click to expand...

Wow, this looks like something I could have written. Amen brother!

All the LPFM and translators are making the FM band a mess. It's getting more difficult to go from point a to point b listening to one station. Most times it's a battle with two stations coming in over the top of each other.
 
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