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98.9 NASH ICON becomes Warm 98.9 and all-Christmas

TheBigA said:
Because translators are the only solutions the FCC has for AM radio
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And no technical solution to the mess on 540-1710 kHz will be effective until radio programmers come up with a format that people in saleable demos will listen to on the AM band. That's a huge problem with younger demos, by and large, tuning out all AM music formats and all talkers except for sports. NPR gets younger ears, but is largely on FM.
 
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TheBigA said:
It's not a programming problem. It's a regulatory problem. And the regulators punted.
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Talk about circular arguments. You keep saying AM needs help from the regulators to clear up the mess on its assigned band. I ask what the AM broadcasters will air there to replace the moldy oldies, conservative talk, leased ethnic and religious and business hucksterism that now attracts a largely 55+ audience to their stations (other than sports, some of which are moving to FM). You dodge the question and repeat that it's not a programming problem but a regulatory problem. I don't get it! Will the formats I've listed suddenly appeal to 18-54 listeners once all the computer and HD hash and co-channel interference is done away with? Sorry, I'm just not buying it.
 
CTListener said:
Talk about circular arguments.
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That's partly why nothing gets done. No one is responsible. But ultimately the spectrum belongs to the people. The broadcasters are merely licensees. They can't change the audio quality or force people who live in a digital world to accept a 1920s technology. Not our problem. We'll just move our content to the internet like everyone else.
 
CTListener said:
That's a huge problem with younger demos, by and large, tuning out all AM music formats and all talkers except for sports.
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What specifically is an “AM music format”?

When you punt, you play defense. And when you give up, it’s time to quit.

The regulatory solution begins with a choice:
1. Regulate everything that causes interference on the AM band.
2. Regulate the band itself.

To achieve #1, you will have to take away all computers, fluorescent and LED lights, most appliances and most automobile ground systems.
To achieve #2, you will have to expand the FM band, move AM stations to the expanded FM band and eliminate the interference-laden AM band. The consumer can use a converter until radios are equipped with proper technology.

But … there is a “compromise” that I think will work:

I’ve noticed my AM car radio is useless in the daytime (groundwave), but works great at night (skywave), so the interference is in the ground; all electrical wires and other interference-causing devices seem to affect groundwave, but not skywave.

Here’s where the marketplace comes in. Make clear channels of all the AM frequencies and give local and regional AM stations the option:
1. Move to the expanded FM dial.
2. Become a clear-channel AM station.

That way, we all (urban and rural) can be served with the old and new technology.
 
A good idea, except "Make clear channels of all the AM frequencies" which merely adds skywave interference to the background noise which is already there. Clear only works when there's one to a frequency at MW.
 
trusty said:
Here’s where the marketplace comes in. Make clear channels of all the AM frequencies and give local and regional AM stations the option:
1. Move to the expanded FM dial.
2. Become a clear-channel AM station
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Neither can be done without the FCC, and the FCC won't approve. It can't go to the marketplace without regulatory change, and that's not going to happen.
 
littlejohn said:
A good idea, except "Make clear channels of all the AM frequencies" which merely adds skywave interference to the background noise which is already there. Clear only works when there's one to a frequency at MW.
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That's what I meant (Should have said, "Make clear channels of all the AM frequencies, and assign one station to that frequency (two if on opposite coasts).") The other stations will move to the expanded FM band.
 
TheBigA said:
Neither can be done without the FCC, and the FCC won't approve. It can't go to the marketplace without regulatory change, and that's not going to happen.
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They'd better approve it. Otherwise, the friction from all these conflicting signals will cause unnecessary heat in the climate and we will all die.
 
trusty said:

They'd better approve it. Otherwise, the friction from all these conflicting signals will cause unnecessary heat in the climate and we will all die.
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You must the ham operator I heard years back telling another ham that they'd better end their contact soon because the other guy's signal was so strong that it might "fry all the electrons" and make the frequency unusable in the future!
 
On a different subject...

Anyone else notice that we now have a "Q", a "Warm", a "Power", and a "Rock" each for the second time in Atlanta?

(For you kids out there, I'm talking about 94Q, Warm 100, Power 99, and 96 Rock)
 
I'm getting a Warm feeling for Monday, December 28th ... the return of soft rock to the ATL!!!!! I'm holding out hope for some live and local ... but at least Warm 98.8 can pick up Delilah?!? Hey what about Bob & Sheri mornings? As long as they end Bob & Sheri by 9am for 98 minutes of Atlanta's Best Variety of Soft Rock to start your workday! It's the return of the 98 at 9 and it's only on Warm 98.9 FM!!!!!!!!!
 
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caller10 said:
I'm getting a Warm feeling for Monday, December 28th ... the return of soft rock to the ATL!!!!! I'm holding out hope for some live and local ... but at least Warm 98.8 can pick up Delilah?!? Hey what about Bob & Sheri mornings? As long as they end Bob & Sheri by 9am for 98 minutes of Atlanta's Best Variety of Soft Rock to start your workday! It's the return of the 98 at 9 and it's only on Warm 98.9 FM!!!!!!!!!
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I GOT IT!!!! John Tesh is a missing link!

6a-9a Bob & Sheri
9a-2p TBD (local or syndicated, I thought Donnie Osmond but he ended his show in 2013, I'm not sure about Leeza Gibbons either)
2p-7p John Tesh
7p-12a Delilah

Warm 98.9 FM! Wow!
 
I definitely see Delilah coming to this station. Perfect fit. "Love Someone Tonight." I remember B98.5 picked her up in 2007 after Lite (who carried her for many years) flipped to Bull. Then they dropped her after a few years and she hasn't been back on the air in Atlanta since. John Tesh was on J93.3 for awhile.
 
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Salem does use Delilah on a hand full of its Christian AC stations. By creating a local evening show the Fish Atlanta avoided having her here.
 
Got to listen to this station as I was driving through Alpharetta/Roswell and Cumming(station cuts out in the rural areas just north of downtown) Thursday, and I was amazed at the variety of Christmas songs I heard--most of which I'd not heard in many years. Station also has an un-avoidably 'Lite FM' feel to it, which might indicate the kind of direction radio executives are looking in regarding a prospective shakeup of the ATL FM dial.

Given the low-frequency of 98.9, I would guess this is a guinea pig for a major channel flip to Soft AC, which has been lacking for 9 years now(Star 94 & B98.5 really don't cut it--they're more modern hits and active AC), at either the end of the month or at the beginning of new year 2016.
 
Station coverage more than anything. Warm 98.9 gets a bit fringey and sloppy when you get outside Fulton County, and I have had at least 3 98.9 stations(including Warm) cut in on my radio when I tried listening to it driving through various places across North GA.
 
B98.5 has started putting the Christmas music into the rotation, as opposed to waiting until the last minute like last year.
 
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