• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Montgomery low power FM (translators or LPFM)

P

Poledo

Is it really possible that Montgomey has 14 translators and a couple more LPFMs?

That's more translators than AM stations.
Full power FMs are all over the place in the Montgomery DMA. I doubt more than 20 full power FMs have good signals overlapping the 14 Montgomery metro translators.

Do any other markets in the US have a FM-translator-AM ratio like the home of The Biscuits?
That's so many translators, it implies there probably is room for a couple more full power FM allocations in the market.
 
It's Technically 17 , if you count the FM's actually located within the Montgomery/prattville/wetumpka area (15 if you don't count the Non-comm's).

the translator craze has certainly taken off in the past few years,
but i think the next round of translators to pop up should be used for more AM stations.

according to the Alabama Broadcast media page,
i notice a new LPFM with the calls WLDA, but last check on the radio,
it doesn't seem to be active yet.
 
WLDA is not an LPFM but a full power move-in from the Dothan market. It used to be on 93.7 and licensed to Hartford.

I don't think there's a whole lot standing in the way of it coming on the air before the end of the year. WAAO in Andalusia moved from 103.7 to 93.7, WDJR relicensed from Enterprise to Hartford and 103.5 in Dothan got to jump up a class. That was all the technical hurdles for this Hope Hull sign on to happen.
 
tomservo said:
WLDA is not an LPFM but a full power move-in from the Dothan market. It used to be on 93.7 and licensed to Hartford.

I don't think there's a whole lot standing in the way of it coming on the air before the end of the year. WAAO in Andalusia moved from 103.7 to 93.7, WDJR relicensed from Enterprise to Hartford and 103.5 in Dothan got to jump up a class. That was all the technical hurdles for this Hope Hull sign on to happen.
Click to expand...

any idea what the format may be?

Montgomery really could use a neutrally balanced talk radio on FM, like WLWI 1440 AM.
 
You actually believe there's any rush to get WLDA back on the air in Montgomery?
I've absolutely convinced myself this station was only moved to the Gump as part of a conspiracy by The Radio People to reduce the number of competing commercial radio stations in the Wiregrass.

Why? What else do you do when you own 2/3 of the radio stations in the market and only have one good signal (WOOF) competing with you? Give me another reason they would move it.
 
seedless said:
You actually believe there's any rush to get WLDA back on the air in Montgomery?
I've absolutely convinced myself this station was only moved to the Gump as part of a conspiracy by The Radio People to reduce the number of competing commercial radio stations in the Wiregrass.

Why? What else do you do when you own 2/3 of the radio stations in the market and only have one good signal (WOOF) competing with you? Give me another reason they would move it.
Click to expand...

For all we know, it could be owned by The Radio People with an LMA and programming deal with another company either inside or outside of montgomery.
 
seedless said:
You actually believe there's any rush to get WLDA back on the air in Montgomery?
I've absolutely convinced myself this station was only moved to the Gump as part of a conspiracy by The Radio People to reduce the number of competing commercial radio stations in the Wiregrass.

Why? What else do you do when you own 2/3 of the radio stations in the market and only have one good signal (WOOF) competing with you? Give me another reason they would move it.
Click to expand...

Seems like an awful lot of money to spend to eliminate just one signal. And why would they kill off their own signal? Remember, they probably paid the folks at WAAO to move to 93.7 and upgrade to a C2 or whatever it is, and then the old WLDA 103.5 was able to score an upgrade, which will cost money if it's built out. They could have accomplished that simply by turning in the license for WDBT and saved a buttload of money in the process.

We'll never know the real reason behind all this upheaval, but I bet the move-in concept was first set into motion back before Montgomery became totally saturated with translators. Go back, what, five or six years, and the Montgomery radio dial was a LOT less crowded than it is today. It probably made a lot of sense back then. IIRC the original plan was to create a new allocation licensed to Pike Road, but the FCC rejected that and they came up with this counter-proposal to license to Hope Hull instead.
 
I'm sure a buyer was lined up before the move of 93.7 was filed. That buyer likely paid a little more than what a Wiregrass class A was worth to get the 95.3A allocation covering Montgomery and maybe Troy. That would be considered a good deal for the larger Montgomery market. Others in Dothan radio that wouldn't have been seen as real competition (WJJN) might not have had the CASH to buy the station for the cash offered by Montgomery.
WAAO went from a 3000 watter to a 25 kW class C3 on an established local frequency, heck, if I owned WAAO I would have at least covered all of my own cost in exchange for The Radio People's engineering work. Plus The Radio People are upgrading and out-of-Wiregrass signal in that deal so they have little to loose even if they paid for everything.

Do you really think 93.7C1 from Geneva was worth less than 95.3A from Hope Hull?

I passed calculus and that doesn't add up even with Greek letters in the equation. It appears the other in-Wiregrass moves in this deal were negligible. I'm a Pastafarian. I see things.

Amature speculation.
 
Here's some more info on the new move in.

It's courtesy of this link: http://fccdata.org/?facid=62206

And Wikipedia: On October 12, 2015, WDBT changed their call letters to WLDA. Effective October 13, 2015, Gulf South Communications sold WLDA to Brantley Broadcast Associates for $225,000. On October 15, WLDA went silent.

If Mr. Paul Reynolds is now the owner, I look for him to do Fox Sports.

Dan <><
 
Last edited:
I've always thought of Brantley as a radio station broker. They've owned many stations across south Alabama over the years that just "phoned it in", but they've also sold almost as many stations as they bought.
If 107.9 doesn't want to sell to EMF, 93.5 would be an attractive property. It's always better to own than lease.
 
If we're throwing out scenarios, what about this one?

EMF's lease on 107.9 WMRK ends and they end up buying 93.5. Then, what becomes of 107.9? Remember, at one time, there was a partnership there with Bluewater. Does that become the new home of Bluewater's HD-3 / translator CHR that just went on the air a few months ago? You've got to think that Rick Peters would like to get a bigger signal to compete with Y102.
 
It seems natural that KLove and Way would be very interested buyers for a full power rimshotting Montgomery. It's been the trend around the region the last few years.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom