inATLradio
Regular Participant
Just caught word that we will soon have Korean radio on 680 in Atlanta. Could be as soon as 9a tomorrow morning. Woohoo, right?
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WQXI-AM sale closed: flipping imminent
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itsTheRolyPoly
Star Participant
WCNN North Atlanta
itsTheRolyPoly
Star Participant
Yes, but that's 680. You probably meant 790 because 790 is WQXI which used to be 790 The Zone
RadioDoogie
Leading Participant
I noticed the WQXI Atlanta announcement has been dropped from the top of the hour on Star 94.
RoddyFreeman
Walk of Fame Participant
Get ready for the new morning show, "Noodles in the Morning."
inATLradio
Regular Participant
Yup. Correction:790.... shows how much I listen to AM...
Came on about 915, audio is horrific..
I was making a comment about 680's city of license that no longer exists (at least not under the "North Atlanta" name). That's a running peeve of mine.
Although to the Dickeys "WCNN North Atlanta" probably sounds better than "WCNN Brookhaven".
Perhaps it is easier to change a city of license today than in years past but the FCC, in general, does not make it easy.
I was manager of a station that was licensed to a city that was absorbed by a neighboring city many years before. We had to get all manner of documents showing that the change had occurred, and then had to present a certification of the documents and other evidence. It took nearly a year and was complicated by the need for engineering studies showing city grade over the "center" of the new city of license.
I know of stations that, facing the costs and the hassle, have kept a city of license to a non-existent town for decades... in one case for over 60 years after the town ceased to exist.
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North Atlanta was disincorporated in 1965 and didn't come back as Brookhaven until a couple years ago...so they've gone over the half-century mark. It's even more interesting considering that WRNG (now WCNN) didn't go on the air until 1968...so they've always had a nonexistent city as their city of license.
But then again, WPZE has a CoL of Mableton, which isn't incorporated either, and never has been. But then again again, somebody tried to move or start a radio station with a CoL of Sandy Springs, back before Sandy Springs was incorporated, and one of the reasons that the FCC denied the application was because Sandy Springs didn't "exist".
G
Groove1670
Guest
The process is much simpler. However, there must be a station in the market to fill the COL void. If there isn't one, that is where is get complex.
It is usually done these days for engineering purposes (allocation changes, or new tower location) . The listener really doesn't notice or cares about what you say at the top of the hour.
I guess with PPM it really doesn't matter, and several stations bury it in a liner.
It is usually done these days for engineering purposes (allocation changes, or new tower location) . The listener really doesn't notice or cares about what you say at the top of the hour.
I guess with PPM it really doesn't matter, and several stations bury it in a liner.
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Josh Lyons
New Participating Member
Ah, give me the good old days when AM 680 was [then] the flagship station of CNN Radio.
I like how WSB/WSBB sneaks it in: "WSBB-FM Doraville" in a low voice, and then has the big "AM 750 and 95.5 FM, WSB Atlanta's news, traffic, and weather station" where the "WSB Atlanta" string is the legal ID for the AM side.
WGST used to do the same thing when they were LMAing WCHK before Jacor bought it; they would have a quiet "WCHK-FM Canton" before the loud TOH ID, eventually moving to "WGST Atlanta/Canton".
A KRPN in Salt Lake used to do a TOH that sounded like "WKRP in Salt Lake City", but was really "W KRPN Salt Lake City"
AMRocks
Star Participant
I never understood that. Why even bother with the "Canton" reference at part of the TOH ID? Since you're already doing the legal portion, hiding WCHK-FM Canton, why mention it again? It should have just been "WGST Atlanta." But then again, they were not the brightest at times....
They did the "WGST Atlanta/Canton" after WCHK-FM changed to WGST-FM.
Not sure about this, but was that even a legal legal ID? Shouldn't it have been something like "WGST Atlanta WGST-FM Canton"? My understanding is you have to have the "-FM" if it's part of your callsign (sometimes it is, sometimes it's not), and you can't say ANYTHING between your callsign and CoL.
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It is not necessary that a community be incorporated for a radio station to be licensed to it. The reason WCNN changed to North Atlanta city of license was because when it added 10KW nighttime operation, the interference free nighttime contour (must cover 100% of city of license) did not cover the entire city of Atlanta...didn't even come close. Later on the FCC became more relaxed on AM nighttime coverage requirements. However when WCNN added nighttime, it did cover the North Atlanta CDP(Census Designated Place). I believe the Census Bureau still shows a North Atlanta CDP.
When WCNN (then WRNG) was placed on the air by the late Charles Smithgall, it was licensed to Atlanta as a daytimer. Originally 5KW then 10KW, then 25KW before it moved to the nighttime site and went 50KW directional daytime. The daytime is a very shallow null (just two towers) to the northeast and northwest. The nighttime is extremely complex (8 towers). As I recall they send about 8 watts toward WPTF in Raleigh which has dominance on 680. The signal is pretty much hemmed in except to the south southwest which is why the present site was chosen. The RF is beamed south southwest from there across the core of Atlanta. It comes in really well along the Florida Gulf coast.
A radio station must still use the city of license on its legal ID which must air near the top of the hour when a complete legal ID is required. The FCC requires that the call sign be given followed by the name of the city of license. As with WSBB-FM, the official call sign must include FM as there is a WSBB(AM). Just like WSB-FM can't legally identify as 98.5 WSB Atlanta. The call sign requirement is clearly spelled out in FCC rules but some stations don't follow it to the letter of the law. Many others may give the actual legal ID 5 or 10 minutes prior to the top of the hour when it is quickly given often during a commercial cluster. Some stations will combine several city names as part of ID which is fine as long as the actual city of license is given first following the call sign. FM translators like 93.5, 98.9 or 93.7 to name just three, are only required to ID three times daily (specific hours and times are given by FCC) and their call sign is W (K west of Mississippi River)followed by the frequency channel like 229 for 93.7 followed by two letters. W229AG is the call sign for the WCNN translator. The FCC does allow FM translators to identify with a morse code type signal which is not audible to the human ear and it must be used at the top of every hour. The FCC really doesn't put much importance on city of licenses for translators as there are no coverage requirements for translators since they are a secondary service and can be booted off the air by full power licensed FM stations.
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