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Alt 99.9

Listening more to Thunder this week because of the activity going on, and it sounds like they're going to start airing commercials soon. Sweepers are now mentioning, 'Commercial free right now, commercials occasionally when we have to' in positioning. One of the best things about Thunder is not having to deal with breaks, but with three translators tied up with the signal now -- I guess it was a matter of time before it needed to make something for the company in return?

Byron
 
Was only a matter of time for Thunder. They wouldn't have even bothered relaunching it without the potential to generate another revenue stream.

I'd expect Alt 99-9 to follow suit eventually, once their ducks (and translators) are in a row.

Speaking of...Alt 99-9 finally got their legal ID right (W207BU, Bayonet Point). Still hearing the occasional song skip to the end, resulting in dead air (this time Walk The Moon-Anna Sun).

As for the sound of the station musically....during the day similar to 97X. Currents in high rotation, recurrents/gold not quite as repetitive as WSUN (who continue to beat some older songs to death), but a lot of the same titles.

At night, 99-9's playlist opens up a bit, incorporating more gold, (some of it not the usual stuff), and leans a bit heavier/grunge-ier.

A few surprises as well....Depeche Mode, Outkast(!), Violent Femmes, lesser known songs from Nirvana and Pearl Jam, even Bob Marley makes the occasional appearance. Quite a few things no longer heard at 97X.

If this were a full market signal, it might be competitive (especially if they injected some personality into the mix). In it's current state, no worries over at Cox (though they would be wise to keep an eye out).
 
iHeartMedia THAT WAS SO NICE of iHeartMedia for them to get ALT 99.9 as a BIRTHDAY PRESENT to 93.3 FLZ! :D ;) Today is FLZ's 25TH BIRTHDAY!
 
byron said:
Listening more to Thunder this week because of the activity going on, and it sounds like they're going to start airing commercials soon. Sweepers are now mentioning, 'Commercial free right now, commercials occasionally when we have to' in positioning. One of the best things about Thunder is not having to deal with breaks, but with three translators tied up with the signal now -- I guess it was a matter of time before it needed to make something for the company in return?

Byron
Click to expand...

byron, ALT 99.9 IS AND WAS A VERY EXCITING birthday present to sister station 93.3 FLZ, THEY JUST CELEBRATED THEIR 25TH ANNIVERSARY, FOR 25 YEARS ON THE AIR! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FLZ! :D ;) Q105 WAS TAKEN DOWN BY "THE PIG" AND NOW 93.3 FLZ (used to be Power Pig) WILL DO THE SAME TO HOT 101.5.
 
The URL implies that at least for the near future, [one would hope] only the 99.9 translator is in the picture for this particular station, and not a slew of them to cover the metro like Thunder. Only so many holes left.

Byron
 
byron said:
The URL implies that at least for the near future, [one would hope] only the 99.9 translator is in the picture for this particular station, and not a slew of them to cover the metro like Thunder. Only so many holes left.

Byron
Click to expand...

..and IHM holds the licenses/CPs for most of 'em.

If they are indeed in it for the long haul (launching a website seems to suggest so, coupled with the IHM's recent expansion of the "ALT" branding elsewhere), they certainly have options to get the signal into the metro if they so choose.
 
Alt 99.9 is not listenable in NPR due to the talk radio station to the north.
 
Which is a nice birthday present to older sister station, 93.3 FLZ, which iHeartMedia/Jacor has owned since...FOREVER! Well, after WFLA/WFLZ (formerly WFLA-FM) moved out of former sister station WFLA Channel 8's building, then they have moved to their current Gandy Blvd site.
 
Is Alt 99.9 even needed, if Clear Channel wanted to compete with 97X a translator is not how to do it.

I'd say do a more niche format with 99.9, not one duplicated somewhere else in the market with a better signal. That was the big issue Play 98.7 had, station was struggling from the start. Then once Hot 101.5 was launched they were outright torched.

Ideas for 99.9- Jazz, Geek Talk, AAA, New Wave/ Classic Alternative (If WMNF got the translator they can use it to fill in 88.5's coverage holes, or even relay an HD2 format.)
 
Got it clear for about 5 minutes heading up 75 over the weekend. Static fiesta, then trampled on by Rush reruns on 99.9 talker. If this is just a test market for the ALT format, they won't have much data to use.

Really looking forward to Beasley stepping into the market and what they'll do with their stations. These translator efforts leave a LOT to be desired.
 
I saw on a Facebook post and on Alt 99.9 website that there moving up the dial to 100.3 on Friday. Will this move help the coverage area to reach Tampa or is it going to stay the same?
 
The frequency swap happened today at noon as planned. They have re-branded as "ALT 100.3" (naturally).

Prior to the swap were some clever promos announcing the move, mentioning reasons for the move like "interfering with the old people's talk station" and that they were "too close to 99.9 WSUX".

Little difference in reception here in mid-Pinellas (though there's less co-channel swapping going on). Maybe caught a tiny piece of Orlando's Rumba 100.3, but that was it.
 
Here in mid-Pinellas, I am now getting slightly more intrusion from Rumba 100.3 than I was getting from WXJB at the old frequency, definitely more pronounced at night.

There has also been a change of call letters. They are now ID-ing as W262CP.
 
Due to atmospheric conditions, Rumba 100.3 is now completely obliterating ALT 100.3's signal at night here in Pinellas.
 
Yeah, 100.3 has been one of the best (strongest) signals reaching out from the Orlando metro for quite some time. You can pull it in from Tampa quite often, and even easier as you move up I-4 out of Hillsborough.

IHeart gets what they want here, though, since moving it.. Another signal (passing ownership caps) on the air, no chance of getting an interference complaint on 100.3 as they also own 100.3 WRUM....so the translator remains on and "legal" for consideration during any streaming music royalty negotiations IHM may undergo. And as for that FM signal...? Oh... Well, who cares how good it sounds? It's the origin of just one more stream to add to the gi-nourmous streaming product getting all the push and attention these days, not to mention the eventual re-naming of the company. This is all a solid win in their eyes... Now they just have to let that alt999.fm domain expire while it redirects you to the new site they had to up and register, alt1003.com. Which itself is just a template in a sea of templates. And as long as it all "looks like" its being done locally, people none-the-wiser will believe they're real station providing a local service to the community, and no one will complain, and nothing will change. You then repeat this process as necessary whenever another slot appears in the spectrum, or whenever a friendly deal involving HD-2 swaps with a translator owner can take place. Almost complete control of the dial. Not a bad gig if you're in on it....

Byron
 
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