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Speaking of CP's

Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox

> In addtion to 107.3 having a CP .....I see 98 rock has one
> as well.....probably tied together/related. 97.9 moving
> higher to allow placement of 107.3 antenna on that tower ?

Since 97.9 and 105.5's current specs state antennas located at the exact same height, my guess would be that 107.3 is either buying the current 97.9 antenna and or installing a new one in that spot. 97.9 then moves up the tower 150 feet or so. Of course, don't forget poor 97.1 down at 732 feet pumping a weak 11,500 watts. Interesting to see how 2 companies, with 2 direct competing stations, are or are not forced to work together on tower space. As we've always said, the guys at 97X have always been working at a techincal disadvantage vs. 98Rock. How many years have we been saying move em to 107.3, then 102.5, and now with both of those stations looking to stick around... I guess now they can hope for the 101.5 stick some day. Although the ratings for the station have been good as of late (2004 was a terrible year for 98Rock), you know the guys at 97X must get sick of answering listener's questions over the poorness of their signal.

One other thing that I'm curious about... Does the 107.3 upgrade affect the fact that Cox has 6 FMs? Again, as we've all discussed before, the power and signal contours of the 6 stations have to be set so they're not forced to sell one off. I guess as long as 102.5 continues to broadcast from Manatee, and 97.1 at such low power from Pasco they can get away with it. I wonder if running the same programming on both 97.1 and 102.5 would benefit both frequencies?
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox

> > In addtion to 107.3 having a CP .....I see 98 rock has one
>
> > as well.....probably tied together/related. 97.9 moving
> > higher to allow placement of 107.3 antenna on that tower ?
>
>
> Since 97.9 and 105.5's current specs state antennas located
> at the exact same height, my guess would be that 107.3 is
> either buying the current 97.9 antenna and or installing a
> new one in that spot. 97.9 then moves up the tower 150 feet
> or so. Of course, don't forget poor 97.1 down at 732 feet
> pumping a weak 11,500 watts. Interesting to see how 2
> companies, with 2 direct competing stations, are or are not
> forced to work together on tower space. As we've always
> said, the guys at 97X have always been working at a
> techincal disadvantage vs. 98Rock. How many years have we
> been saying move em to 107.3, then 102.5, and now with both
> of those stations looking to stick around... I guess now
> they can hope for the 101.5 stick some day. Although the
> ratings for the station have been good as of late (2004 was
> a terrible year for 98Rock), you know the guys at 97X must
> get sick of answering listener's questions over the poorness
> of their signal.

One of the ideas with programming these large clusters nowadays is to put a format that appeals to a certain audience on your worst signal. For example, in a market in another state that I once worked, one company bought up 5 FMs in the market. A successful country station was on their worst signal and oldies was on their best signal. They were getting major competition from a country owned by another company in a nearby market. The market was also hungry from an Urban station. So, they killed oldies format and moved their country from the worst signal to the best to go after the other country that was hurting them. Then, they launched urban on the worst signal (similar to the 97X signal) and it did well because the audience was willing to suffer the less signal to get their station. This may be one of the reasons Cox keeps "alternative" 97X on their worst signal.
>
> One other thing that I'm curious about... Does the 107.3
> upgrade affect the fact that Cox has 6 FMs? Again, as we've
> all discussed before, the power and signal contours of the 6
> stations have to be set so they're not forced to sell one
> off. I guess as long as 102.5 continues to broadcast from
> Manatee, and 97.1 at such low power from Pasco they can get
> away with it. I wonder if running the same programming on
> both 97.1 and 102.5 would benefit both frequencies?
>
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox

> > > In addtion to 107.3 having a CP .....I see 98 rock has
> one
> >
> > > as well.....probably tied together/related. 97.9 moving
> > > higher to allow placement of 107.3 antenna on that tower
> ?
> >
> >
> > Since 97.9 and 105.5's current specs state antennas
> located
> > at the exact same height, my guess would be that 107.3 is
> > either buying the current 97.9 antenna and or installing a
>
> > new one in that spot. 97.9 then moves up the tower 150
> feet
> > or so. Of course, don't forget poor 97.1 down at 732 feet
>
> > pumping a weak 11,500 watts. Interesting to see how 2
> > companies, with 2 direct competing stations, are or are
> not
> > forced to work together on tower space. As we've always
> > said, the guys at 97X have always been working at a
> > techincal disadvantage vs. 98Rock. How many years have we
>
> > been saying move em to 107.3, then 102.5, and now with
> both
> > of those stations looking to stick around... I guess now
> > they can hope for the 101.5 stick some day. Although the
> > ratings for the station have been good as of late (2004
> was
> > a terrible year for 98Rock), you know the guys at 97X must
>
> > get sick of answering listener's questions over the
> poorness
> > of their signal.
>
> One of the ideas with programming these large clusters
> nowadays is to put a format that appeals to a certain
> audience on your worst signal. For example, in a market in
> another state that I once worked, one company bought up 5
> FMs in the market. A successful country station was on
> their worst signal and oldies was on their best signal.
> They were getting major competition from a country owned by
> another company in a nearby market. The market was also
> hungry from an Urban station. So, they killed oldies format
> and moved their country from the worst signal to the best to
> go after the other country that was hurting them. Then,
> they launched urban on the worst signal (similar to the 97X
> signal) and it did well because the audience was willing to
> suffer the less signal to get their station. This may be
> one of the reasons Cox keeps "alternative" 97X on their
> worst signal.
> >
> > One other thing that I'm curious about... Does the 107.3
> > upgrade affect the fact that Cox has 6 FMs? Again, as
> we've
> > all discussed before, the power and signal contours of the
> 6
> > stations have to be set so they're not forced to sell one
> > off. I guess as long as 102.5 continues to broadcast from
>
> > Manatee, and 97.1 at such low power from Pasco they can
> get
> > away with it. I wonder if running the same programming on
>
> > both 97.1 and 102.5 would benefit both frequencies?
> >

I believe the 97.9 upgrade is to maintain their full class "C" status -- they need to be at 450 meters or higher -- I've seen some "C" stations downgraded to C0 status -- (with the flat terrain there really isn't that much of a coverage difference between a C0 and C). 97.9 cannot move their tower to Riverview, unless they wanted to downgrade from a class C -- As a full class "C" they would interfere with WRMF 97.9 in Palm Beach. Likewise, 97.1 cannot upgrade or move their tower either -- they are shortspaced with 96.9 in Fort Myers -- In fact 97.1 is running at 1/2 the ERP of a full class C-2 station at 732 feet in order to accomodate the short spacing.

That original tower site (in Holiday) was constructed in the 60's to permit WLCY-TV 10 (city of licence was Largo) to opererate and not interfere with WPLG - channel 10 in Miami. The original tower (believe it or not) was only 500 feet and folks in Tampa and St Petersburg needed separate antennas to pick up the signal. I beleive the current tower was built in the late 70's or early 80's.

Tom S


<P ID="signature">______________
Tom S</P>
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox

> That original tower site (in Holiday) was constructed in the
> 60's to permit WLCY-TV 10 (city of licence was Largo) to
> opererate and not interfere with WPLG - channel 10 in Miami.
> The original tower (believe it or not) was only 500 feet
> and folks in Tampa and St Petersburg needed separate
> antennas to pick up the signal.

The original tower was also the reason WXLT ch.40 (WWSB today) existed, as ch.10's signal didn't make it very well in the southern parts of the market. Of course, ch.40 did keep the ABC affiliation and aimed at its Sarasota / Bradenton audience to this day, even though ch.10 increased its height and WEVU ch.26 (now WZVN) signed on in 1974 -- both stations including some part of Sarasota County as part of their coverage area.
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox...a bizarre ch. 40 question

> The original tower was also the reason WXLT ch.40 (WWSB
> today) existed, as ch.10's signal didn't make it very well
> in the southern parts of the market. Of course, ch.40 did
> keep the ABC affiliation and aimed at its Sarasota /
> Bradenton audience to this day, even though ch.10 increased
> its height and WEVU ch.26 (now WZVN) signed on in 1974 --
> both stations including some part of Sarasota County as part
> of their coverage area.

I had heard that ch. 40 was in the tank in the mid-70's, and the station owner was considering signing the station off (UHF costs too much to operate, aparently, with HUGE power bills)

Then during a newscast, the young lady who was the anchor shot herself live on-air. Apparently, the ratings increased enough that the station survived


Is this suicide true? Was it, by any odd chance, taped? Did her death "save" ch. 40?

Thanks!

Radio-X
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox...a bizarre ch. 40 question

>
> I had heard that ch. 40 was in the tank in the mid-70's, and
> the station owner was considering signing the station off
> (UHF costs too much to operate, aparently, with HUGE power
> bills)
>
> Then during a newscast, the young lady who was the anchor
> shot herself live on-air. Apparently, the ratings increased
> enough that the station survived
>
>
> Is this suicide true? Was it, by any odd chance, taped? Did
> her death "save" ch. 40?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Radio-X
>

Holy hotdogs, it's true !

http://www.source-of-knowledge.com/?t=Christine_Chubbuck

Rob
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox

When Bob Nelson moved Ch 40's tower from Venice to Parrish, CH 10 was not a happy camper. Must carry cable rules put CH40 on Tampa area cable systems which gave two ABC stations. When the big musical TV network affiliates happened a few years ago, ABC refused to renew CH 40's network affiliation because CH28 covered the Sarasota market quite well. Ch40 sued ABC and I'm not sure how they did it, but was able to keep their network affiliation. Now CH40 is a license to print money. They just moved into fabulous new studios in downtown Sarasota a couple years ago, leaving that dump on Lawton Dr.



> > That original tower site (in Holiday) was constructed in
> the
> > 60's to permit WLCY-TV 10 (city of licence was Largo) to
> > opererate and not interfere with WPLG - channel 10 in
> Miami.
> > The original tower (believe it or not) was only 500 feet
> > and folks in Tampa and St Petersburg needed separate
> > antennas to pick up the signal.
>
> The original tower was also the reason WXLT ch.40 (WWSB
> today) existed, as ch.10's signal didn't make it very well
> in the southern parts of the market. Of course, ch.40 did
> keep the ABC affiliation and aimed at its Sarasota /
> Bradenton audience to this day, even though ch.10 increased
> its height and WEVU ch.26 (now WZVN) signed on in 1974 --
> both stations including some part of Sarasota County as part
> of their coverage area.
>
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox...a bizarre ch. 40 question

> > Is this suicide true? Was it, by any odd chance, taped?
> Holy hotdogs, it's true !

I heard that story when I worked at Channel 10, but I never was able to verify it (until now). Wow...<P ID="signature">______________
Lou Pickney
Tampa, FL
RadioHotTalk.com & VarietyHits.com</P>
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox...a bizarre ch. 40 question

> > > Is this suicide true? Was it, by any odd chance, taped?
> > Holy hotdogs, it's true !
>
> I heard that story when I worked at Channel 10, but I never
> was able to verify it (until now). Wow...
>

I'm from the Tampa Bay area, but only heard about this story a long time ago when I was working in radio in Columbia, MO, from a journalism student at the University of Missouri. He said he actually saw the video. I certainly don't wanna watch it, but is it really out there?
 
Yes, tape exists

> I'm from the Tampa Bay area, but only heard about this story
> a long time ago when I was working in radio in Columbia, MO,
> from a journalism student at the University of Missouri. He
> said he actually saw the video. I certainly don't wanna
> watch it, but is it really out there?

The footage does exist, but I'd be surprised if your friend saw it. I worked in the WWSB Channel 40 building between 1999 and 2001. I asked about the incident and if tape exists. The film DOES exist within the Channel 40 building, however the film is in a format (I forget which one) that is not commonly used today and they don't have a player for it. But the film resides in the owner's office safely locked up.

But you never know, there might be a few bootleg copies out there.
 
Re: Speaking of CP's and Cox...a bizarre ch. 40 question

> I had heard that ch. 40 was in the tank in the mid-70's, and
> the station owner was considering signing the station off
> (UHF costs too much to operate, aparently, with HUGE power
> bills)
>
> Then during a newscast, the young lady who was the anchor
> shot herself live on-air. Apparently, the ratings increased
> enough that the station survived
>
>
> Is this suicide true? Was it, by any odd chance, taped? Did
> her death "save" ch. 40?

As mentioned in the posts below, the suicide was true, but I don't think Chris Chubbock was a martyr for ch.40's ratings.
 
Re: Yes, tape exists

I worked in the WLCY Channel 10 building in 1975-77, and a copy of it on the old U-Matic format was around. A girl who was in master control saw it, and broke down, then quit. I never saw it, but the Channel 10 people did. Television in Florida then was mostly really poorly paid younger people, and terrible equipment. Channel 10 could not be seen over the air in it's own lobby.
 
Re: Yes, tape exists

Channel 10 could not be seen over
> the air in it's own lobby.


That's what they got for using a TV from Mad Man Muntz. He was well known for experimenting with other brands of TV's taking out parts and seeing if they still work. He was able to elimanate many of the parts inside a TV, and of course he screwed up the performance too....But they were cheap... If that U matic tape can be found, there are several houses around that can copy it to a current format, like DVD.
 
Re: Yes, tape exists

> Channel 10 could not be seen over
> > the air in it's own lobby.
>
>
> That's what they got for using a TV from Mad Man Muntz. He
> was well known for experimenting with other brands of TV's
> taking out parts and seeing if they still work. He was able
> to elimanate many of the parts inside a TV, and of course he
> screwed up the performance too....But they were cheap... If
> that U matic tape can be found, there are several houses
> around that can copy it to a current format, like DVD.
>

Well, my morbid curiosity is piqued, but it's quite sad when you read up more on her life...no serious romantic relationships in her 29 years...

sad, sad, sad...but interesting, none the less
 
Re: Yes, tape exists

> What was her name?
>

Christine Chubbock
 
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