Hallelujah

So 100.3 is going after WGOK...

How many other Gospel stations are in Mobile? WLPR? WASG? WIJD?

Will Hallelujah convince one of the other Religious translators to try something different?

Don't forget WERM.

I think it's really the only other true competitor to WGOK, the others seem more "preaching and teaching" than (black) gospel. Or at least that is what I hear when I scan past them.

Is WERM run as a commercial station? And why didn't they get a translator?

If Hallelujah is the only Urban Gospel on FM... this could get bigger ratings for 100.3 than the Beat was getting.

I believe it is. Pretty sure I heard a commercial playing the other day when I was in Mobile. Just my luck, WABF was off the air the entire time I was in town so I couldn't listen. I spent a few hours in the vicinity of Springhill and Airport Blvd and didn't hear anything on 96.5 or 92.5. Also got my first good listen to 97.1 and was impressed with the processing and music. Sounded good for a school run LPFM. Wish I could hear it off the air down here in Foley but all I get day in and day out is the sports translator from Pensacola. I seriously doubt it's running just 250 watts, judging by how clear it is here. None of the other Pensacola translators come close. Nor any of the Mobile translators bar the one in Spanish Fort.

Think WHEX-LP 104.7 or the Hispanic LPFM on 104.5 will ever make the air?

... and will Zew be adding two new formats or leasing HD space to feed someone else's translators?

... and why didn't WERM or WABF apply for translators? Gotta be room left to fit a couple 99 watters on the dial somewhere. Isn't the final AM translator window starting next week?
WABF broadcasts from Mobile but with the 25 mile rule they could put up a translator on the eastern shore. I think. And then they'd cover their original audience on FM and the distant audience on AM.

Whenever WHIL goes HD, I hope the Prowl is one of the sub channels.

WHEX-LP's license expired a few weeks ago, I just haven't had a chance to delete it from my site. I'll do that in just a minute. The 104.5 one has another year or thereabouts, but I'm skeptical of it ever seeing the light of day.

I figured Zew would take the easy route and just have one station for each of their online-only formats: blues and local artists. That's what's on the HD2/3 now, isn't it? I listened for a little bit this afternoon right before the start of Area 251 and they were having some serious technical difficulties with their music system. The jock on the air said something about how he tried to play some song and it crashed the system, and so he was going to try again... It played a few seconds then quit again, but came back quick. Then a few hours later the audio went dead during a commercial break and the station came back with what sounded like canned "technical trouble" music for a bit.

Eternal Media did actually apply for a translator, it just hasn't been granted yet. Should show up soon if there are no issues as a new CP. It's for 101.9, one of the few frequencies still open. It's listing the coordinates of the old 1220 site in Fairhope, though, so it'll have to go through some sort of move before it can go on the air since that land has been cleared. It's tied to 1220, but I'm sure it was for WABF and not WERM.

WHIL has no plans to go HD, unfortunately. I asked back when APR first took over the station and they said "we'd love to but unless you wanna donate the cost of the upgrade it ain't gonna happen", in so many words.

The 104.5 LP was already canceled once, right?
Will WHEX-LP have any chance of applying for a time extension or is it now DOA and opening a new frequency for a translator?

I don't see any record of it being cancelled before, but I might not be looking in the right place. I think WHEX-LP is DOA but maybe someone who knows the rules better can chime in.

I have 104.5 listed as KMOW-LP on my pages but the FCC is back to calling it "NEW", so maybe it was cancelled after all. Hmm.

I'm too tired to look it up but I am pretty sure 104.5 is associated with Antonio Cesar Guel.

If the FCC never cancelled the license it has been held up with red tape.

Is that the guy that one of the LPFM people (Prometheus or Recnet or someone) flagged as having signed off on a bunch of bogus applications?

Mr. Seedless, just did a search and discovered your info is correct sir.

Dan <><

The potential audience Hallelujah 100.3 will get has been there for years, but I think many have turned to non-terrestrial options rather than pick one of the local AMs. And the smaller full-power FMs that would have been perfect for most of the urban gospel format--one's K-Love and the others are doing talk radio.

Wilkins Radio could've made a splash first if it committed WASG 540 & 97.9 to music.

What caused the demise of Kiss Fm again?! Will there be another station that will at least compete with WABD...

Y'know, I can only speculate but I don't think anything really caused the demise of Kiss FM. It just never took off the way iHeart wanted it to, I guess. That and the Beat urban format really did well on its little signal, and I figure it was a chance to put the spurs to BLX for a change instead of WABD. Either way they're going against big stations that Cumulus inherited and somehow haven't managed to completely screw up yet. They're ripe for a takedown, IMHO, but this market seems to be INCREDIBLY slow to embrace new formats when it comes to competition. Like how WPMI still can't seem to make headway against the college kids at WKRG and low-key WALA presentation with the legendary Bob Grip.

It'll be interesting to see how fast Hallelujah eats away at WGOK since it's such a sea change from the pea-shooter AM to a pea-shooter FM signal+HD sub. But it's still FM and that's kind today for music.

What I don't get about this market is the thinking behind HD channels.

I do not know why we have two smooth jazz hd2 channels. I think you should have Top 40 iHeart Radio Station (feed) due to the demise of Kiss Fm on either the 94.9-2, 96.1-3, 101.5-2, or even 107.3-2. Or even put a format that is at least similar to 94.9-2. Mobile/Pensacola markets program odd subchannel formats. Why did we move Smooth Jazz from 99.9-2 anyways? I understand WNTM and Hallelujah 100.3 but not Smooth Jazz, Dua Lipa on 101.5-2 (?!) on stations with great HD2 signal. Just a thought! Pass this to program managers for all iHeart Radio stations in the Mobile/Pensacola listening-area.