99X Ordered Off the Air

The FCC has ordered the WNNX translator at 98.9 off the air at midnight tonight after complaints of interference to WWGA-FM in Tallapoosa. This apparently has been going on for 2 years.

99X is still available online, and Cumulus is fighting this, saying the interference has been corrected.

They could move back to their original W255CJ position at 99.1FM. There was much more interference on that frequency but they could potentially stay on the air that way.

Sometimes interference complaints are bogus. Here in Connecticut i-Heart flied a complaint that W241CG a 250 watt translator on 96.1 FM was causing interference to their WKSS 95.7 FM. This translator was on the air for almost a year before the complaint was filed. Interestingly enough just a couple months before, the translator began showing up at the bottom of the ratings and even more interesting is that W241CG's format is the Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s, and 80s and i-Heart has a Variety Hits station playing 70s and 80s music called 105.9 The River so they are indirect competitors. W241CG was forced to change antenna patterns and cut power to 210 watts. And seriously if a 250 watt translator on 96.1 is causing interference to a station on 95.7 you have to have a really crappy radio. 95.7 and 96.1 are both on Meriden Mountain.

RadioDoogie said:

They could move back to their original W255CJ position at 99.1FM. There was much more interference on that frequency but they could potentially stay on the air that way.

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I thought the problem with 99.1 was interfering with WDEN out of Macon...prompting the move to 98.9...?

MarcB said:

Sometimes interference complaints are bogus. Here in Connecticut i-Heart flied a complaint that W241CG a 250 watt translator on 96.1 FM was causing interference to their WKSS 95.7 FM. This translator was on the air for almost a year before the complaint was filed. Interestingly enough just a couple months before, the translator began showing up at the bottom of the ratings and even more interesting is that W241CG's format is the Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s, and 80s and i-Heart has a Variety Hits station playing 70s and 80s music called 105.9 The River so they are indirect competitors. W241CG was forced to change antenna patterns and cut power to 210 watts. And seriously if a 250 watt translator on 96.1 is causing interference to a station on 95.7 you have to have a really crappy radio. 95.7 and 96.1 are both on Meriden Mountain.

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Keep in mind adjacent channel interference is possible, Brammy. No matter what radio you have, good or terrible.

jabba17 said:

I thought the problem with 99.1 was interfering with WDEN out of Macon...prompting the move to 98.9...?

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Exactly. And W257DF got forced off because of 'CON. There just isn't any available space to try and squeeze 'em in and still stick with the 99X branding.

ksradiogeek said:

Exactly. And W257DF got forced off because of 'CON. There just isn't any available space to try and squeeze 'em in and still stick with the 99X branding.

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Now this is weird...I just noticed that WDEN is owned by Cumulus. So who exactly was complaining? I know the interference is still a no-no, but if a tree falls in a forest and nobodu is around to hear it...?

jabba17 said:

Now this is weird...I just noticed that WDEN is owned by Cumulus. So who exactly was complaining? I know the interference is still a no-no, but if a tree falls in a forest and nobodu is around to hear it...?

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Not sure it was the Macon station complaining. When 99x was on 99.1, nobody could hardly get it because of Macon bleeding in.

99x should move over to 1067 and get renamed. Same music, more local djs and a new name. I will admit I’m surprised how aggressive the website and FB page is being about this.

acheron1982 said:

Not sure it was the Macon station complaining. When 99x was on 99.1, nobody could hardly get it because of Macon bleeding in.

99x should move over to 1067 and get renamed. Same music, more local djs and a new name. I will admit I’m surprised how aggressive the website and FB page is being about this.

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Not going to happen with current management of Cumulus in place. For some strange reason Cumulus is sticking with spoken word formatting on 106.7. The Fish on the same tower and has been reported on this site to be billing twice what Talk 106.7 is with a much smaller staff. There are a couple of format holes in Atlanta, like Greatest Pop Hits (80’s, 90’s and early 2000's). Why the Cloud Company is trying to take down WSB in spoken word programming when they could fill a music programming hole with little completion, better (younger) demographics, and much smaller payroll will I never understand. They should have really good cash flow now they are in Bankruptcy and not paying note holders. With monthly ratings the lost advertisers should be replaced in a quarter. Meanwhile Cumulus would save a ton of money on payroll.

secondchoice said:

Why the Cloud Company is trying to take down WSB in spoken word programming when they could fill a music programming hole with little completion, better (younger) demographics, and much smaller payroll will I never understand.

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Straw man. They're not "trying to take down WSB." They're trying to play on that same field. Different point. The goal in radio isn't to "fill format holes." It's to make money. Obviously they've decided they can make more money with local talk than by playing 80s pop hits. It's not unusual. Lots of other companies are doing the same thing in other cities. They might get better ratings with something else, but talk makes more money.

TheBigA said:

Straw man. They're not "trying to take down WSB." They're trying to play on that same field. Different point. The goal in radio isn't to "fill format holes." It's to make money. Obviously they've decided they can make more money with local talk than by playing 80s pop hits. It's not unusual. Lots of other companies are doing the same thing in other cities. They might get better ratings with something else, but talk makes more money.

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But I don’t think it’s billing well... Or is it? I don’t have that data but based on what I read here, 106.7 isn’t billing well. Does anyone really know? Just curious.

secondchoice said:

Not going to happen with current management of Cumulus in place. For some strange reason Cumulus is sticking with spoken word formatting on 106.7. The Fish on the same tower and has been reported on this site to be billing twice what Talk 106.7 is with a much smaller staff. There are a couple of format holes in Atlanta, like Greatest Pop Hits (80’s, 90’s and early 2000's). Why the Cloud Company is trying to take down WSB in spoken word programming when they could fill a music programming hole with little completion, better (younger) demographics, and much smaller payroll will I never understand. They should have really good cash flow now they are in Bankruptcy and not paying note holders. With monthly ratings the lost advertisers should be replaced in a quarter. Meanwhile Cumulus would save a ton of money on payroll.

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Want to know who the biggest losers have been at the hands of Talk 106.7? The other talkers on the AM band, including WGST, WGKA, and WCFO. WCFO just got sold, and WGST seems to be just a vehicle for clearing Premiere shows in market #8, and WGKA for clearing Salem shows in market #8.

I do wonder if 106.7 would pick up Savage to keep him on the air in market #8.

I'd love to have a true Classic Hits station in ATL, but for some reason nobody seems to think it would get enough traction. Maybe it's the old "you can't make money marketing to GenXers like you can marketing to Millennials and GenZers" thing.

Going from 250 watts to 200 watts seemed like a half-hearted (and low budget) attempt to resolve the interference complaints. From a dB standpoint, the differential between 250 watts and 200 watts from the same HAAT is rather insignificant.

In order to have a shot at reusing 98.9 MHz, Cumulus will likely need to propose - and receive FCC approval for - use of a directional antenna that features a westward null. The pattern they had been using was radiating a full 250 watts in that direction. They probably need to dial that back to 50 watts. Perhaps they could get away with 100 watts.

MarkW said:

Going from 250 watts to 200 watts seemed like a half-hearted (and low budget) attempt to resolve the interference complaints. From a dB standpoint, the differential between 250 watts and 200 watts from the same HAAT is rather insignificant.

In order to have a shot at reusing 98.9 MHz, Cumulus will likely need to propose - and receive FCC approval for - use of a directional antenna that features a westward null. The pattern they had been using was radiating a full 250 watts in that direction. They probably need to dial that back to 50 watts. Perhaps they could get away with 100 watts.

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I thought there had to be interference within the 60 dB before the complaint was valid. 98.9 Carrollton has a 60 dB that gets out to maybe Villa Rica. I would lose 99x just over six flags hill. Hard to believe 99x was interfering with the 60 dB zone owned by the Carroll County station. Maybe I’m wrong.

The interference does not need to be in the 60 dBu zone. If there is interference anywhere the victimized station was (a) previously receivable and (b) had actual listeners, the victimized station can file a complaint to the FCC, and the FCC will take action every single time.

MarkW said:

The interference does not need to be in the 60 dBu zone. If there is interference anywhere the victimized station was (a) previously receivable and (b) had actual listeners, the victimized station can file a complaint to the FCC, and the FCC will take action every single time.

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This is information I was unaware of so thanks for pointing out. In that case, I would suspect ther is about to be a bunch of suits coming.
95.9 in Macon comes to mind.

If anyone is interested, go to the public file page for WWGA-FM on line. Click on the FCC complaints. The entire sorid affair is there from the beginning back in 2011.

Holy crap! I spent an hour reading the complaints. It is like a technical National Enquirer.

I know that I personally began having issues listening to WWGA along I-20 in Douglas county when the Atlanta translator signed on. Of course I do not travel that area often so I forgot about it.

After reading through the SEVEN YEARS of complaints Cumulus did live into the big bad company trying to bury the small guy in paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. Five of the six valid complaints ended up being dismissed because after several years of the initial complaint being filed, the people either moved or stopped cooperating. I am a radio junkie and I don't think I would have kept responding and agree to meet with people after several years of ongoing correspondence. So, Cumulus kept hoping the clock would run out and all of the complaints would go away.

Here is the link:

https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/fm-prof...plaints/947917ac-704e-4496-2dfa-2c64e1c6c906/

Click on the orange circle that has three dots.
Then click on "FCC Investigations or Complaints"

Sorry, but the FCC site will not allow a direct link to the page.

It really is good reading. Lots of drama.

I started working for Steve in September 2014, so I showed up three years into the battle. Cume Less's translator is on the Richland Tower near Druid Hills. It is mounted below the Master FM antenna at an AGL of 1,100 feet. I remember when they installed the antenna and translators back in 2011. I was working for WKHX at the time. The FCC allows translators a ERP of 250 Watts, regardless of HAAT. Even though Cume Less did design the ERI panel antenna with a null to the west to Protect WWGA, the HAAT played more of a part than the ERP. In their original application it was clear that they would interfere with WWGA's 40 and 50 dbu contour, which covers Villa Rica, but the FCC approved it anyway. WWGA signed on about 6 months before Cume Less's translator went live. So, there was a coverage track record. That's when the trouble started. The FCC treats translators as a secondary service and the rules clearly state that the translator cannot interfere with any primary service. Unfortunately the way the rules are written, there must be complaints from dis-interested parties (people who have no connections to either of the parties involved in the complaint) before action can be taken by the FCC. IMHO, I have an issue with the rule which allows translators to be used for rebroadcast of HD2 signals. This is stretch from the original rule allowing daytime AM stations to use translators. Cume Less has appealed the decision but, there is little chance the FCC will change its decision. Cume Less demonstrated a legal plan of "burying" the little guy and waiting out the complainants. It was obvious in their filings. Kudos to Steve Gradick and the complainants who did stuck it out for the long run. This is definitely a David vs. Goliath story!