ESB Mast unbelievable but true

TheBigA said:

I believe they're on the huge NJPTV tower in Bordentown. The one with the strobes.

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They are on the big tower in Lawrenceville near the Route 1/Route 295 interchange and Quakerbridge Mall. WPRB/103.3 is on the same tower. I don’t know of any big towers down in Bordentown.

Thats their xmtr site all right, I remember years ago (top 40 days), when they moved there from their 50kw 100 foot tower site housed with the AM and old studios, I think it was Ewingville road. They ran a contest to see who was the furthest listener and the winner was someone way down in Maryland, a long haul.

luperm said:

They are on the big tower in Lawrenceville near the Route 1/Route 295 interchange and Quakerbridge Mall. WPRB/103.3 is on the same tower. I don’t know of any big towers down in Bordentown.

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That's what I mean. That tower was built for NJ Public Broadcasting. I said Bordentown because that's the exit that's nearest to it.

Anyone remember Kix 101.5? I liked that station.

My opinion about ESB:

1. It's all about that "building penetration" thing.
2. Safety in numbers. Removes signal question from discussion. That is, no one wants to explain why their site is better than the site where (nearly) everyone else is.

Greg Strickland said:

My opinion about ESB:

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Not to mention the huge difference in rent. It's really hard to justify when the ROI isn't there.

DavidEduardo said:

Midtown is the best place for Class B FMs and TV to reach the full market with OTA signals. Nearly 2/3 of the market is not Manhattan and the Boroughs.

To TV the location is a bit less important than the cost... since so much NY HDA viewing is via cable or satellite distribution and not OTA. For FMs, the ESB is by far the best.

Look at WPAT, which was willing to take a power cut to stay at the ESB (due to spacing) rather than going back to the location that they had pre-9/11. That's because they prefer the Midtown location for coverage.

Building a 1500' tower in the "outskirts" is not going to happen as anything that would cover the market well won't get FAA clearance, zoning and permits (think NIMBY) and finding affordable, near-in land is likely not available.

I believe that only one FM that could be on the ESB is not... WBAI. And that is due to the WBAI inability to pay the rent at the ESB. Many if not most of the ESB FMs have backups at the Condé-Nast location, also in Midtown.

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Pre-9/11, Conde-Naste, aka, 4 Times Square, was not an option. It was only after 9/11, the antenna was rebuilt and much higher. If it looks out of place, it was because the building was not designed with a big broadcast antenna in mind.

I have wondered, after the Bank of America building was completed on 42nd St. (?), if their spire could be used as an alternative.

There was also a proposal to build a 2,000 ft on Governor's Island as well, back post-9/11.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!