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1470-AM, 990 AM, and 102.9 FM

MarcB

MarcB

Anyone know what's going on with Full Power Radio's 1470 AM WBOM, 990 AM WNTY, and 102.9 FM WDRC-FM?

990 AM - A couple of weeks ago I was a couple of blocks from their Old Turnpike Road tower site several days in a row and 990's signal was very staticy during the day.

1470 AM - The last few days the station has been skipping. It's not listenable at all. They're also playing R&B music that does not match what they're playing on the 102.5 translator.

102.9 FM - they were off the air for over 4 hours last night (or this morning whichever you want to call it). At about 1:05AM they were in a commercial break. After a couple minutes I use the bathroom. I come back and they're off the air. It's just past 1:10AM. I got to sleep at 1:30AM and they're still off the air. 3:30AM - they're still off the air. I go back to sleep at 4:45AM and they're still off the air. When I woke up at 7:30AM they were finally back on.
 
Update:

1470-AM will be okay for a few days and then it will start skipping again. As of Friday the 14th they were skipping again. They're still playing R&B Music that doesn't match the 102.5 translator, but the other day when they weren't skipping I heard them airing liners that mentioned "1025 Hartford's R&B station" even though the music doesn't match. I heard The Steve Harvey Show on the 102.5 translator, but not on 1470-AM.

As for 990-AM they're signal has improved. They're 100% running the same music as the 96.1 translator. The other day I woke up at 5AM and there was some of malfunction with 990 and it sounded like a truck motor. I messaged Amy Grey the Assistant PD of Full Power Radio on Threads and within a couple hours 990-AM was back up and running.

Also worth noting that last week Rich Conway who voice-tracks mornings and Leon Strong who voice-tracks middays were both on vacation for the week and Matthew James voice-tracked both shifts. Matthew James is the sidekick on the Ryan Roberts Show on Radio 104.1 WMRQ weekday afternoons and does fill-ins (maybe other shifts too) on 102.9 The Whale.

We've been listening to 990-AM more in the car because the 96.1 signal is so jagged up and no longer comes in clearly in places where it used to come in clearly and on Saturday afternoon they played a song where you could only hear the music. You couldn't hear the vocals. I couldn't pick up 96.1's signal to hear if they were having the same problem with that song.
 
Full Power is such a joke of a low budget operation. I'm amazed they had the money to buy the full power signals (DRC, MRQ) they have in a market the size of Hartford. Although I'm sure they maximize their profits better than the big boys do by doing Market No. 252-style in Market No. 52.
 
My Mom likes 96.1 because musically it's similar to the old 102.9 DRC-FM with their 60s-80s music mix. She doesn't like any of their personalities. She likes the light commercial load and American Top 40: The 70s on Saturday Mornings. My Mom describes Amy Grey's voice as nails on a chalkboard. Interestingly enough I like Amy's voice which is why I follow her on social media. I do not listen to her show on Radio 104.1 however. Their music isn't my thing.

Although I'm not a regular Classic Rock listener I prefer 102.9 the Whale over Rock 102 and WPLR. I can't stand Chaz and AJ. They're unfunny. As for The Whale I like midday host Suzy Klonk. They were an interesting listen over the Memorial Day Weekend with their all request weekend. My Mom doesn't like the station. She doesn't like Classic Rock or metal.

As for 102.5 Hartford's R&B, I don't listen. I wish they were Throwback Hip-hop like Audacy;s 94.7 in NYC or 104.3 in Chicago or a mix of throwbacks and new music like Beasley's 96.9 in Boston.. I also can't stand Steve Harvey. Steve is why I no longer watch Family Feud.

And then there's Bomba. I know I'm not in their target demo (I don't speak or understand the language), but I prefer them over La Mega. I like Bomba's music mix better. They seem to have a healthy dose of advertisers though I wonder if some are bonus buys when they buy on other FPR stations. I guess my only complaint is how they schedule their commercials. Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't schedule commercials for 4 or 5 different car dealerships in the same stop set.
 
Update 7/24:

1470 WBOM is completely fixed (for now). No more skipping and they're back to simulcasting with the 102.5 translator. (Yes I know technically 102.5 is supposed to simulcast 1470). Lots of commercials plus a traffic report with WMRQ's Matthew James.

I also don't think everything at FPR is being run kosher. On more than one occasion I've observed 96.1 switching back to Kool Radio on a Sunday afternoon as much as 3 minutes before 990, which is airing the Lutheran Church Mass. On more than one occasion on a Sunday Morning Kool Radio has been on 96.1 while 990 is running the Italian show. One Sunday morningg in a 2hour time period I even observed 96.1 switching back and forth between Kool Radio and the Italian Show several times before fully switching over to the Italian show at 10:30AM - 2 hours late!
 
I'm no engineer here ; that might be more than understood by now. So I do have a duh question.
See, a pal of mine, B&R in the Nutmeg State, tutored at the CT School of Broadcasting and winding up commuinicating at a TV station at the larger terminal of that serendiptous Hartford-Phillly Shuttle, once confessed that he'd worked at 1470, back when they were 'WMMW'.
Way different times they were then ; way different conditions, from the time WMMW was a 1000-watt, omni daytime-only station and apparently content with their audience and revenue. Certainly there must've been ups-and-downs and occasional Friday afternoon parades of cars rushing to the bank to cash checks, but all those local stations would have been like that, no ? ...... WNAR 1110 outside of Philly ..... WGCH 1490 Greenwich ..... WRYM 1480 New Britain ...... WLIS 1420 Old Saybrook ..... a few Long Island stations ......
Anyway, that 'duh' question : If 1470 is the feed station for 102.5 (or one of the feed stations) would they require that 2500 watts and that stupid nighttime pattern aimed mainly at Gillette Castle to remain legal?
 
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