• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Fate of the 1330AM tower

AMRocks

AMRocks

I know that 1330 is not at all important to Audacy for The Fan. I don't believe they promote it on air at all. (Either of the AM stations.)

And, given the fact that the tower resides on prime property now as part of Unity Park, I wonder what's going to happen.

Is there any other tower in the area that can be multiplexed with 1330? Audacy might consider that move. But something tells me that tower needs to be gone soon.
 
Do they even own the tower?

Many companies sold their towers years ago, and leased space on them instead.
Vertical Bridge and American Tower are two of the big players, and when American Radio Systems sold a bunch of their stations they transferred many towers to their sister company.

It raised $$$, and eliminated all those nasty NAL's and letters from the FAA when a tower light went out, or the tower wasn't painted as frequently as they would have liked, or the tower site was not properly secured, or properly marked, ect etc etc.

Anyone know who owns the real estate?
 
I’ve been thinking about Greenville’s tower sites since I was over by the 1440 array the other day. 660, 1070, and 1440 should be safe at their current locations but I agree 1330 is the most at risk.

I scanned AM on my Sangean portable radio off of Pelham Rd the other day near I-85. I got two AMs to lock on a scan - the 5kw 660 and the 5kw WPJF. Not even 1070, 1330, or 1440. AM is dead in this market. Most AMs have a translator on FM that have better signals as FM translators.

I don’t know who would want 1330 (or 950). Relevant Radio seems to be the only group still buying AM. As for The Fan, the Greenville translator at 97.7 is fed via WFBC-HD3 while 97.1 in Spartanburg is fed via 950 WYRD, but the 97.1 translator should be able to be fed via WFBC-HD3 as well. I’m sure if Audacy received any type of rational offer for a pair of AMs in 2023, they would be sold by now. The AM’s have no signal advantages over 97.1/97.7 unless you’re in Pickens county maybe. Might could get more in tax credits donating them.
 
Regarding WPCI, I believe they’re on the air, or at least the stream is running. 1490 WPCI is now diplexed with 1260 WPJF at their site off of Rutherford Rd in Taylors.
 
I stand corrected about the tower. That tower in Unity Park is the old tower for WPCI, not WYRD. That's why WPCI is now diplexed with 1260. I'm sure it's off and will come down soon.

The WYRD tower is nearby, though. The address looks like (according to Greenville County) North Vance Street.
WYRD-AM (Greenville)

WYRD-AM (Greenville) · 50 N 6th St, Greenville, SC 29611

★★★★☆ · Radio broadcaster
maps.app.goo.gl maps.app.goo.gl

They actually have two large tracts of land at the tower site.
 
Audacy still owns the piece of land under the WYRD Tower. It was not transferred to Audacy Atlas like other recent tower sites that were sold.

It seems to be 2 parcels, split by a creek.
 
speer360 said:
Audacy still owns the piece of land under the WYRD Tower. It was not transferred to Audacy Atlas like other recent tower sites that were sold.

It seems to be 2 parcels, split by a creek.
Click to expand...
I'm betting that property is going to be worth some serious $$ as the area around Unity Park develops. It's two lots, a total of 20 acres. You can see the property info at this link. Type "Entercom" into the name search.

You can see the 3 towers in the map. The station is directional at night.
 
It’s a pretty rough looking site. Having been near that area recently, I don't know what would want to go near there right now or soon lol. But I can see it becoming very valuable over time.

I could see Audacy wanting to unload the land eventually though, and who knows, it's probably worth something. If 1330 went to, say, the 1260 site, it would alter the coverage (like it did for WPCI) to the east with more overlap with 950 assuming if Audacy divested they divested both. There's also the 1070 site, not sure if La Jefa would be open to diplexing or not. But the fact The Fan is kept on 1330/950 and never mentioned, and have no beneficial coverage over the FM option is weird. I’m surprised these weren’t transferred to the divesture trust unless they don’t think they can sell them…
 
101tm said:
I’m surprised these weren’t transferred to the divesture trust unless they don’t think they can sell them…
Click to expand...
Maybe they didn't bother because they couldn't make enough money off the sale. I'm sure the ones they transferred are going to fetch big bucks for the company
 
AMRocks said:
Maybe they didn't bother because they couldn't make enough money off the sale. I'm sure the ones they transferred are going to fetch big bucks for the company
Click to expand...
They’ll probably end up as a donation or something. 950 is a better signal than 1330 which is a bunch of noise in areas of Woodruff Rd now due to so much interference. In a lot of markets where Audacy has moved sports talk stations to FM they put their BetQL programming on the former AM. Maybe something out there is telling them people are still listening to 1330/950 as is.
 
101tm said:
They’ll probably end up as a donation or something. 950 is a better signal than 1330 which is a bunch of noise in areas of Woodruff Rd now due to so much interference. In a lot of markets where Audacy has moved sports talk stations to FM they put their BetQL programming on the former AM. Maybe something out there is telling them people are still listening to 1330/950 as is.
Click to expand...
Isn't the BetQL on one of the HDs of 93.3?
 
AMRocks said:
Isn't the BetQL on one of the HDs of 93.3?
Click to expand...
Ah, yeah it is. I'd guess there are probably more people listening on HD than AM these days...The Fan promotes being on "97.1, 97.7, 93.7-HD3, and the Audacy app"...no mention of AM's other than a very fast WYRD Greenville/WSPA Spartanburg ID.
 
My bad, I should say WYRD Greenville/WORD Spartanburg…too much talk of WSPA lately 🤣 I wonder if Audacy wants to hang on to the WORD calls or even the WYRD (AM) ones? Then again WORD (AM) could be warehoused on other Audacy AM.
 
101tm said:
My bad, I should say WYRD Greenville/WORD Spartanburg…too much talk of WSPA lately 🤣 I wonder if Audacy wants to hang on to the WORD calls or even the WYRD (AM) ones? Then again WORD (AM) could be warehoused on other Audacy AM.
Click to expand...
WSPA was on that frequency for much of the frequency's history.
 
vchimpanzee said:
WSPA was on that frequency for much of the frequency's history.
Click to expand...
Yes it was, I remember when Entercom sent the WSPA calls packing down to 910 which continued to be a full service station in many ways to Spartanburg until it became a Spanish language station and eventually added a translator at 105.7. 950 is one of the best AM’s in the market.

Also: what will ever become of the daytime only, 5kw (originally 50kw) 660 which has simulcast 92.5 for at least several years now? Being a daytime only signal puts it in a worse situation, I guess it could be used to feed a translator but I think the market is pretty full on FM at this point.
 
Last edited:
101tm said:
Yes it was, I remember when Entercom sent the WSPA calls packing down to 910 which continued to be a full service station in many ways to Spartanburg until it became a Spanish language station and eventually added a translator at 105.7. 950 is one of the best AM’s in the market.
Click to expand...
I remember passing by the old towers on the way to the mountains, with the call letters and frequency. Maybe it was when my aunt lived in Greenville. We might have taken SC 11 to the mountains. I know I drove back home part of the way on SC 11 and, ironically, so I would have a pleasant station to listen to (we didn't have FM in the car for another year) I listened to 950. Who would have ever believed that was a soft station?
101tm said:
Also: what will ever become of the daytime only, 5kw (originally 50kw) 660 which has simulcast 92.5 for at least several years now? Being a daytime only signal puts it in a worse situation, I guess it could be used to feed a translator but I think the market is pretty full on FM at this point.
Click to expand...
Not sure why I tried 660 but 92.5 does fine pretty much everywhere on I-40, as it turns out. Just one problem area around 19-23 west. Although I'm listening to 97.3 when I'm in Asheville.

Oh, I remember, I was looking for Paul Harvey or Mike Huckabee. Didn't find them.
 
When was the last time you listened to 660 and got that reception? Their 50kw signal boomed in to middle GA at times a decade ago too. The downgrade to 5kw plus the interference at times means I can no longer get a scan lock on 660 on Pelham Rd at 14….like 20 miles from the transmitter. 92.5 WESC didn’t need an AM decades ago and certainly not now. But apparently iheart sees something in hanging on to the facility.

I thought it was ironic yet smart they put BIN on 1440 instead of 660 - overall, it’s a better signal - it’s on at night!
 
Back
Top Bottom