WSB/WSBB-FM Breaking Simulcast

[AMFMTV]

Just heard a promo for tomorrow's impeachment hearings on the 11:00 am news. They'll air the hearings Wednesday non-stop on AM 750, with regular programming on 95.5 FM. I haven't paid attention over the years, but I can't remember split programming like this before.

 

[BarryATL]

Actually, I've been waiting for this to happen. This is exactly what WGST did during the OJ Simpson trial. 105.7 FM carried regular programming and 640 AM carried the trial.

 

[trusty]

Actually, I've been waiting for this to happen. This is exactly what WGST did during the OJ Simpson trial. 105.7 FM carried regular programming and 640 AM carried the trial.

WDUN split some regular programs out from 550 when it got 102.9 in Clarkesville. Some are simulcast. I had been waiting for SB to get established and do the same (of course, that would require another year of focus group study).
;D

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Actually, I've been waiting for this to happen. This is exactly what WGST did during the OJ Simpson trial. 105.7 FM carried regular programming and 640 AM carried the trial.

If there's a chase, it will be carried on AM.

 

[Gregg.]

The reason stations are hesitant to split a simulcast is because the ratings service, in this case Nielsen, won't combine the stations' listeners when the list of stations is released.

Right now, WSB and WSBB combined are easily #1 in Atlanta. So will WSBB keep its #1 slot if it doesn't have the simulcast of 750 WSB giving it listeners in the farther reaches of the Atlanta radio market?

A few years ago, in Chicago, WBBM and WCFS-FM split their simulcast one summer. WBBM aired White Sox games while WCFS kept the All-News format. Surprisingly, WBBM had better ratings than WCFS! I didn't expect that.

 

[DavidEduardo]

The reason stations are hesitant to split a simulcast is because the ratings service, in this case Nielsen, won't combine the stations' listeners when the list of stations is released.

Right now, WSB and WSBB combined are easily #1 in Atlanta. So will WSBB keep its #1 slot if it doesn't have the simulcast of 750 WSB giving it listeners in the farther reaches of the Atlanta radio market?

A few years ago, in Chicago, WBBM and WCFS-FM split their simulcast one summer. WBBM aired White Sox games while WCFS kept the All-News format. Surprisingly, WBBM had better ratings than WCFS! I didn't expect that.

There are some complex rules about how much time stations can be separated from each other in a book (28 days) and still preserve the simulcast status. It is very possible that WSB has calculated the hearing coverage so that they can avoid having the two signals split in the book.

 

[rohocop2121]

Ratings

The reason stations are hesitant to split a simulcast is because the ratings service, in this case Nielsen, won't combine the stations' listeners when the list of stations is released.

Right now, WSB and WSBB combined are easily #1 in Atlanta. So will WSBB keep its #1 slot if it doesn't have the simulcast of 750 WSB giving it listeners in the farther reaches of the Atlanta radio market?

A few years ago, in Chicago, WBBM and WCFS-FM split their simulcast one summer. WBBM aired White Sox games while WCFS kept the All-News format. Surprisingly, WBBM had better ratings than WCFS! I didn't expect that.

From what I've been told, more than 80% of WSB listening is now on the FM side. It could be even higher now.

 

[secondchoice]

The reason stations are hesitant to split a simulcast is because the ratings service, in this case Nielsen, won't combine the stations' listeners when the list of stations is released.

Right now, WSB and WSBB combined are easily #1 in Atlanta. So will WSBB keep its #1 slot if it doesn't have the simulcast of 750 WSB giving it listeners in the farther reaches of the Atlanta radio market?

A few years ago, in Chicago, WBBM and WCFS-FM split their simulcast one summer. WBBM aired White Sox games while WCFS kept the All-News format. Surprisingly, WBBM had better ratings than WCFS! I didn't expect that.

Chicago still has viable AM stations. Last summer when I was up there, some of the cab cab drivers were listening to the sports talk AMs. One twenty something female driver was listening to WGN! AM isn't dead yet in some of the markets where there several AM stations with decent market coverage and compelling programming. Even with the flat terrain some of the Chicago Class B FM's have some issues in the outer parts of the market because there are designed engineering limitations that 500 ft @ 50KW (or significantly lower power on a higher tower) FM has. The "signal protection" is a lot less than FM class C, C0, and C1 too. Thanks to having good ground conductivity, and class A status several AM signals are viable in Chicago.