A high profile translator move in New York is now retreating to Long Island, while non-commercial upgrades could bring new signals to Chicago and Los Angeles.
Chicago Public Media has applied to move 91.3 W217BM Elgin, IL to the downtown Chicago where it will operate with 99 watts from the tower of 91.5 WBEZ. It obviously will not be remaining one frequency off of its originating station, but can use that move to establish itself in the new location and then jump to a clearer frequency, perhaps 91.9?. The move should establish a city signal for “Vocalo” which currently airs on WBEZ-HD2 and 89.5 WBEW Valparaiso, IN.
Life On The Way Communications’ 91.1 K216FM Van Nuys, CA to the Hollywood Hills where its 10 watts will put a service contour over West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The translator will rebroadcast Life On The Way’s Christian 88.9 KTLW Lancaster, CA.
Apple 107.1’s 106.3 W292DV New York is now giving up on its plans to serve New York City. The translator now operating from Long Island City, Queens with 25 watts has now applied to move east to Lake Success near the Queens/Nassau County border where it will operate with just 10 watts.
EMF Broadcasting 103.7 W279AQ Mascoutah, IL has applied to move into St. Louis where it will operate with 250 watts at 216 meters fed via an HD subchannel of Clear Channel’s 103.3 KLOU.
Red Wolf Broadcasting is expanding its translator operations in Connecticut and Long Island. It has purchased 104.9 W285DE Bridgeport, CT from Danbury Community Radio for $75,000 and the leasing of 104.1 WMRQ-HD3 for a simulcast of Ethnic/Christian 93.3 WFAR Danbury. They’ve also acquired 93.3 W230BH Montauk, NY for $10,000 and will use that to rebroadcast 94.9 WJJF Montauk. Finally a long standing dispute over an application to build a 250 watt translator in New London, CT has been resolved with the FCC granting permission to build the station over the objections of Citadel, Cox, and Greater Media.
KZIA, Inc. has received a CP to move 96.9 K245AE into Cedar Rapids on 107.5. The translator will rebroadcast Sports 1600 KGYM via 102.9 KZIA-HD3.
We’ll continue our catchup of translator actions in April later this week.
Lou Pickney
I tried getting 106.3 in both Manhattan and at LaGuardia airport yesterday but neither one pulled in anything but static. Tough to squeeze a translator in anywhere in that market, not to mention facing possible complaints from nearby stations wanting to avoid possible interference.