All of the radio stations operating as so-called “Franken-FMs” by using the audio bandwidth of television channel 6 to be heard on 87.75 FM have been on borrowed time since the advent of digital television. For the one in Cleveland, time has run out.
Murray Hill Broadcasting’s WLFM-LP Cleveland is being displaced to channel 20 in the ongoing television repack and with it will be unable to continue as a radio station. That will lead TSJ Media, which has operated WLFM-LP since 2014, to move Spanish CHR “Mega 87.7” to an online only platform as “Mega Cleveland“.
WLFM-LP has operated as a defacto radio station since September 2012 when it launched as AAA “Cleveland’s Sound“. TSJ Media began operating it via LMA in January 2014 when it launched its current Spanish CHR programming.






















Does this mean Murray Hill Broadcasting is out of radio in Cleveland, or could they head online as well?
As for La Mega moving online, I’m sure a lot of listeners will follow, but I am concerned about the ones who don’t have access to the internet. Wouldn’t another company open the doors to provide a frequency, at least a translator, for those who want to hear the station on FM?
At least give La Mega credit for lasting a lot longer on 87.7/TV6 than Cleveland’s Sound.
Murray Hill doesn’t program any radio station. What are they going to move online? WLFM-LP is/was leased to TSJ Media since 2014. And if there’s another signal to move to, don’t you think they’d have found it already knowing this was inevitable and many tuners don’t have 87.7 on it?
It’s not like there was any indication the FrankenFMs were going to be around indefinitely, the sunsetting of analog low-power TV was going to happen sooner or later.
What gets me is that six years have taken place since that LMA was signed, and no other alliance or lease agreement took place with a second broadcaster. Even if they leased out an HD sub, TSJ could at least be able to take advantage of the situation by encouraging the purchase of HD receivers, no?
It’s sad as no full-power FM station in the Cleveland metro has a full-time Spanish-language format (outside of non-committal WHWN 88.3 Painesville). Mostly because of a lack of available signals and just not enough overall demand.