Update 8/27: Clear Channel launched “Fox Sports FM 98.7” W254AZ Belmont/99.7 WRFX-HD2 Charlotte this morning.
Launching with the national Fox Sports Radio in its entirety, rumors are spreading that the translator could be in the running to become the new flagship for Charlotte Hornets basketball play-by-play for the upcoming season.
Update 8/12: Clear Channel has announced that “Fox Sports 98.7” will launch on W254AZ and 99.7 WRFX-HD2 by the end of the month. The station will debut with the complete national Fox Sports Radio lineup including Dan Patrick, Jay Mohr, and Steve Gorman.
Original Report 7/30: Sports Talk appears to be on its way to the FM band in Charlotte thanks to a soon to launch Clear Channel translator.
Clear Channel has registered FoxSports987.com, FoxSportsFM987.com, 987FoxSports.com, and 987Sports.com for 98.7 W254AZ Belmont, NC. The translator was acquired last August from Positive Alternative Radio. The translator is currently building out its Construction Permit to relocate just south of Charlotte with 180 watts at 140 meters from the tower that serves as the auxiliary antenna for Clear Channel’s five Charlotte FMs (Coverage Map).
Sports on 98.7 will join CBS’ duo of “610 The Fan” WFNZ and “CBS Sports Radio 1660” WBCN and HRN Broadcasting’s “ESPN 730” WZGV in the format.
Joseph_Gallant 
Nathan Obral 
djjim6629
It may have a pretty good signal for a translator, but come on.
A translator becoming the radio flagship for a “Big 4” pro sports team??
If the Hornets really want a flagship with a decent signal, they should go after WBT-1110/99.3 or WFNZ-610. Both probably have much better signals than a translator!
Translator or not, being on FM is an instant and major advantage, and looking at the maps, 98.7 has much better city coverage of Charlotte than WBT-FM.
W254AZ: http://cdbs.recnet.net:8080/fmq.php?appid=1597892&facid=140562
WBT-FM: http://cdbs.recnet.net:8080/fmq.php?facid=&call=WBT-FM&ccode=1&city=&state=&country=US&arn=&party=&party_type=LICEN
WBT-FM by design was meant to fill in certain places in the market where WBT/1110 has historically been weak in due to its’ directional signal. It was never meant to cover the city proper.
The Atlanta Hawks had one of the three Cumulus in-market FM translators, W255CJ/98.9 – aka WWWQ/99.7-HD2 – as their flagship for a year or two (the Hawks are now on WZGC/92.9). So there is precedent here.
WSPA 98.9 Spartanburg beats up on this signal pretty bad. It doesn’t look like it on paper, but living here I can tell you it will cause problems especially with a “talk” format. I don’t think this signal will make much of an impact here. Plus, Charlotte is not a big sports town at all.