It's official, WERC is no more. Well, on AM, at least. Today the call sign changed to WVVB, to reflect the new musical outlook of 960's FM translator cousin, “The Vulcan”. The WERC calls on 960 dated back to the early 70's.
In translator news, a facility licensed to Calera popped up today that I had never seen before, despite the fact the construction permit dates back to about 2008. Somehow it has slipped through the cracks. W241BD is on 96.1 MHz, owned by Educational Media Foundation and is listed to be relaying Glen Iris' WGIB. The actual transmitter site is nowhere near Calera, but just south of the I-65/US-31 interchange in Alabaster, across from the Best Buy and JCPenny shopping center.
The 105.1 MHz frequency in central Alabama continues to be aflutter with movements, this time a Demopolis-licensed translator known as W286BV. At one time it really was near Demopolis, but had moved to a site north of Moundville, although it's doubtful it was ever actually on the air. And even if it was, few would hear the measly 10 vertical watts of power from the middle of nowhere. That's changing, as the latest permit moves it right up to Jug Factory Road in Tuscaloosa, where a few other translators are now. The power also gets a boost to 200 watts. The FCC shows non-comm WUAL as the station being relayed, but look for that to change if the facility ever gets built out.
This is the latest in a series of odd movements all centered on 105.1 MHz in the central Alabama region. Tuscaloosa already had a translator allocated to the frequency, licensed to Northport. But that translator moved from northwest of town to Vance, then to Wilton in Shelby County. Meanwhile, Shelby County already had a translator in nearby Alabaster on the frequency, but it moved to Hoover. Finally Demopolis' translator on this frequency is on its second hop to Tuscaloosa. *whew*
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I'm betting I know what that new 105.1 MHz translator in Tuscaloosa is going to be used for. WTBC has switched to a music format, now calling themselves "WTBC, The River". I have a hard time believing a free-standing AM can make a go of playing music, so they're going to need an FM translator, and that seems like a good candidate.
ReplyDeleteJust a wild guess, though.
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ReplyDeleteWhoops, let me update that comment. Good speculation, Marion, I think you're right. Check this out:
ReplyDeletehttp://wtbc.wordpress.com/
On this, they mention 105.1 and 1230. Any idea what kind of music they play?
Most of the time, they're running a format I might call Classic AC. Music is all over the place in terms of age, but it leans more in the MOR direction than Top-40. If you remember the old StarStation satellite format, that would be a good comparison. And doesn't CC have a format they call "The River"? I know this isn't a CC station, but I wonder if they're purchasing a sat feed from CC, assuming that's an option.
ReplyDeleteAlong with this, I've heard some local programming. Dave and Wally (I believe) are doing mornings, although I really haven't listened to them. I also caught a live oldies show a few Saturday mornings ago. Besides these, I don't know what else might be out there.
Oh, and, amazingly, on the oldies show, at least, they had actual ads from local businesses. Of course, they might be throwing them in for free to those who buy on WNPT, but it's still quite interesting to hear an AM that has local music programming and sponsors.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't surprise me if they picked the name not knowing it's trademarked by CC or whoever owns it. The River format seems to be more bright and modern AC, like WRVR in Memphis.
ReplyDelete