Thursday, January 13, 2011

Birmingham's 103.1 unsurprisingly flips to active rock as "The Vulcan"

Told ya.

The previous post was actually made in haste, as the station was stunting with a rotating cadre of musical formats with a pitch to vote online for the final format.  But we all knew it'd be rock, right?  

Thursday, January 6, 2011

"The Vulcan" reappears on Birmingham radio after all. In three spots!

The speculation appears to be true, at least for now, that the old "Vulcan" rock format is back in Birmingham.  And it's on three different frequencies!

First up is the translator, W276BQ, running 250 watts with an STA (Special Temporary Authority) from the same tower as WQEN and WERC-FM.  It's on 103.1 and is the main focus of the marketing, as "103.1 The Vulcan".  It's being fed by WQEN-HD2, but the rock format is also being heard on WERC-AM, too.

No idea what Clear Channel's ultimate plans are with the HD2 or AM station, as they only need one or the other to feed the translator.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Birmingham to get another "Vulcan"?

W276BQ is the call sign for a translator in Birmingham on 103.1 MHz.  It's currently under and STA to run from the same tower site as WQEN and other Clear Channel stations on Red Mountain.  In recent times, it's had trouble staying on the air, relaying Citadel's WJOX-AM, but a few days ago, it came back on in fits and spurts with music.  AAA, AC and who knows what else.

Turns out, it's basically stunting for a new format.  Clear Channel has thrown up a website asking visitors to vote on what the new station should play.  It may be a ruse, though, as www.1031thevulcan.com has already been registered by agents for Clear Channel.  If you remember, the Vulcan was the name of the ill-fated mainstream rocker that was bumped for a WERC simulcast.  Thoughts abound that the website is hype and the format will be rock no matter what.

Birmingham hasn't embraced rock since The X was on 107.7, but that was before rock took a turn for the worse and pop music began climbing the charts.  Either way, will Birmingham support what is likely to be a computer in a closet, with no real hosts?

We shall see.