More storm damage reports coming in from Radio-Info…

WVNN-FM (92.5, Trinity) in the Huntsville market is reported off, either via storm damage or just lack of power.

In the same area, WAFF (48, Huntsville) lost their doppler radar unit to one of the tornadoes.

Another tower loss from the tornadoes.

This time it's WATV (900, Birmingham).  Their tower was in Pratt City.

WJIK Fulton, Alabama files license to cover with FCC.

WJIK (89.3 MHz, 2.1 kW) licensed to Fulton, Alabama has filed a license to cover, which means they are likely on air now with a religious format.  The station transmits from the Thomasville area.  It is unknown exactly what kind of religious programming is on offer, who it is syndicated by or if it is originated locally.

WUOA back on air.

WUOA (RF 6, Birmingham) is reported back on the air.  The WVUA/WUOA multicast was reported to be either off air or just a blank screen due to the tornado damage and power outages in Tuscaloosa.  No word yet on whether the other stations are back on, or if it's just the big stick in Birmingham.

WCQT-LP's tower brought down by tornado, caught on camera

Cullman's WCQT-LP was one of the many victims of the tornado that struck the area a few days ago.  Check out this video, where about 1:45 into it the tornado topples the station's tower while tearing through the city.

Pascagoula's WPMP is now WPMO. Again.

Just down the pike is a call sign change for Pascagoula's WPMP 1580.  It's now WPMO for the second time in its history.  It's also showing as licensed to "Pascagoula-Moss Point" for some reason.

The station currently airs a talk format and is simulcasting on WVGG (1440) in Lucedale, Mississippi.

Storms take their toll on Alabama broadcasters.

I'm hearing that there's been some damage to some central Alabama broadcasting properties due to the historic tornado outbreak on April 27th.

Folks on Radio-Info are covering the outages.

All the WVUA properties are off the air as of this evening.  This includes WVUA-CA in Tuscaloosa, WUOA in Birmingham, WDVZ-CA Moundville and WJMY-LP Demopolis.

One of WAGG's two towers is down at the Birmingham Fair Park.

The WTXT tower northwest of Tuscaloosa is reported to have collapsed.  The station is running 500 watts from an alternate site.

Check that link above to see if anything else pops up.

W295AP Bay Minette is headed down the highway.

Translator W295AP (106.9 MHz, 99 watts vertical) has never been on the air as far I know, but it's received yet another construction permit, moving it down Old Pensacola Road (CR-112) into the absolute middle of nowhere, near the Gateswood community.  The frequency and power remain the same, so it will cover literally nothing, but this is likely just a "stopover" en route to Pensacola or some other populated destination.

W271BN (WENN-AM) translator to decrease power, increase height.

W271BN, better known as neo soul-formatted WENN-FM in Birmingham, is getting a big drop in power, from 228 watts to just 85 watts vertical.  The coverage will remain about the same, though, as they're moving up in height considerably.  Still, with Birmingham being such a large metro and with the ever-present threat of tropospheric ducting to destroy weaker signals, it's odd to see them take such a big power cut.

W244CN Enterprise on the move again

Translator W244CN, license to Enterprise, is on the move again.  The current (likely unbuilt) facility is actually in the Snowdoun community south of Montgomery, and is licensed for 250 watts vertical on 96.7 MHz.  The new construction permit just issued will throw the translator clear over Montgomery, to a spot between Elmore and Wetumpka.  The power will be 250 watts and it'll move down a click to 96.5 MHz, which is sure to anger the few listeners of Birmingham's Magic 96 down that way.

Also of interest is the station being relayed is changing, from American Family Radio station WAQG out of Ozark to Troy University's pubcaster WTBF.  It's not unusual to see a translator list a public outlet like this before being transferred to relay a local AM signal, but it's also possible that WTBF could use this, as their signal begins to degrade once you get north of Montgomery.  Another possibility is relaying one of the station's HD subchannels (HD-2 is Classical 24 and HD-3 is BBC World Service, but that could always change.)

Still, the prospect of them relaying another AM signal is most likely.  Stay tuned!

103.1 The Vulcan moving transmitter

If you're a fan of the new Vulcan's music and live north or east of downtown, better get your tape recorder handy because your signal is about to take a nose-dive.

Translator W276BQ that relays The Vulcan rock format on 103.1 MHz is moving off the devil-pronged master antenna atop Red Mountain and onto the short Magic 96 tower on Ishkooda Mountain west of downtown.  The station had been authorized 130 watts but was running the full 250 watts thanks to a STA that let them run higher power while seeking a permanent home for the signal.  Although the facility at the WMJJ tower is still for 250 watts, it's at a considerably lower 990 feet versus the current 1305 feet over downtown.  This will lower the signal strength considerably in places like Gardendale, Center Point, Irondale  and Trussville.

New FM auction details released; 3 Alabama allocations up for grabs.

The FCC is getting ready to auction off a bundle of new FM allocations, and Alabama has three up for grabs.

The first allocation is for Coosada, in the Montgomery market, for a class A at 93.1 MHz.

The second allocation is for Livingston in west central Alabama, for a class A at 96.3 MHz.

The final allocation is for Northport in the Tuscaloosa market, for a class A at 105.1 MHz.

There's no guarantee that any of these will be won at this auction, and no guarantee that whoever wins them will even built them out.  But I thought it'd be interesting to share the new "possible future stations" that may one day come on the air.  Anyone who has browsed the master FM list and seen all the purple-hued construction permits in the noncommercial band know that a permit to built doesn't necessarily mean a station will be on the air quickly, or at all.  But, as two of these are in rated markets and near bigger cities, chances are the Coosada and Northport allocations will sell.

Also worth noting is that the allocation for Northport is currently occupied by a translator relaying AM station WTBC and their hybrid talk-AC music format The River.  Should the Northport station be auctioned off and a station built, it would bump this translator off the air.

New feature added to select TV station info pages: mDTV

The data listings for TV stations will now include a new feature under "other information": mDTV.  This is Mobile Digital Television, a separate broadcast that stations can use to target mobile video devices.  Instead of the unreliable (for moving targets) 8-VSB used for our current digital multicasting, the signal for mobile viewers is encoded in a standard called ATSC-M/H.

The stations currently broadcasting the mDTV signal are WSFA and WAIQ in Montgomery and WBIQ in Birmingham.  Other stations with a target 2011 launch date include WBRC, WBXA-LD, WVTM, WIAT in Birmingham, and WEAR, WFGX & WFNA in Mobile-Pensacola.  There is no information on whether any TV stations in Huntsville, Columbus, Dothan or Biloxi are planning any roll outs.

WTNI Biloxi to get new, shorter tower

In a construction permit recently issued by the FCC, WTNI will be allowed to replace the existing 350 foot antenna (most likely dating back to when the station was on 570 kHz as WVMI) with a shorter tower.  The shorter tower, being only 195 feet tall, will not need to be lit.  Upon completion of the new tower, WTMI should return to using 10 kW day power.  Since November, they have been operating under a special temporary authority to use just 2.5 kW days from a shortened version of the existing corroded tower.

Whoops - WHNT

Just a quite note to say I corrected the incorrect information that appeared on WHNT's data page this morning.  A license to cover came across last night and I mistakenly attributed it to the current construction permit that's listed on the FCC's site.  Instead, it was for the previous build out.  Or at least that's what today's digest says.  The current facility is 53 kW at 1,742 feet.  The current CP that may not be built yet is for 250 kW at 1,742 feet.

WAY-FM's W286BK, Birmingham

Speaking of the fruit basket turnover on 105.1 MHz, WAY-FM's translator on that frequency in Birmingham just received a construction permit to move from Hoover to Red Mountain.  The old facility off Farley Road in the Patton Chapel area of Hoover had just 10 vertical watts.  The new facility will still have just 10 watts, but V/H polarization, and will be about 300 feet higher up, on the "devil's pitchfork" behind WTTO and WIAT's studios.

Whether it ever gets built out or not remains to be seen.

W286AQ (Northport, sorta)

A license to cover has been issued for translator W286AQ (105.1 MHz, 218 watts vertical only).  Licensed to Northport, it is actually physically closer to Jemison in Chilton County.  Although I'm skeptical it's actually on the air, it is supposed to be relaying WZZK out of Birmingham.  It appears to be temporary, though, as there's already a pending application in the pipeline to shift the station further to the east, towards Lay Lake.

This is one of a handful of translators on the 105.1 MHz frequency around central Alabama that have been in a fruit basket turnover, moving every which-a-way.  Before the Jemison facility, it has allegedly been in Wilton in Shelby County, West Blocton of Bibb County and Vance and Northport in Tuscaloosa County.  Its ultimate destination is still anyone's guess.

WANI translator in Auburn to get a boost

W234BQ (94.7 MHz, 250 watts vertical only) is currently relaying AM talker WANI in Auburn, by way of the HD-2 subchannel on WGZZ "Wings FM".  The translator is currently highly directional towards the rural southeast and doesn't put much of a signal over all of Auburn, and nearly none of Opelika.  A new construction permit just issued should help to rectify that situation some.  The station will be dropping the directional antenna and lower height a smidgen.  Although it still won't do much for Opelika reception, it should greatly improve reception all over the city of Auburn and at the university.

Mobile translator move

A quick post about a translator move going on down in Mobile.  W278AP is currently licensed to Daphne, with 25 vertical-only watts of non-directional power on 103.7 MHz.  The parent station is listed as WSTF out of Andalusia.  It just received a construction permit for a move to the WKRG-TV tower, with a change of city to Spanish Fort.  The power will increase to 99 watts both H&V, with a highly directional antenna towards downtown Mobile.  The height will increase from a paltry 26 feet above ground level to nearly 650 feet, giving the translator a great line of sight into downtown Mobile across the bay.  

The parent station is changing to WBHY-AM.  This is WBHY's second FM translator, after W295BB 106.9 MHz in Fairhope.  That translator is not currently on the air and hasn't been on the air for months.  The existing W278AP license has never been on the air either as far as I know.  The location is on the grounds of Daphne Middle School, and there is no tower or other outward appearance that any facility was ever built there.