With all this discussion about the issues dealing with moving the 94.7 stick to ESB, I thought I would post the links to the projected coverage areas of the stations involved:
WMAS:
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WMAS&service=FM&status=C&hours=UWFME:
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WFME&service=FM&status=L&hours=UI'm not a radio engineer nor sure about the accuracy of the reports but I think something can be worked out between the two if the new owner does decide to move the stick.
Anyway, as I would have expected, now that they're finally getting around to selling the station, like a hungry pack of wolves surrounding a famished lamb, there's a ton of interest in what is a rarity in NYC and that is a fulltime commercial signal, even one whose stick is in NJ, possibly going on the market. It should be needless to say but fulltime commercial stations in NYC are locked down. Over their dead bodies would the owners of the 92.3, 93.1, 93.9, 95.5, 96.3, 97.1, 97.9, 98.7, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 101.9, 102.7, 103.5, 104.3, 105.1, 105.9, 106.7 and 107.5 sticks would be willing to give them up, barring a financial need or other issues that force them to sell. Meanwhile, there are multiple groups of people with proclivities toward the following: 50/60s oldies, alternative rock, true dance, classic soul, country, etc., whose wants are not satisfied by the stations above. To complicate matters even further, four of the stations on the commercial dial: 93.9, 94.7, 99.5 and 105.9, are noncommercial stations. I don't think there's a market that has that condition elsewhere.
I predict that the demand for the 94.7 stick, even with its limitations, would be greater than we think. The patterns that we saw with the sales of WKDN and WFSI won't be the case here. We're talking a city of 8 million people, in an area of even millions more. The problem is money, of course. Not many are capable of paying what a true commerical signal would cost. But somebody will pay good money for it.
