Franklin FM

[Steppenwolf]

Is the FM station in Franklin still owned by the crooked preacher with the last name that fits?

[ChiefEngineer]

Without confirming or denying all of the post, the Hood family still owns it.

[jimbo700]

I don't even know if Dr. Hood still owns/programs/LMA's/controls WXLW, but I did notice that the value of the property of the land at the transmitter site must have finally exceeded the value of the station.  WXLW has filed an application to reduce power from 5KW days to 1,250  watts, and 120 watts nights to 30 watts.
They will eliminate the 3 tower array and go with a single tower, omnidirectional, at same location according to the application. Or perhaps it was a move to save on the electric bill.  In any event, there goes the pristine signal on the southside into Columbus and points to the south.
It's all about the memories, though. Not much to hear there these days but at the height of Naptown Radio Wars, Bill Shirk took an underperforming AM daytimer and made it sound like WABC.  It was nice to see Bill Shirk in the film, but I don't think they gave Super XL and WNDE enough credit for their rolls in "radio wars".
Nevertheless, a great film about a great time radio.

[BobOnTheJob]

WXLW has filed an application to reduce power from 5KW days to 1,250  watts, and 120 watts nights to 30 watts.

Are you sure that wasn't a special temporary authority to operate at 1/4 power that expired Sept 1 2011?

[jimbo700]

Right you are BOTJ.  Perhaps I should read things a little more in-depth before posting about them.
Still, that land up there is in a hotbed of construction.  Looks like it's value will eventually call for a relocation of XL's sticks.

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Still, that land up there is in a hotbed of construction.  Looks like it's value will eventually call for a relocation of XL's sticks.

But where would they go where land would be cheaper? 

Where are you going to find another plot of land at any price where you will not be facing a bunch of angry owners yelling at a zoning meeting:  "Not In My Back Yard!" 

What would it cost to move?  If they currently have audio lines in place to deliver programming to the towers,  will they be able to get lines to a new location?  The phone company does not appear to be very user-friendly in setting up new program circuits.  (Sorry,  I haven't been in Indy and driven past their site in several years.  Maybe they have studios at the transmitter site today and audio lines are not a problem.)

If and when they decide someday to reduce power and go to ONE STICK, there is more than the power bill.  A directional array takes additional man-power to maintain and monitor.  Painting three towers costs a lot more than painting one tower.  Replacing "johnny-balls" and maintaining the guys wires costs a lot more than maintaining one tower.

There was a time in small market radio when moving a simple radio station was not as complicated and expensive as today.  More and more AM stations are likely to go silent year after year because they are not worth the cost of moving them....  or worth the cost of the zoning battle.

I've sat at the console of a few stations in "god-awful" locations.   In this day and age when there is often only one person in the building at any one time,  and a larger percentage of broadcast people or female,  I would think the day and age of putting a radio station on cheap land which means some isolated back-road or street, may be over.  Would you want your wife or daughter working at some dark, isolated cheap location?

[secondchoice]

Audio feeds can be economically "cheap" done.  Microwave STL's, (no phone company), or an internet "tunneling" protocol via Cable or Telco "naked" DSL (in a lot AT &T locations this is a "regulated" rate as a result of the Bell South / AT&T merger)  If this land is near development there might even be a choice of cable or phone company.  Is Clearwire or one of the cellular providers offering wireless internet?

Yes I too have worked the on site rural studio / transmitter sites, but any economically viable station can be almost anywhere within the FCC mileage limits for a control point.

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Yes I too have worked the on site rural studio / transmitter sites, but any economically viable station can be almost anywhere within the FCC mileage limits for a control point.
 

Oh my!  I think this thread got hijacked into a new direction but maybe the new direction is more wholesome than the original inquiry.

Just color me "old fashioned, old school" if you like.  In a metro like Indy  (we were discussing WXLW earlier) I guess studio location/control site location are not that critical.  Very few people will ever see it no matter where it is. 

In small markets... county seat markets...  "village" markets...  I have a strong affinity for putting the station out where it can be seen and can be handily accessed.  Hopefully a location with enough traffic on the street to discourage vandals, copper thieves and those who would create mahem upon the lone employee in there doing their thing.  And whatever the cost of the technologies you mentioned are,  they may be less costly than renting the high visibility space that I like.

[stereolane]

I think WXLW is pretty safe. With the economy in the midwest the way it is, I can't see any developer breaking down the door to buy property in a place as visually unappealing as Indianapolis... Old neighborhoods are blighted, and in disrepair. New residential construction in Indianapolis is very rarely high-end... It's usually vinyl sided, brick only in the front, cheaply constructed crap.

[BobOnTheJob]

There was a time that neighborhood held some promise, but as one who has keys to that site, I pray that I never have to go there at night. I can't imagine that property's value is anywhere near what it was 30 years ago.