Good News For Many of the Area's Country Music Fans

[Barry]

According to an email I received from WFAS, 106.3 will no longer be simulcasting that station.
Instead, WFAF will rebroadcast country WDBY, Kicks 105.5, beginning March 1.
The 106.3 signal is much improved over the past few years, and reaches most of Westchester County, and a decent chunk of the Nassau County and Fairfield Counties. It comes in decent in much of the Bronx.
Kicks 105.5, for those not familiar with it, plays lots of country tunes from the past 20 years or so, in addition to the current hits. It has live dj's from 6 am-7 pm.
So, country fans driving in the metro area can keep their radios tuned to 106.3, and hear country music either from Kicks 105.5, or NJ's Thunder Country   .

[Barry]

This change is already being reflected by WFAS.
'FAS, which has mentioned 106.3 on the station ID's, now only identifies using the main frequency, 103.9.
The WFAS website now also only mentions 103.9.
WFAF 106.3 has started running spots stating, "Country is coming back to New York."
Kudos to Cumulus Media.

[ansky212]

There is a lot of overlap in the coverage areas of 105.5 and 106.3, but I think the people in southern Westchester will benefit most from this.  In any case, it just goes to show how country music is alive and well (maybe even better than ever).   

[Barry]

There is a lot of overlap in the coverage areas of 105.5 and 106.3...

In many parts of the metro area, WDBY's signal on 105.5 gets hammered by WDHA from NJ. The WFAF simulcast fixes that problem. And 106.3's signal extends much further south and west than WDBY's.
I wonder whether WFAF's callsign will change, perhaps to something similar to WDBY.

[Tony Santiago]

Someone else posted another thread on this so I'll repeat that this is a start   Congratulations country music fans

[Barry]

I wonder whether splitting WFAF from its simulcast with WFAS is an indication that the long delayed move of the latter's tower to the Bronx may occur soon.
Cumulus has many country stations, and of course linking WFAF to Kicks 105.5 is an expansion of their country programming in this area. Maybe, just maybe, they may be considering changing WFAS to country too, once the move takes place? WFAS signal will not be as strong as many of the other New York stations. So they may need to go with a format that none of the others are offering.
Nationally, Cumulus has flipped some of their stations to their new Great Country format.

[DavidEduardo]

There is a lot of overlap in the coverage areas of 105.5 and 106.3, but I think the people in southern Westchester will benefit most from this.  In any case, it just goes to show how country music is alive and well (maybe even better than ever).   

WFAF and WDBY have no overlap on either the 65 or 70 dbu contours.... and only a bit on the 60. They are very complimentary, in fact, although being home to separate markets means they will have some unique sales challenges.

WFAF was billing less than $10 k a month, so nothing to lose there.

[frozenfiresb]

106.3's signal looks stronger on paper than it is. It is located in Mount Kisco or Bedford which isn't the most populous part of Westchester. In the Bronx, it's usually unlistenable due to pirates. I can't speak for Rockland, but I'm on the western side of Westchester and 15 mins away from both Kisco and White Plains and WFAS (103.9) comes in better than 106.3 in my neighborhood.

[Barry]

106.3's signal looks stronger on paper than it is. It is located in Mount Kisco or Bedford which isn't the most populous part of Westchester. In the Bronx, it's usually unlistenable due to pirates. I can't speak for Rockland, but I'm on the western side of Westchester and 15 mins away from both Kisco and White Plains and WFAS (103.9) comes in better than 106.3 in my neighborhood.

WFAF has a decent signal in much of southern Westchester and White Plains (the more heavily populated areas of the county). As for pirates, many of them are off the air on weekdays. I've heard WFAF in the Bronx, and it tends to come in weak but acceptable.
I believe country fans will put up with a less than perfect signal from WFAF, as in much of the area it reaches, there are no other country stations that can be heard.

[yossefgershon]

WFAS cannot be heard in Brooklyn due to a pirate on 103.9----but things can change:k-love can be heard here in midwood since the pirate moved to 96.5!!!!