This is one of the sloppiest stunting technical-wise. It sounds like they are testing transmitters. One minute the signal is crystal clear, the next minute filled with static as if power was reduced.
Kenny,
Remember all that the Merlinmen were getting was a market wide signal. There was no format and no studio equipment since everything was piped out of Oakland. As with the rest of Family's properties, since all they cared for was a "listenable" signal, the equipment was, in all probability, in poor shape, held together with spit and bubblegum.
With that in mind, what you are hearing is probably trying to either make what they have sound "competitive", until they can upgrade with newer and better equipment, or at least sound listenable with what they have. You are hearing things, that you otherwise would never hear during a regularly scheduled broadcast. In short, you are listening to "inside baseball".
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!