Beasley takes All Sports to FM in Fort Myers

[LauderDave]

From the Tampa Board: "Per Radio Insight WWCN better known as ESPN770AM in the Ft Myers/Naples market is adding three FM translators. They are 98.1 in Ft Myers, 101.5 in Bonita Springs and 105.1 in Naples. There is no start date listed right now but it appears it will be soon.  The move of sports talk to FM marches on."
Anybody care to speculate on the possibility of Beasley doing the same thing here.

[Nocturnalstate]

as far as im aware CC has bought the majority of the miami/ft.l translators and they lease them out to other stations/companys.

Beaslys wpow 96.5 HD-2&3 has dumped their jamaican  format for a sports simulcast translator of 560wqam and their HD3 is also some sort of news sports also... its been like this for some time now

[LauderDave]

True. And I pretty much hate low power translators, anyway. Plus, I'm among the many who love radio, yet don't have HD. It seems like a waste of money for Beasley to do this if ratings wouldn't justify just flipping an existing FM to sports. Certainly, with WQAM, ratings would be prohibitive.

[ai4i]

96.5.3 is now "740 Money Talk Radio WSBR".
'QAM would have been best off if The Ticket agreed to allowing them onto their array.
That proposal to go 50KW DA-2 would have been awsome.

[ai4i]

The reason many companies with AM's carried on translators have their audio on HD sub-channels is because a commercial translator's 60dbu contour can never exceed the lesser of a the 2mv/m daytime contour of the AM they carry or a 40 km radius around the AM's transmitter, but it can go out as far as the 60dbu contour of an FM. W228BY and W262AN both exceed WIOD's 40 km radius, but are well within the 60dbu contour of WBGG.

[cd637299]

So does this mean that Reach FM sold those translators?

cd

[ellenparks]

It means that Beasley is covering it's ass after a new sports talker came to town namely the new Fox Sports Radio station at Fort Myers that everybody is talking about.

[Beachit]

The only thing that "everybody is or "Was" talking" about, is how the last time Fox Sports was in the Fort Myers market a couple years ago, it didn't even put a dent in ESPN Radio or in Arbitron.  And that was with a company that had TV stations within the same company backing it.

Good luck with that one.

[ellenparks]

Actually, people are talking about how Beasly is giving away all it's play by play airtime free that's right free of charge, to all the local teams ,like the Miracle and Everblades who want their games on the air because Beasly can't sell it.  Guess they are paying for what it's worth.

[Beachit]

How much are you willing to pay to advertise during an evening game after the sun goes down on an AM signal in a mid size market?  It's all filler material after dark, and on weekends, when nothing else matters.  That's all it will ever be on an AM signal, especially after dark.

You better lay low.  There are a lot of sales people ready to knock on your door willing to sell you anything and everything you're buying.