94.7: Future in the Clouds
January 14, 2013 4 Comments
Cumulus clouds (Photo credit: atheism)
Let the speculation begin! The newest radio station in New York City, officially licensed to Newark, is now part of the Cumulus family. WFME 94.7 FM is the former New York home of Family Radio.
On Friday afternoon, Cumulus flipped the switched on its newest commodity, and thus opened the floodgates to rumor. For those rumor mongers, the call letters, at least for now, are the curious–WRXP.
Curious, indeed. WRXP showed up on 101.9 FM twice, and both times it was alternative rock. Will the new rock format resurface a third time? I’m kind of hoping it will, but I’ve got some issues with the station’s signal.
Hope Radio has a translator in Hauppauge at 94.9 FM, which causes interference in that area. Further east, 94.7 WLIX-LP just walks all over WRXP in Ridge and surrounding areas. Add the fact that WRXP’s tower is in West Orange, NJ, rather than on the Empire State Building, just adds to my reception difficulties. This is why Family Radio was (and is) broadcasting on 88.9 WFRS in Smithtown. It looks like the only way I’ll be able to hear WRXP with any clarity is through the IHeartRadio app, that is when they get around to putting the stream on the app.
About Chuck
Yup… Me too. I’m in kings park and i keep getting wlix… I’m hoping they will bring back wrxp but that they will do it on a stronger signal like wbai. Is cumulus associated with CBS sports? Maybe they would swap signals 101.9 for 94.7. This is all wishful thinking on my part, obviously, but I can’t help myself. The shark doesnt cut it for me.
Cumulus and CBS do have an arrangement to put the new CBS Sports Network on Cumulus owned stations. However, the full feed of the sports network is currently on WCBS-FM HD3, and the “long term goal” is to add more of the CBS sports network programming to 660 AM, while migrating local WFAN listeners to 101.9 FM. If Cumulus were to purchase 99.5 in the future, they could swap the programming from 94.7 to 99.5. As far as I know, 99.5 is not for sale.
I can only listen to The Shark in short bursts. Sometimes they have a good set of alt rock.
Could they move the tower for 94.7 to the Bronx (where FUV’s tower is)? Would that make a difference in reception on the island or would spacing (with 94.3) still be an issue?
It’s a bit complicated. There may be issues with short spacing, and other stations that occupy 94.7 and 94.3 in the area. Scott Fybush, who is more knowledgeable that me in such matters, has a good explanation with respect to a potential move to the Empire State Building or 1WTC:
http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=211166.msg1894176#msg1894176
I would venture to guess that a move to the Bronx would present similar issues, especially for WMAS in Enfield, CT.