3 FM's per market in Canada

[Marcus]

https://www.canada.ca/en/radio-televisi ... radio.html

This will of course mean more AM shutdowns. I wonder if Bell will try to replace the AM 580 Windsor signal with an FM one. Although the Blackburn radio stations have the higher ratings in that market, Bell is the much bigger company.

[Mega Hertz]

Hey, if I could get the format that's currently heard on 580 on a signal that easily reaches Livingston county on FM, I would be all for it!

[Marcus]

I should also mention that both CHOK and CFCO could move as a result of this. With 630 being intended for Chatham-Kent only, giving up that big signal would not be something a broadcaster would avoid. Remember how 710 from Leamington, got replaced. If Windsor radio stays mostly the same, CKWW could move to 630 with higher power, and that signal would get further West than what 580 does.

I would also be interested to see what happens to London, Kitchener, and Hamilton. There might not be very many Ontario based AM stations West of Toronto in the next two or three years.

[Marcus]

This mainly Greater Toronto Area board is quite active right now on this subject. In the future a Stingray, Rock 95, or a Evanov owned radio station could be controlled by one of the corporate giants.

https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=8954

[Ben Zonia]

Do they have to turn the AMs off to get the third FM? CFCO 630, CHOK 1070, CKAT 600, CFOS 560, and others have such extensive service areas that it would be difficult to replace on FM. And in the Greater Sun Parlour and Golden Horseshoe, it’s so jammed up already with second adjacent stations to nearby stations that it would be difficult to find new frequencies of any high power. It looks like CFCO-FM-1 might be able to be directional on 92.9 and protect WDRQ and WZAK, and possibly others. CFCO goes so well to the West, North, and East that that would be impossible to duplicate the service area. In Windsor, it would be necessary to buy one of the other new FMs.

[Marcus]

The CRTC has made exceptions. CBC Radio One has a full powered FM in Vancouver, yet 690 AM remains on the air. The cost of maintaining AM directional antenna systems in small radio markets are something that might cause them to be dumped. Blackburn might even consider moving Country, Sports, and News over to the strongest signal in some markets. With CKNX on 94.5 / 91.7 in Mid-Western Ontario and CHOK on 106.3 in Lambton County, the Cool FM type stations could end up on one of the new FM replacements.

[Ben Zonia]

I just noticed that CFCO-1-FM 92.9 is also limited by CJBX 92.7 and CJSP 92.7. It looks like the only directions it could have substantial ERP is to the Northwest. The databases are all messed up with the new FCC database structure. You have to use both databases to find them all.

But you can see what could happen with the area being so jammed up with all the new stations and allotments. If the AM was way out away from the jammed up areas, and they could get a nondirectional 100 kW Class C1, that might have enough service area to give up the AM.

[rugratsonline]

With 630 being intended for Chatham-Kent only, giving up that big signal would not be something a broadcaster would avoid.

I just noticed that CFCO-1-FM 92.9 is also limited by CJBX 92.7 and CJSP 92.7. It looks like the only directions it could have substantial ERP is to the Northwest. The databases are all messed up with the new FCC database structure. You have to use both databases to find them all.

But you can see what could happen with the area being so jammed up with all the new stations and allotments. If the AM was way out away from the jammed up areas, and they could get a nondirectional 100 kW Class C1, that might have enough service area to give up the AM.

The only way AM could sufficiently move to FM without losing its coverage area is if the FM band is expanded to 76 MHz, or even to, perhaps, 72 MHz. But neither the FCC, the CRTC nor Industry Canada is interested in looking into expanding the FM band.

CFCO's coverage on 630 is already vast, between Buffalo and Lansing during the day, and in theory, between Toronto and Grand Rapids (stations on 640 in both cities interfere with CFCO).

[Ben Zonia]

Scott Fybush says that CFCO is the only station he can hear in both Rochester, NY and Fort Wayne, IN. I've heard it near Chicago and Kenosha, before WTMJ 620 IBOC sidebands blotted it out. WMFN 640 is now in Peotone, IL and has an impressive signal.

If you plot a predicted 0.1 mV/m for CFOS 560, it reaches parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and parts of all five Great Lakes. CHOK 1070 toward the US matches the 5000 watt nondirectional Day signal it used to be, although not protected in the US under treaty. The major lobes with 10000 watts place a huqe signal into Ontario. The predicted 0.1 mV/m contour of CHOK reaches parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio also.

[edj]

CHOK could move to 103.3, with a much weaker signal of course. I’m not sure any of the Windsor AMs have a spot on the FM dial. It’s too crowded as it is.