Re: WMEX Web site alleges that the station has applied for full-time operation

[Norm Rosen <inorm99@earthlink.net>]

dan.strassberg@att.net wrote:

> I've noted nothing in the daily FCC actions (although I
> could have missed it), but the "Guestbook" section of
> www.wmex.com alleges that the station has filed an
> application for nighttime service. According to the Web
> site, the station is hoping that the FCC will grant the
> application by the end of the year. The statement is
> similar to one that owner Alex Langer made over the air
> earlier this summer when he was fielding listener calls.
>
> If rumors I heard elsewhere are true, the application is
> for 2500W-N. The power suggests that Langer has applied
> for night service from the WBPS site on Sewell St in
> Ashland using the same facilities that were granted to
> the station in the late 1970s when it was WGTR.
>
> Night service began in 1981 under program-test
> authority, but the station was never able to make the
> magnificent five-tower array meet its specifications for
> protecting co-channel Class B KYW Philadelphia. After 10
> years of fruitless adjustments to the pattern and power,
> the local station went dark in the early 90s until
> Langer revived it in 1996 as 500W daytimer, WJLT (now on
> 650).
>
> The 40 kW-D/22-kW-CH daytime signal that WMEX puts out
> from the WKOX facility on Mt Wayte Ave in Framingham
> attests to the fact that Langer has some pretty talented
> engineers under contract. Maybe they know something that
> all those who went before them don't know. But if Langer
> is trying to resurrect the Sewell St site as a home for
> WMEX's night operation, the more likely outcome is that
> he will pour a fortune into a bottomless pit and never
> get a nighttime signal on the air that is audible as far
> as Wellesley.
>
> That would be a shame because it would spell the end of
> Langer's ambitions to field a locally owned and locally
> programmed talk station in a market that, like most
> major markets, is almost completely controlled by a few
> large corporate broadcasting companies.

The last time that I checked the  "daily "FCC  actions,

they were not posting them on their website until sometime later this
year.

A lot of new filings probably took place during this time.

I sure hope Alex Langer succeeds in his attempt to make WMEX a News Talk
player in

the Boston market.

As you mentioned, he must have some superstar talent in the engineering
dept becuse the

day time signal  is very  good,  it covers not only Boston, but
Worcester, Providence, and

I'm pretty sure, southern N.H.  as well.

He succeeded already in two areas, his call letters, and most of his  on
air personalities are

very well-known. With a strong  sales, and promotion staff they can
achieve stability in the

market place, whether the ratings are steller, or not.

As far as becoming full time, whether the  signal manages to blanket the
Boston area, or not,

it's more than he's got now after Philly sunset.

Going full time is  a step in the right direction,

and if the night time signal isn't quite adequate, then he probably take
steps with the FCC to

correct it. Maybe a different tower array location than Ashland, or if
from Ashland to apply

for more power.

I think it's a disservice to say it's probably going to fail before it
happens.