Sox BZing You (was: MEDIA BLITZ BY JOHN MOLORI, 5/13/03)

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@shoreham.net>]

 I
> know WBZ covers
> all the areas where affiliates would be dropped, but it is
> better for the
> Sox to be on local stations and on several spots on the dial,
> instead of on
> WBZ and fewer affiliates.
>
> -- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine

Agree fully.  Here in VT, you can hear the sox pretty much anywhere on WDEV
(96.1//550), but you can also catch them on local 1kW and 5 kW AMers.  People
tend to "scan" for the best signal or just go with the local.  It brings the Sox
to a more local level, in a sense.  I note that sox listeners, if given the
choice of similar coverage, will go with the local station.  (Local to my town
is kilowatter WFAD (1490 Middlebury).

WDEV-FM recently upgraded and now comes in like a local here in the Champlain
Valley.  550 kHz has some static but makes the hop from Waterbury.  Not the only
AM//FM arrangement still in place here.  WXZO (96.7 Willsboro) is // with WEAV
(960 Plattsburgh).  With the many quirky hills here, even a solid FM signal
hasn't found a way to drill through granite, so the AM does come in handy in my
car quite often.  Never thought I'd advocate for a good old AMer being used that
way!  Interestingly, both examples noted there actually image/sell the AM first
on the list.

Incidently, WBZ used to come in day and (moreso) night, but now is beat up by
static just about all the time.  I've actually bounced it off of my car presets
for the first time since the 70s <ack>.  Sox-wise, WBZ wouldn't impact on affils
this far from the Hub, anyway.

Bill O'Neill