102.5 to Spanish? Nahhh.....

[Larry Weil]

At 10:48 AM -0500 12/18/05, Garrett Wollman wrote:
><<On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 13:01:08 +0000, bradfordwood@comcast.net said:
>
>  > Does 102.5 offer better coverage into Boston or vice versa?
>
>But 102.5 transmits from FM-128 in Needham,
>where Greater's Pru stations all have backup facilities, which is at
>least more convenient to the Dorchester studios than 99.5's
>transmitter on Wood Hill in Andover.)
>

By my very rough measurements, The FM 128 tower is 10 miles from 
dowtown Boston, while Andover is 20 miles.  This should mean that 
both stations have a grade A signal downtown.  The biggest difference 
should be that 99.5 would be weaker south of Boston, but stronger 
into southern NH and ME.  I'm sure this was a consideration in 
locating the country format there and moving the "smooth jazz" (at 
the time) format to 96.9 so many years ago.

Likewise, 102.5 should be stronger than 99.5 in areas west and south of Boston.

So, it all really has to do with the suburbs.  While Boston may be 
considered the hub, the total population of the suburbs is several 
times the population of the city.  By how much depends on how far out 
you consider to be suburbs.  But it is clear to me that most stations 
in the Boston market need to consider the suburban audience more than 
the city audience if they are to maximize their listenership.

-- 
Larry Weil
Lake Wobegone, NH