Classical change in Washington DC

[Scott Fybush]

Stephanie Weil wrote:
> On Wed, January 24, 2007 13:11, Scott Fybush wrote:
> 
>> it was too late for WTOP to make any really useful move, being
>> hemmed in by new signals on 1520 in Brunswick MD, 1490 in Hagerstown,
> 
> Those would probably be easy enough to buy and shut down for good.  Would
> that improve things a bit?

If WTOP could somehow find a new site further west and a bit south, 
maybe. But that's precisely where the growth is hottest and heaviest, 
and you have Dulles Airport in that direction, too, which makes the 
siting of a big new DA impractical if not entirely impossible.

What's more, the FCC's inane "ratchet rule" would come into play, 
negating any nighttime improvement WTOP would get as a result. (I'm on 
my way into work for the rest of the day, so I'll leave it to our 
Esteemed and Recuperating Moderator to further explain that one.)

Moving to FM made much more economic sense, and didn't kick off a 
ten-year, multimillion dollar zoning battle in the process.

s