Fwd: More changes at WERS

[Eli Polonsky]

>Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 03:57:47 -0400
>From: Kevin Vahey <kvahey@gmail.com>
>To: <boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org>
>Subject: Fwd: More changes at WERS
>
>WRBB was created by the FCC to destroy Simon Geller from 
>getting a huge payday.

The creation of WRBB had nothing to do with Simon Geller.
When WRBB was originally granted an FM on-air broadcast 
license circa 1970 or so, it was on 91.7 FM, and was for
over the following decade. Geller's WVCA was on 104.9 FM. 

By the time that WRBB moved to 104.9 FM in 1982, Class D
FM stations such as WRBB (the old classification for FM 
stations under 100 watts, long before today's LPFM class) 
were no longer granted protection by the FCC. Geller could
have sent more power toward Boston and caused interference
to WRBB, and they would not have had grounds to complain.

When 104.9 in Gloucester was sold from Geller to Tanger 
in 1988 and WVCA became WBOQ, the Gloucester signal was 
tweaked a bit, and caused a bit more interference to WRBB,
especially "across the river" in Cambridge and Somerville.
This could have been done before, but Geller either just 
didn't get around to it or didn't have the money to spend.

However, the limiting factors for the Gloucester 104.9 
were never WRBB. They were always, and still are, first 
adjacent Class B (50kW) stations on 105.1 in Providence, 
104.7 in Orleans (Cape Cod), and possibly other stations 
elsewhere, but not the unprotected Class D WRBB.

WRBB just happens to be in the pathway in between WBOQ and 
Providence, so it may appear that WBOQ's pattern protects 
WRBB, but it's not intended to. That's only a coincidence.

EP