That 1500 watts won't go too far considering the terrain. Especially for a local grade signal. Not sure how well it would get into places like Wiarton and Meaford. Maybe okay in the car but not on a low cost clock radio. It is too bad they could not find a frequency where they could operate with 10 or 20 kilowatts. There won't be much to listen to north of Owen Sound on the way to Tobermory.

I wonder about the strength as well.  I do know of a station that is 2,250 watts and kicks out 50-55 km from their transmitter and they are at 49 meters or 161 ft.   At 50 km away they are ok in the car, but not so much in the house. 

However the CFOS FM transmitter will be at the top of Bayshore's tower.  This puts the 1,500 watts at 214 meters or 702 feet.  So if this height can give them decent coverage for 45-55 km they will be fine with that.

This was about what the AM station had for their main market daytime, where they had listeners and sold advertising.  At night CFOS AM doesn't travel well.  The FM even at 1,500 watts will have much better coverage after sunset. Evening radio is important in this part of Ontario with weather and Owen Sound's beloved Attack hockey game broadcasts.  

The main thing I remember about CKO was talk show host John Gilbert and his love of "Zorro's ' steakhouse

And they got it
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2024/2024-265.htm
They wanted a 12 month simulcast. The CRTC said, no, 3 will be fine.

For the record, it appears they'll be switching from 560 to 89.3. They've been given two years to the day to get it up and running - Oct. 31, 2026.

My question - after people get used to the move and the station establishes itself as an FM entity in the area, how long will they hang onto the oldies?

RadioAaron wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

For the record, it appears they'll be switching from 560 to 89.3. They've been given two years to the day to get it up and running - Oct. 31, 2026.

My question - after people get used to the move and the station establishes itself as an FM entity in the area, how long will they hang onto the oldies?

Don't know their plans, but typically in these situations the new format (or adjustment) starts the minute the FM is turned on. If people pass by 89.3 and it's playing oldies, they'll assume that's what the station is and not come back.

it also all depends on what Zoomer will flip to when their takeover is approved.

splunge wrote:

it also all depends on what Zoomer will flip to when their takeover is approved.

That's interesting. In the case of AM740, I'm not entirely sure I would touch it. It's stuck on a powerful AM Clear Channel (the 96.7 signal is downtown only and does not get very far) and since the older generation is the only one that really listens to that band (or is even aware that it still exists) someone has to serve that demo.

A growing number of Boomers have a lot of income, both from working their whole lives and inheriting wealth. And they grew up listening to the radio - AM no less. That's an untapped audience if no one else is trying to get them.

Someone who does it well could potentially make a few bucks appealing to that demo.

But the key words are "doing it well." 

What other format would you see them adopting?

Oh, misunderstood the reference. Thanks for clearing that up. 

Depends how sales are going.

Doing what they're doing now on FM won't gain them a single listener; in fact it will cost them some with the reduced coverage.

They may keep some elements, but whatever lands on FM will certainly be more contemporary,

Last edited by RadioAaron (October 31, 2024 5:31 pm)

Yes; they're a very good operator.