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WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 19, 2024, 2:22 pm

I decided to tune into the Chicago default Classic Hits station and runner up Classic Rock station (behind the WDRV).

Yes, the stopset was 10 minutes long. TEN minutes. Nice to be greeted to the new top hour ID jingle @ 10:06. Also nice to hear that Men At Work are still touring and there is a Journey cover band. Along with all the other commercials to fry your brain in between and flush your audience to go to.... WDRV or worse off, away from terrestrial radio itself.

To Advertisers: HOW can you spend money like that, when you are competing against 10 - 15 other commercials? Especially if you are buried in the middle and people have already lost focus or toward the end where people bolt?????

How is this a winning formula to carry radio into the future to succeed and not wither away? I am not a malcontent. I am not here to rustle the dust. These are valid points. Jus sayin! 🤷🏻‍♂️

Z

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by JJSPC1372 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=JJSPC1372' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 19, 2024, 2:46 pm, in reply to "WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

There is almost nothing left worth listening to on broadcast radio. Add in things like 10 minute stop sets and it's completely toast for anyone who can stream.

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by Hunter <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Hunter' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 22, 2024, 6:56 pm, in reply to "WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

E-Skip, the ability to hear radio stations from hundreds of miles away.

It would be interesting to receive feedback from those who can or have received Chicago FM stations on their local radios beyond their normal signal range.

Is there any documentation as to how far a Chicago FM station has traveled during conditions where their signal can overpower local stations in another market?

A question for WYTZZ95FM or Jeremy. WLS-FM is highlighted in this thread. Is it possible under the right conditions for 94.7 WLS-FM to overpower another FM station on the **same** frequency? The question could apply to any station. WXRT-FM 93.1. I would have to research where the closest station located on 93.1 FM is from Chicago as an example.

Does it matter what frequency an FM station is allocated to? How about a college station? WONC-FM 89.1 from Naperville. Do they have enough power to travel great distances during tropo?

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 22, 2024, 7:39 pm, in reply to "Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

Yes. This happens. I'm in several DX groups, they do occasionally catch Chicago.

Pretty sure it can travel with tropospheric ducting as well. WLS-FM is probably occasionally heard in parts of Northeast Wisconsin where WZOR is on 94.7. I frequently get stations from that area and West Michigan, among others.

Today an example WLHT was wiping WRIT off the dial. The other night WQTC was wiping WXLC off the dial. Completely overpowering it. Happens with pretty much any frequency under the right conditions.

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 22, 2024, 7:42 pm, in reply to "Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

By the way, those long stopsets are the norm in Chicago. They all tend to run them around the top of the hour. iHeart does. WKSC's stopsets can be pretty excessive.

Q101 used to have 10 minute stopsets back in the Mancow days. So it's not really a new thing but it's very common these days.

Early or Mid 2000s, Clear Channel did a "Less Is More" approach by running more frequent stopsets but shorter, usually under 5 minutes. The problem with that was they were stopping the music way more often.

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 22, 2024, 7:48 pm, in reply to "Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

Jeremy, you are right it is the norm, but it does not make it right. Sadly, for a lot people it is becoming the norm. For others, they simply leave the medium.

Z

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 22, 2024, 7:50 pm, in reply to "Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

If you want to go back to The Zone days, they ran pretty much the same clock over every format.

40min Music
5min Stopset
1 Song
Another 5min Stopset

WKSC did "10 Songs In A Row" (12 when B96 started doing 12 in a row) they usually involved 10 songs, a long stopset, 1 song, and another stopset before starting another 10 songs.

These days they all cram about 10min of commercials around the top of the hour.

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 22, 2024, 8:01 pm, in reply to "Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

If you want to go back to 1987, WYTZ played a 5 minute stop set @ around :16, into weather and again at :46 into a few songs and the legal ID. B96 was very similar but a different clock. Summer long commercial free and full day commercial free were common. All long gone.

Flash forward to current time "I can't hear Free-FM" launched and had commercials the first hour. Great motivator to have people peel off of YouTube Red or commercial free sources!

Z

Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long.

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on July 22, 2024, 7:46 pm, in reply to "Re: WLS-FM Chicago stopset, July 18, 9:56PM - 10:06PM - Yes, that long."

Hunter,

Skip, FM Tropo, Ducting and other forms of receiving distant stations is very possible. In the late 80s WHUM Windsor Ontario Canada overpowered WLUW for over and hour. I have an air check of it (last 25 minutes of it). I once heard a 101.1 from downstate Indiana overpower Q101 in the mid 90s. 92.7 KISS FM was victim to Tropo back in the day too. The range and quality really can depend and it doesn't matter on power, but power or antenna height can really influence it. More common when you are away from the city too (less full power signals). PhilJSmith can also jump in on here, along with Jeremy he is an avid DX'er.

I have had friends and relatives drop in. Majority no longer listen to FM radio. (shocker!) I had friends from NYC that heard WLS-FM and said the music was, edited not to get banned, "crappy" compared to WCBS-FM New York. WCBS-FM is not wide like KOLA in Redlands San Bernardino CA, but the WCBS-FM playlist is less rock based than WLS-FM.

Z

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