Maybe you know the answer to this one. We don’t.

Editorial by Milton Sleeper

It doesn’t make sense to us, although it isn’t any more screwy than some of the other things about broadcasting, at least as they are seen from the receiving end. Here it is:

Just recently, since WTAG-FM has gone to full power on 96.1 mc., we’ve been getting more dependable reception of CBS programs from it than from an-other FM station nearer home. WTAG-FM has only 10 kw. effective radiation, and it’s in Worcester, Mass., 74 miles away by air-line. Although the meter on our REL receiver shows that the signals dip a little at times, there is always plenty of signal, day or night, to give full limiting.

Listening to WTAG-FM and noting the steady signal level, we’ve been hoping that many other FM listeners would discover this improvement, and share our enjoyment of the new Worcester Telegram-Gazette station.

Then, just this morning, we picked up one of the radio trade papers and saw, on the hack cover, a full-page advertisement headed: “Central New England, sharing the nation’s strongest concentration of radio sets, listens long and intently to WTAG.” Then there was the report of a survey explaining that “in 54 surrounding cities and towns” WTAG has the largest audience (presumably of the 4 local stations) 81% of the total time.

Now, where does WTAG-FM come in? Was that mentioned in the advertisement of WTAG coverage? Not a word! Not a single reference to its getting out 4 or 5 times as far as the AM transmitter. Oh. yes, there was a rectangle as big as our little fingernail, down in the bottom left hand corner, that said just “WTAG-FM.”

Yet a modest estimate of 50 miles radius (only two-thirds the distance to Great Barrington) gives WTAG-FM a solid night-and-day, good-or-bad weather coverage area 25 times that of the AM transmitter! That radius not only affords perfect reception of CBS programs to those whose evening AM reception is rent with static, noise, and fading, but it enables people to enjoy CBS programs on FM who have never been able to pick up WTAG at all!

But, from the Worcester Telegram-Gazette advertising, you can’t find out anything about that extra service to listeners and that great extra audience. Not one word. The way the little rectangle with “WTAG-FM” is partly covered up by “WTAG” in big bold letters, you’d think that the FM station is just some little signal-squirter.

Please don’t think we’re picking on WTAG. We think the general manager and the chief engineer are pretty swell. We should, because they are regular readers of FM-TV, and have been for many years. And now we’re regular listeners to their FM station.
We wouldn’t have identified the station except that it would be silly and unconvincing to discuss this situation if we didn’t give that information.

This discussion may sound silly to broadcasters, anyway. But it’s a strange state of affairs when a broadcaster forgets (or doesn’t want) to tell time buyers about the extended coverage his FM station provides. The fact remains that there is a whacking lot of people getting reception of delightful quality from WTAG-FM who cannot get WTAG at all, or who get it so poorly that the programs do little credit to the sponsors.

FM and Television/February 1949