The booster systems are intended to resolve “invisible coverage gaps” at street level
From our “Who’s Buying What” page: Audacy will install synchronized boosters in New York City to solve “invisible coverage gaps” in local coverage for WCBS-FM and WXBK-FM.
The company will use MaxxCasting systems from GeoBroadcast Solutions, which deploys clusters of low-elevation, highly directionalized boosters. GBS called the agreement “a major expansion of proven FM signal-optimization technology into the nation’s largest and most complex radio market.”
According to GBS, even strong FM signals in dense urban markets may not reach their full potential audience.
“In New York, terrain effects and dense development in all directions can disrupt reception at street level, where most listening occurs, particularly in cars with antennas positioned roughly six feet off the ground,” it said in the announcement.
“For decades, broadcasters have assumed that top FM stations were engineered to the fullest extent possible and that additional reach was unlikely. In reality, natural terrain and dense development can create signal disruptions that traditional planning models do not fully account for.”
It said traditional planning assumes “ideal conditions and rooftop antennas,” but that real listening “happens at street level, in motion, in dense markets like New York.”
John Kennedy is Audacy senior vice president of technical operations.
MaxxCasting systems also are in use in San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.
GBS also makes the ZoneCasting geotargeting technology.
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