UTICA -- The four towers that used to transmit the signal of 1310 WTLB are no longer standing. Photos shared with CNYRadio.com show that, after decades of service, the towers have been taken down, less than a week after Galaxy Media Partners informed the FCC that the station had been taken off the air.
Once again, our thanks to Budd Yeman's "1310 WTLB Tribute Site" page on Facebook for drawing our attention to photos he posted, courtesy of longtime local broadcast engineer Al Szablak:
It's not necessarily a surprise that the four towers would be coming down -- just last week, we reported that WTLB's owner, Syracuse-based Galaxy Media Partners, had filed an FCC application requesting permission for "Silent Special Temporary Authority," which is required anytime a station has been or anticipates being silent for more than 30 days.
Galaxy's request, submitted on December 30, is still in "pending" status on the FCC website as of the evening of January 7.
In the filing, Galaxy indicated that WTLB, which is one of multiple signals carrying ESPN Radio Utica-Rome, would be silent because "the land on which the Station’s transmission site is located has been sold" and Galaxy would need time to "investigate potential options" for the station.
The filing did not provide an estimated date for WTLB to resume broadcasting. According to the FCC website, a Silent STA allows a station to remain silent for up to 6 months. If more time is needed, the licensee can request up to 6 additional months. But if a station remains silent for a full year, that's the end of the road -- the FCC says "the licenses of stations remaining silent for more than one year are considered by the Commission to have automatically expired as a matter of law."
Interestingly, the FCC website also notes "the Commission can not grant an STA to remain silent unless the reason for the station's silence is beyond the control of the licensee." While the Silent STA form doesn't require any explanation of the circumstances "beyond the control of the licensee," we're curious how Galaxy would explain that its seemingly-voluntary (unless there are other circumstances not readily apparent) decision to sell the transmitter site property was beyond its own control. CNYRadio.com has requested comment from Galaxy; no responses yet, but as stated earlier, we'll share any updates we receive.
FCC records show WTLB's first license was granted on March 28, 1947. When the station was broadcasting from its site on Kellogg Road in New Hartford, it was authorized to transmit at 5,000 watts from 2 towers during the day. From sunset to sunrise, the station had to reduce power to just 500 watts, with the third and fourth towers kicking in to control the directional pattern of the signal.
The "temporary" silence of WTLB follows a number of other AM radio stations -- in markets large and small -- which have left the airwaves in recent years as as station owners realized they could make more money selling the tower sites than keeping them on the air. While we don't know for sure if that's the case here, it's a hunch shared by commenters on various social media platforms.
Oneida County property tax records showed the property assessed at just under $398,000, while a real estate listing spotted by Yeman showed the site in "sale pending" status at $499,000. Surrounded by commercial and residential properties, and located close to the State Route 8 expressway which provides a quick commute to Utica proper, we can imagine the 9-acre site would be very desirable to anyone looking to develop more homes, apartments or businesses.
During WTLB's absence, ESPN Utica-Rome can still be heard on 1350 WRNY Rome, 1230 WIXT Little Falls and translator W243DY (96.5FM) Rome. The station also streams through its website at https://www.espnur.com/.
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