W233BF

W233BF FM 94.5, known as Streetz 94-5, is a radio station in metro Atlanta, now licensed to serve Atlanta. After a series of moves (previously serving the eastern exurb of Social Circle), the station now transmits from the tall WUPA TV tower east of downtown, just north of Interstate 20. The station broadcasts a hip hop music format, with a heavy emphasis on local artists, and is less mainstream than other similar stations in the format such as WHTA and WVEE.

Although the station is licensed as a "broadcast translator" (a service intended to retransmit analog FM stations to distant or terrain-obstructed areas), it is operating independently under a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) legal fiction that allows such stations to transmit original programming if it is also simulcast on another station's HD Radio digital subchannel — in this case, 94.1 WSTR's HD3 subchannel. (Despite the purchase of two other stations, it is still legally prohibited from retransmitting them since they are out-of-market.) Since legitimately licensed noncommercial LPFM stations cannot do any of these things (have multiple stations, operate commercially, use higher powers and unlimited heights, or afford to rent an "HD" channel or AM station) despite being in the same FCC class D, no community radio stations have gone on-air in or immediately around the city since the 1980s, and two have been forced off-air in the 2000s. "Streetz" was originally on another such station, W275BK FM 102.9, which is also on the same tower. The station's manager was forced in a lawsuit to give up the original station to the owners of the major local station he previously worked for.

W233BF is owned by Edgewater Broadcasting, which has been highly involved in the "flipping" of translator stations and licenses for profit. Originally applied-for in 2003 (in what was called the "Great Translator Invasion" by some), the station went on the air in July 2007, and immediately requested permission to change to 105.3, becoming W287BI. Due to RF interference from full-power WBZY FM 105.3, it requested to go back to 94.5 in July 2010, regaining its old frequency (and therefore callsign) by December that year. In November however, it had already applied to move closer to Atlanta, where it was located north of Conyers, transmitting 122 watts at 313 meters (1,027 ft) HAAT, and broadcasting a Christian radio format as "The Spirit 94.5". In late March 2012, it applied to move to the WHSG-TV 63.x (originally WUPA TV 69) tower in the Inman Park neighborhood east of downtown Atlanta, transmitting 250 watts at 325 meters (1,066 ft). On June 23, 2012, the station flipped to its current local-emphasizing hip hop format, branded as "Streetz 94.5."^[1] The station also exchanged RF interference with two co-channel stations: WIPK in northwest Georgia, and WFDR-FM in west-central Georgia. Due to complaints from WFDR, an application was filed with the FCC in early August 2012 to reduce power to 185 watts at the same height and location, and switch to an omnidirectional antenna.

In January 2015, the station also purchased and began simulcasting on WIPK FM 94.5 in northwest Georgia, similar to the situation with WTSH-FM and W296BB on 107.1, which also serve northwest Georgia and metro Atlanta respectively.^[2] The approximate "boundary" between the two stations' signals is the ridge that includes Kennesaw Mountain and Sweat Mountain, though this varies due to weather-induced changes in radio propagation. In October of that year, however, WIPK split from the simulcast and flipped to CHR as "i94.5."^[3]

As of April 2015, the station also purchased and simulcasts on WFDR-FM 94.5 in west-central Georgia, near Woodbury.^[4]

References

External links

• Streetz 94.5 official site
• Query the FCC's FM station database for W233BF
• Radio-Locator information on W233BF