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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears radio network update

October 18, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


I need to start this column by first apologizing. I made it a personal pledge when I first put my e-mail up for people to write in questions that even if I didn't use the question in a column that I would always answer everyone's e-mail personally. With very few exceptions, I think I've been able to do that for nearly two years. However, given the metric ton of mail received over the last 48 hours regarding our new radio agreement and the signal strength thereof, I'm going to give you all the information I can here on the website instead of answering each individually. Otherwise, I'll still be writing when I have to leave for Binghamton Friday.

First of all, for the vast majority of you who voiced your displeasure in an orderly fashion without trying to rip apart me, my boss or my company, thank you for your patience and your understanding. While there is a problem that needs to be addressed, please realize that switching radio stations is not like flipping a light switch. Neither the BEARS or Clear Channel, the parent company of 1460/1390 realized some of the difficulties we have encountered. Please don't think (as a fraction of you have written) that we don't care about the fans or that we aren't working hard to solve the problem. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you know anything about me from listening to the games, I always tell it like it is. Here's the deal, we have some problems to work through, and we're very frustrated with them just like you are. The specific problems I'll address here and give you some tips to try and improve your ability to listen the way things stand today. I will list them here and let you know what we're working on.

1. The problem with the signal inside GIANT Center first. There are a number of things that have to occur before we can have a signal inside the bowl. We have to have a clear signal to rebroadcast on a repeater transmitter inside the building first. Secondly, we have to install the transmitter. Thirdly, we need to make sure that what we do is legal by FCC standards. Before we do any of those things, we have to make sure the tower at 1460 is operating as well as it can and in the right direction. As of now, 1460's signal strength isn't operating well enough for us to buy the equipment to retransmit. Their people are working on it, and hopefully the tweaking they do will help sooner rather than later. We are looking at alternate means to broadcast inside the building if the signal never becomes strong enough to get to a radio inside Giant Center. Either way, we will get audio in the building as soon as we can.

2. The problem reaching Lebanon and York. I've got to be honest, the signal strength was supposed to be enough to reach Lebanon and most of York County. As of now, that's not the case in a lot of areas. We know it, we're trying to correct it and I'm not sleeping much at night because of it. A lot of what we were expecting with the signal we couldn't put into practice until we actually did a game for the first time. Now that we have, we know it's a problem. We have to leave this to Clear Channel, because we're not engineers. We are relying on their expertise to find the best way to enhance their signal and reach the majority of our fan base. I wish we could have done more during the off-season, but the truth is we didn't know what he had in June, July or August, and neither did Clear Channel because they were still constructing the new tower. Now we do, and on behalf of the BEARS and Clear Channel, I ask you to please be patient with us while we try and work on the problem.

3. The problem with 1390-AM not carrying the game Friday. That's actually an easy one. There was a breakdown in communication on how WLAN-AM would carry us and when. They have it solved, and all games will be on in Lancaster from this moment forward. All games heretofore will be on 1390 as well as 1460.

Here are some tips to try and get reception for us a little better in the meantime.

1. Use a digital tuner whenever possible.

2. If you're at home, put the radio near or in a window (the side of your house closest to Harrisburg if you're listening to 1460 or closest to Lancaster if you're listening on 1390).

3. If you're having trouble on the first floor and have an upper floor to try, see if that makes a difference. For a lot of people, that has helped a decent amount.

4. If you have a non-digital tuner, put the station on during the day when the signal strength doesn't have to fight through nighttime clutter and zero in on the best place on the dial for your particular radio for 1460 or 1390. Then at night when the game is on, see what room in your house works best.

5. If all else fails, our friends at Pennlive have given us a flawless internet audio feed for the first two games, and I expect that to continue.

I will promise everyone that as soon as I have more information, I will pass it along. We're working with Clear Channel to find answers to the problems. We may not have something in place for the game on Saturday here for in-house audio, but we will at some point. I appreciate your understanding, and hope that we put this behind us very soon.

-John Walton

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