NJ Radio: WKXW Asks Listeners To Fight New Station

Townsquare Media’s WKXW NJ101.5 FM is enlisting listeners to help preserve its coverage area in certain northern New Jersey areas.

NJ 101 FM is telling listeners on-air and online that if they listen in certain areas, such as Edgewater, Fairview, West New York, Union City, Hoboken, Seacacus, Ridgefield, Ft. Lee, Cliffside Park and North Bergen, that their ability to tune in to New Jersey 101.5 is being threatened. 

They say a new station will interfere with NJ101.5 FM’s signal.

WKXW 101.5 FM 60dBu Coverage Area

To help listeners imagine a world without NJ 101.5, the station’s website posted a number of Jersey traffic stories – all of them centered around the Lincoln Tunnel, and all of which listeners would have missed if they couldn’t hear NY101.5 in North Jersey. 

1. On September 9, we alerted you to an afternoon accident on Highway 1/9 that closed the northbound right lane between the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. Sitting in traffic – not the best way to cool down after a long day at work. 

2. A week later, on the evening September 18, a vehicle stalled on 495 coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel. If you missed that NJ 101.5 traffic update, you missed dinner. 

3. Without NJ 101.5′s traffic updates, September 19th would have been quite hellish for commuters going in and out of New Jersey near the Lincoln Tunnel. It started in the morning, when a car stalled at 5 AM and backed up Highway 1/9 between the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. Not a pleasant way to start the day. But if you heard about it from us first, you could have skipped right around it. 

4. Heading in and out of New York City was a hassle throughout the day after water main repairs caused delays on westbound 3 off of 495 near the Meadowlands. Pretty cool for the people who like sitting in their cars on the highway in Secaucus. Not cool for you. 

5. And that mess wasn’t made any easier when a car stalled around 7 PM in the right lane on westbound Pleasant Avenue – making traffic out of the Lincoln Tunnel into Jersey even more of a nightmare.

The station is having its on-air personalities ask listeners “Where Are They Now” in a effort to find out who and how listeners many could be affected.  An on-air promo says NJ101.5 listeners emerging from Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel would not be able to hear news and traffic information to get home.

According to the NJ101.5 FM website, an application for another radio station on 101.5 FM frequency is pending before the Federal Communications Commission for approval.

The station is directing listeners to its website when they are encouraged to download a one-page Listener Declaration form. 

 Then, listeners are urged to fill it out, sign it and then return it via email to Eric Johnson at Townsquare Media.  The listener declarartion form asks the FCC to protect NJ101.5 in affected areas.

Tom's Take:  I have reached out to management via eMail for more information and I am awaiting a response.