Cumulus' 99X Switches Translators in Atlanta

Moves From 97.9 to 99.1 on FM Dial

Alternative rock station 99X, which has been on the less-than-compatible 97.9 FM translator W250BC dial position, is now on 99.1. This makes it more “brand reinforcing to have the 99 back,” said Gary Lewis, a senior vice president at Cumulus tells Rodney Ho at ajc.com.

After years of dominance in the 1990s and gradual erosion throughout the 2000s, the station in 2008 lost its coveted 99.7 signal and was relegated to an on-line only presence.

About 15 months later, the station owner Cumulus Media procured a modest signal at 97.9 and started playing the station there in 2009. The 250-watt station covers the central part of metro Atlanta but is hardly the powerhouse 100,000-watt signal 99.7 is. (That’s where top 40 station Q100 resides now.)

Lewis said the 99.1FM is also a translator W258BU (licensed to Tallapoosa, GA with 99 watts) and is “comparable” to 97.9 though he didn’t have the exact details. Reports indicate  the new signal today is  strong north of I-20 but a Macon country station 99.1 FM WDEN signal eats 99X alive on the southside.

The station will simulcast on 97.9 and 99.1 for now. What Cumulus will do with 97.9 is currently “undetermined,” Lewis said.

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