Philly Radio: CBS Radio Gets Static Over WPHT Back-Up Tower

Voices in the walls, voices and humming on the phones, blocked cellphone signals, and shimmering computer screens.

Creepy? Not really. The source of these phantoms is in plain sight, according to a story at philly.com.

There, above a 21-acre field of tall grass just inside Moorestown stands a 425-foot radio transmission tower. There since the 1940s, it pulses 50,000 kilowatts of CBS talk radio, 24 hours a day, at WPHT 1200 AM.

Painted red and white, dotted with blinking red lights, and held in place by four heavy cables, the slender tower is the property of CBS Radio East Inc., which is seeking a variance from Moorestown, PA to add a 199-foot backup tower on the site.

News of that application has some of its neighbors wary.

If granted, the new tower would be used only if the main tower were disabled or shut down for repair, said Karen L. Mateo, a CBS spokeswoman. When in use, the new tower would be used only to broadcast WPHT, at 35,000 watts, she said.

Moorestown's Zoning Board of Appeals will conduct the hearing at its next meeting, Feb. 18.

The smaller tower would be situated "as far as possible from the surrounding residential neighborhood," the application says. It also describes the 199-foot height as "the minimum to allow WPHT to service its licensed broadcast area."

Pete Clifford, Moorestown's zoning officer, said the township was under no legal obligation to grant a use variance for the tower.

Clifford said an attorney for CBS told him it planned to conduct an informational meeting in Moorestown about the project and to meet with Cinnaminson's Town Council to explain.

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