Super Bowl Update

UPDATE, 3:40 p.m. FRIDAY:  Dave Hertel, WEOA's engineer, tells me that 98.5 is now officially ON THE AIR from its permanent facility on 14WFIE's old tower, which is located on Mt. Auburn Road.  Ed Lander, WEOA's owner, told Dave that the signal travels about as far east as Castle High School in Paradise before WQKZ in Ferdinand takes over.

People driving past 14WFIE's studios on Mt. Auburn Road on Thursday could be forgiven for wondering what was going on with the station's old transmission tower.

Workers install WEOA's new FM antenna on WFIE's old transmission tower on Evansville's west side Thursday.

A crew was on the tower putting up the new antenna for WEOA's FM translator, W253BF-98.5 FM, which will broadcast from that location when all the work is completed.

The station's chief engineer, Dave Hertel, tells me that all that remains is to run cable from the antenna to the transmitter, connect the transmitter and then have the internet feed connected so there will be something to broadcast, and those details won't take long to knock out.

"It will possibly be on the air tomorrow (Friday)," Hertel said. "(If) not tomorrow, Monday," Hertel said.

WEOA, of course, is the flagship station for the Evansville IceMen, who begin their season on Saturday against the Fort Wayne Komets.  The station also broadcasts urban adult contemporary music, popular shows like The Tom Joyner Show and The Doug Banks Radio Show, and Indiana University sports.