As noted in the Facebook group, “We rocked Erie in the 20th Century!”, on Tuesday, Connoisseur Media of Erie received a Construction Permit from the FCC for a Minor Change of facilities to move WRKT/North East (Rocket 101) from 100.9 to 104.9 FM. They will also put their antenna on the WRTS tower in Greene Township with a full Class B1 non-directional signal 15 miles closer to the city of Erie from their current tower site in Ripley, NY.

This huge move comes in the middle of a timeline of major changes to the landscape of the FM dial that began in late 2011 with the move-in of Family Life Network’s WCGM, with a Class A signal on 102.7 that moved from Clarendon to Wattsburg. They continue into the new year with the launch of First Channel Communications 92.7/Lawrence Park sometime in 2012. Finally, Family Life has a CP for Gannon WERG’s old 89.9 frequency, now permitted for Cambridge Springs, with a tower location in Edinboro.

Of course, with all but one of these new frequencies is the strong certainty of format. Rocket will be classic rock, and FLN will continue its light contemporary Christian and talk format. What we are  uncertain on but have a good hunch is the format for the 92.7 station. The lead format horse in that derby is a direct CHR/Top 40 competitor to Star 104.

We’ll keep listening for details on all these upcoming changes to a radio near you.