Winners in the CBI production awards program were announced today. When I finish this entry, I will update the CBI website. Congrats to all finalists and winners! The finalists deserve recognition for their work as their entries stood out from the hundreds of other entries and of course the winners deserve that extra special pat on the back!
I posted my post election comments concerning the FCC and the impact on Tuesday. Here is the take from RW. The RBR is below.
More from RW...
URBAN FORMAT AUDIENCES REVEALED AT MORGAN STATEArbitron executives will participate in a symposium about audience research on Nov. 4 at Morgan State University in Baltimore. http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=6116
RADIO HALL OF FAME TO INDUCT CLASS OF 2004 THIS WEEKENDThe Radio Hall of Fame will hold its 2004 Induction Gala at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel in Chicago on Nov. 6. http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=6130
Here is the RBR item concerning the elections and the FCC...
Is there an election indecency factor?There has been speculation in the press, notably up to and including the Wall Street Journal, that the tenor and enforcement of indecency regulations may hang in the balance, depending on who won the presidency. We now know who won, but we don't know the fallout. But we don't think anything was hanging in the balance at all. Part of the indecency argument hinges on the possible elevation to the Commission chair of Michael Copps, should Kerry have won. That was never a foregone conclusion to begin with, and regardless, it probably doesn't matter anyway. Yes, it's true that Copps was the first to make indecency a driving issue, and has been the loudest voice on the topic, and has consistently opposed even some of the largest indecency fines ever imposed because they haven't been severe enough. Truth told, he wants a license revocation in his scalp belt. Nevert heless, the Republicans on the Commission and on Capitol Hill are just as eager to take up the fight against indecent programming as are any Democrats. It is truly a bipartisan issue, with a few lonely fans of the First Amendment on the Hill, and nobody in the Commission, putting up token resistance to efforts to clamp down on the indecent. The legislative process has continually saddled anti-indecency measures with excess baggage throughout 2004. That is the only thing which has kept a fine increase up to 500K per egregious offense from becoming the law of the land. Look for Congress to make it the law in 2005, if not sooner in its upcoming lame duck session.
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POSTED BY
Chair][ ]
The KOCE is closedMedia Venture Partners broker Elliot Evers tells TVBR that the 32M dollar sale of KOCE-TV by Coast Community College District to the KOCE-TV Foundation is completed (4/29/04 RBR Daily Epaper #84). The PBS affiliate plays to the Los Angeles market from its Huntington Beach location. A rival noncom, Religious broadcaster Daystar, had also tried to purchase the station but was rebuffed when trying to press its case in court
The above is from RBR. So is the following, which closely matches my call from election night/morn...
The KOCE is closedMedia Venture Partners broker Elliot Evers tells TVBR that the 32M dollar sale of KOCE-TV by Coast Community College District to the KOCE-TV Foundation is completed (4/29/04 RBR Daily Epaper #84). The PBS affiliate plays to the Los Angeles market from its Huntington Beach location. A rival noncom, Religious broadcaster Daystar, had also tried to purchase the station but was rebuffed when trying to press its case in court
FCC daily digest inclusion in the blog will return after the CBI convention, which is going better than expected!!! CBI ROCKS!
The CBI cybercast is up. A link to the audio is available on the CBI homepage collegebroadcasters.org.
I am getting ready to travel to the greatest college media convention in the nation, so I must go to bed, but at this moment, it *appears* that Bush has won and Republicans have gained seats in the Senate. A couple of quick takes.
If Bush wins, Powell retains his seat as Chair of the FCC. Adelstein is out, despite bi-partisan support in Congress. Look for the indecency debate to live on and new regs to be on the way concerning indecency, obscenity and perhaps even more dicey, profanity.
"Named State Broadcasters Associations" filed comments that are 266 pages in length. Since this is an NOI, I view this as an extraordinary investment of money by broadcasters.
FWIW, the list of states associations involved is listed at the end of this entry.
The numbers, which bear more scrutiny, still warrant discussion concerning how the FCC decides issues like this and the recording NPRM. How heavily should the FCC count the "votes" of those submitting comments which are insubstantial in terms or relevant comments vs those who are a well informed on the issues? Should those in power hold more weight because they are able to organize and fund? Look for more on this topic in future entries.
Will R
FM TRANSLATOR APPLICATIONS FOR ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION PERMIT DISMISSED---------------------------------------------------------------------
NC BNPFT-20030317IGA NEW 156659 ISOTHERMAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE CP New Stn. E 100.3 MHZ CHARLOTTE, NC Dismissed per applicant's request 10/26/2004-no letter was sent.
NC BNPFT-20030317IGC NEW 156611 ISOTHERMAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE CP New Stn. E 100.1 MHZ CHARLOTTE, NC Dismissed per applicant's request 10/26/2004-no letter was sent.
FM STATION APPLICATIONS FOR LICENSE TO COVER GRANTED----------------------------------------------------
OH BLED-20040608ABM WNRK 90728 KENT STATE UNIVERSITY Lic. to cover E 90.7 MHZ NORWALK, OH
AL BLED-20040726ADN WQPR 65441 UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA License to cover construction E 88.7 MHZ MUSCLE SHOALS, AL permit BPED-20040923ACU Granted 10/28/2004
AL BPED-20040923ACU WQPR 65441 UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA Minor change in licensed E 88.7 MHZ MUSCLE SHOALS, AL facilities. Application specifies 22.8 kW ERP, 131 meters HAAT, 34 34 41 NL, 87 47 02 WL Granted in part at 20.0 kW ERP on 10/28/2004
FM TRANSLATOR APPLICATIONS FOR MINOR CHANGE TO A LICENSED FACILITY GRANTED--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NC BPFT-20041025ADH W262BM 29264 ISOTHERMAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE Minor change in licensed E 100.3 MHZ CHARLOTTE, NC
LOW POWER FM APPLICATIONS FOR AMENDMENT AMENDMENT RECEIVED----------------------------------------------------------
IN BMPL-20041007ABU WOCU-LP 123664 OAKLAND CITY UNIVERSITY Engineering Amendment filed 10/28/2004 E 94.1 MHZ OAKLAND CITY, IN
FM STATION APPLICATIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT OF LICENSE ACCEPTED FOR FILING
OH BALED-20041028AGD WMBP 38912 LOWER OHIO VALLEY EDUCATIONAL CORPORATION Voluntary Assignment of License E 91.9 MHZ BELPRE, OH From: LOWER OHIO VALLEY EDUCATIONAL CORPORATION To: EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION Form 314
WV BALED-20041028AGE WVRP 38915 LOWER OHIO VALLEY EDUCATIONAL CORPORATION Voluntary Assignment of License E 90.7 MHZ RIPLEY, WV From: LOWER OHIO VALLEY EDUCATIONAL CORPORATION To: EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION Form 314
FM STATION APPLICATIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT OF PERMIT ACCEPTED FOR FILING--------------------------------------------------------------------
MT BAPED-20041028AFU KBIL 91499 BROADCASTING FOR THE CHALLENGED, INC. Voluntary Assignment of Construction E 90.9 MHZ BILLINGS, MT Permit From: BROADCASTING FOR THE CHALLENGED, INC. To: EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION Form 314
WY BAPED-20041028AFW KCPP 90985 BROADCASTING FOR THE CHALLENGED, INC. Voluntary Assignment of Construction E 89.1 MHZ CASPER, WY Permit From: BROADCASTING FOR THE CHALLENGED, INC. To: EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION Form 314
FM STATION APPLICATIONS FOR MINOR CHANGE TO A LICENSED FACILITY ACCEPTED FOR FILING-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TX BPH-20041028ADR KYYK 72838 HIGHTOWER RADIO, INC. Minor change in licensed facilities. E 98.3 MHZ PALESTINE, TX IA BPED-20041028AFF KDIC 25391 GRINNELL COLLEGE TRUSTEES OF IOWA, Minor change in licensed facilities. E 88.5 MHZ GRINNELL, IA
))))) Alabama Broadcasters Association, Arkansas Broadcasters Association, California Broadcasters Association, Colorado Broadcasters Association, Connecticut Broadcasters Association, Florida Association of Broadcasters, Hawaii Association of Broadcasters, Idaho State Broadcasters Association, Illinois Broadcasters Association, Indiana Broadcasters Association, Iowa Broadcasters Association, Kansas Association of Broadcasters, Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, Maine Association of Broadcasters, MD/DC/DE Broadcasters Association, Massachusetts Broadcasters Association, Michigan Association of Broadcasters, Minnesota Broadcasters Association, Missouri Broadcasters Association, Nebraska Broadcasters Association, Nevada Broadcasters Association, New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters, The New York State Broadcasters Association, Inc., North Dakota Broadcasters Association, Ohio Association of Broadcasters, Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, Oregon Association of Broadcasters, Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, Rhode Island Broadcasters Association, South Carolina Broadcasters Association, South Dakota Broadcasters Association, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Texas Association of Broadcasters, Utah Broadcasters Association, Vermont Association of Broadcasters, Virginia Association of Broadcasters, Washington State Association of Broadcasters, West Virginia Broadcasters Association, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, and Wyoming Association of Broadcasters
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POSTED BY
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Monday, November 01, 2004
80361 & counting. That's the number of comments filed so far in the localism NOI with the FCC. Seems that some of the satellite fed translator owners are nervous about the prospect of LPFM stations earning a higher level of preference when it comes to allocations... and they should be nervous!
Translators are restricted, for all intents and purposes from providing local content. LPFM stations, on the other hand were created to enhance local content. Since the NOI is all about localism, who should come out as the hands down winner, the station that provides no local content or the station that is required, by regulation to provide local content?
Seems like a no brainer, but you have to look at the bigger picture. Who puts on the translators (for the most part)? Colleges and Universities? Local ministries with local content? The answer are the large religous outfits. This blog entry is by no means anti-religion, but is about what priorities the FCC should use in its criteria concerning localism. If it truly is concerned about localism, the non-local translators would not stand a chance against a college, community group or local religous organization. The rub here is that the FCC pretends to portray a leaning towards localism as a means for spectrum allocations, yet the elected leaders fear the retribution of the religous organizations at the polls if they change the status quo. The status quo is that the well funded have used and abused the rules to establish non-local translators which were never the intent of the statute or the regulations.
The genie has long been out of the bottle. Long ago, those with the financial resources figured out a way to use loopholes to their advantage. This gives them a big foot up in this important policy decision. They have established large networks of stations (many of which don't meet local main studio rules) and translators and thus built a very substantial audience. Displacement of the translators by LPFM would mean that these programmers/owners would loose a substantial portion of their audience (and the donations derived from these audiences). So this again translates into a $$$ issue.
Now that the FCC has issued an NOI, what happens? 80,000 + comments! Take a wild guess at who has filed the majority of the comments? NAB members? College Stations? Those seeking local stations via LPFM? No. The majority of the respondents appear (we haven't read all 80,000 just yet!!!) to have come from listeners to K-Love and AIR1 (both owned by the same corporation).
The K-Love website states, "There is a possibility that you might lose your local K-LOVE station!" This is obvious fear mongering designed to generate a response. It doesn't explain which signals are in jeopardy or why.
The linked page http://www.klove.com/fcc.asp goes on to explain that LPFM stations could take precedence over K-Love translators, but fails to explain the difference between translators and full service stations or LPFM stations. Thus listeners are urged, out of fear, to file comments with the FCC, not knowing or even being provided with a list of which signals could be jeopardized. Thus listeners to 'full service' stations file comments on behalf of K-Love out of fear that their favorite station could go away when that is simply not possible. Given that translators are 'normally' low power versions of the main station, who do you think filed the majority of comments in favor of translators? Those who actually listen to them and would be affected by a ruling in favor of LPFM or those who listen to the normally high powered full service K-Love station?
This whole process opens another issue... should the FCC take comments from the public via electronically filed comments? Ideally, the answer should be yes, but looking at this specific example the answer becomes much less clear. Should those already in power be able to abuse the system in order to maintain or perhaps increase their power? More on this in the next edition. For the sake of maintaining a record of what is posted, the K-Love page text is posted at the end of this unusually long blog.
OH BLL-20031021AAB WUHS-LP 132046 WEST UNION HIGH SCHOOL Lic. to cover E 96.9
WNCG-LP 132055 NORTH CENTRAL STATE COLLEGE Lic. to cover E 95.7 MHZ MANSFIELD, OH
OH BLL-20040128ABE WBWH-LP 131338 BLUFFTON COLLEGE Lic. to cover E 99.3 MHZ BLUFFTON, OH
AR BLL-20040220AAV KRMN-LP 134109 RICH MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE Lic. to cover E 101.1 MHZ MENA, AR
VA BLED-20041022ACN WCWM 65555 THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY IN VA. Lic. to cover E 90.9 MHZ WILLIAMSBURG, VA
FM AUXILIARY TRANSMITTING ANTENNA APPLICATIONS FOR MODIFICATION OF AUXILIARY PERMIT GRANTED -------------------------------------------------------------
WI BMXPED-20040902ACC WYMS 42669 MILWAUKEE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS Mod of CP for auxiliary purposes. E 88.9 MHZ MILWAUKEE, WI
FM AUXILIARY TRANSMITTING ANTENNA APPLICATIONS FOR AUXILIARY PERMIT GRANTED ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PA BXPED-20040825ABC WMCE 41215 MERCYHURST COLLEGE CP for auxiliary purposes. E 88.5 MHZ ERIE, PA
NE BXPED-20040830ACJ KVNO 69395 THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF UNIV. OF NEBRASKA CP for auxiliary purposes. E 90.7 MHZ OMAHA, NE
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is now considering making changes to the way FM radio is heard in your community. Advocates of a new broadcast service known as Low Power FM (LPFM) are proposing to expand this service in a way that would allow the new LPFM stations to take priority over current FM translator service. We are bringing this to your attention because K-LOVE is a national and regional broadcaster with many local FM translators used to bring the Positive & Encouraging K-LOVE signal to communities across the nation. What this means to you is that you may lose your local K-LOVE FM Radio service!We need your help! The FCC is currently requesting public comment on this issue. You can make your opinion known by taking a few minutes to fill out a form on the FCC website.IMPORTANT: This form requires specific information to be included. In section 1, labeled "Proceeding", please enter the numbers "04-233" and where you are asked for Document Type in section 12, please choose "comment.'We are asking our listeners to include the following three points in their comments to the FCC:1. How K-LOVE serves you as a resident of the local community.2. The effect on the local community if K-LOVE were to be displaced by an LPFM broadcaster providing other programming.3. Why you believe that the service provided by K-LOVE is in the public interest.Thank you for taking the time to support YOUR local K-LOVE station!
WCPE is a great example of how stations to develop a content distribution model. Deborah Proctor, the GM is a wizard at these sorts of deals. Commercial stations, College Stations and others should look deep into the distribution model of WCPE.
I have had many encounters with Deborah. She is calm, quick-witted and brilliant.
The method that she has used to distribute the programming of WCPE is wise, cunning and savvy. Will she bring WCPE to sirrius or xm? I don't know, perhaps that has already happened or is in the works. The distribution model of this station at the hands of Deborah warrants some research, class room discussion and more.
Will R
Radio Currents Online - Oct 25 - Oct 31, 2004: "WCPE Expands its Market Reach with Velocity Raleigh, NC - Oct 25, 2004 - Microspace Communications has signed a multi-year agreement with WCPE Radio to deliver programming via its Velocity satellite system. The contract covers about 75 satellite and Internet broadcasting sites, including 20 affiliate radio stations reaching more than 200,000 listeners nationwide. Microspace relays WCPE's programming for Internet audio streaming, and enables listeners to pick up the signal via compact, 36-inch satellite dishes. Velocity delivers WCPE�s programming from its studio in North Carolina to sites in Seattle and Florida that encode the streams for the Internet. WCPE is a non-commercial, independent, listener-supported station. Besides individual subscribers, listeners include radio stations at educational institutions, which often broadcast WCPE�s content during summer months and off-hours. Using Velocity will help WCPE to grow its network. "
