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How do radio or TV stations that air infomercials 24/7 qualify as stations serving their local community?
I suppose someone could try to challenge the license of such stations.
 
Some infomercials seem pretty useless. However, some infomercials probably come nearer to "serving the local community" than does an automation machine grinding out a stream of rock music, or classical music or country music. Does syndicated Talk Radio or syndicated Sports radio "serve the local community" any more than some of the better infomercials?

Who gets to sort informercial programs into piles for (1) The Good (2) The Bad (3) The Ugly?

If you were going to prepare a protest to the FCC about a station running Infomercials, what would you logic be? What rule is being broken?
 
why does the FCC allow some stations to retain their license ----
by just being on the air a few days or weeks a year ?
Why not take the license from these stations?
Do these stations claim hardship ?
 
The FCC isn't really the radio police. Broadcasting in the United States is a very unique public-private partnership. The stations are private businesses that are licensed to use public airwaves. The FCC has rules and regulations that govern how those private businesses can use the airwaves. But those rules are pretty loose and open to interpretation.

But a lot of it is up to the public. If you feel a particular station isn't fit to hold a license, it's your duty to challenge that license, or complain to the FCC Complaints Division. They don't have the staff to drive around the country and monitor every station. The license renewal process is pretty open, and if you feel a station should not be renewed, you can file a petition online. If no petitions are received, the license will likely be renewed almost as easily as your own driver's license. There isn't much difference between operating a vehicle on the public highways and operating a radio station on the airwaves. It's in the best interest of the government to keep as many stations on the air as possible, regardless of what they program. So they're not interested in making the job of broadcasting more difficult than it already is. Very similar to other regulatory agencies, like Food & Drug or Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms.
 
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The phrase is "public interest, convenience and necessity".

An argument could be made that those awful infomercials are convenient to someone.

I hate to break it to you, but complaining to the FCC isn't going to get this station to start airing what you want them to air. If the FCC did come down on them, they'd just go dark.
 
TheBigA said:
BTW, you'll find that phrase in all utilities regulations, like electric, water, and gas. You don't see any of them worried about providing news or public affairs.
Click to expand...

That bit of logic is subject to some discussion.

The product of the electric company is electric power and if the company does not keep it volages and frequency in line with expectations, the regulators care.

The product of the water company is water, and the regulators test the water for purity and safety.

The product of the gas company is the gas and if you deliver gas that is non-standard, the regulators will be on your case.

But the product of radio is 'audio content' and we can look through the records and see that there is considerable discussion indicating that within the boiler-plate government language "public interest, convenience and necessity" we can make an honest claim that news, public affiars, etc. are ingredients for discussion when it comes to radio, but not the gas, electric or water company. There is precedent however to indicate that when a utility is going to change their rates and other terms-of-service it is their duty to provide some news, some communication, some explanation on the subject.
 
The thing we both know about regulations is the need for clarity and specificity. They specifically give technical standards for radio, but not in content. So we can make honest claims about news, public affairs, and other content, but they're not really part of the regulations, except in terms of indecency. The content is a subjective issue, and yet it's the aspect most critics are most vocal about. As another poster said, a lot of people want the FCC to force radio stations to do certain kinds of programming, but it's not really part of their job.
 
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