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WSRO Format Change

David,

WHY is this allowed?! What would be the purpose?
None. It's not being done. It was just given as an absurd example of what COULD be done. Andover-Milwaukee-San Diego would also be legal, but will never be done. It might be cool, though, for a Kansas station to use "KXXX Atchison-Topeka-Santa Fe!"
 
Because everyone wants to be associated with the big city, not the east podunk city of license they are legally tied to.

Since a legal ID only has to be given infrequently, and with translators even less, why they just don't squeeze it in when required in a hushed voice.

Hell they have no problem doing it when stunting or just after a flip when they are waiting for the new calls to be approved and they no longer want the old calls associated with the new format.

Call signs mean very little these days unless you are a heritage station, for the rest of the industry it is imaging that is the identifier.

Although that may not be the case when using smart devices, I always use "WBZ News Radio one thousand thirty" to get my Alexa devices to give me WBZ-A's audio. If I say "Alexa play The River Andover MA " I get E Street Radio. If I say WXRV it goes to my Tune In account and plays it
 
If I say "Alexa play The River Andover MA " I get E Street Radio.
That's curious. You'd think the "Andover, MA" (and are you saying "Em Ay" or "Mah"?) would eliminate the Springsteen station from consideration and lead you to the Andover station that uses that branding, wouldn't you? I mean, a user who asks for "The River" could just as easily be looking for Joni Mitchell or Garth Brooks, right?
 
None. It's not being done. It was just given as an absurd example of what COULD be done. Andover-Milwaukee-San Diego would also be legal, but will never be done. It might be cool, though, for a Kansas station to use "KXXX Atchison-Topeka-Santa Fe!"
OK, so maybe it's not done, and was an exaggeration, but DavidE did say it was legal. Am I the only one bothered by this?
 
WHY is this allowed?! What would be the purpose?
There is no reason. The rule says what an ID can say and how to say it, but it does not restrict a station from naming other communities after the city of license. Many suburban licensed stations add the bigger city right after the licensed on, because that is what is important. Stations that are in multi-city markets may do several main cities, like Riverside-San Bernardino or Dallas-Fort Worth.
 
There is no reason. The rule says what an ID can say and how to say it, but it does not restrict a station from naming other communities after the city of license. Many suburban licensed stations add the bigger city right after the licensed on, because that is what is important. Stations that are in multi-city markets may do several main cities, like Riverside-San Bernardino or Dallas-Fort Worth.
The number one station in Boston is licensed to Framingham. The ID has always been WROR Framingham Boston. Legal requirement is WROR Framingham. Now it is WROR WROR HD1 Framingham. After Framingham you can say anything.
WMEX is WMEX Quincy. They add the Boston and their jingles say WMEX Boston, which is perfectly legal as long as the top of the hour is WMEX Quincy. They continue to illegally id their translator as W266DQ 101.5 FM Weymouth. Has to be call letters and city of license. They never Id when they run the METV FM feed. If it is on, that is illegal.
 
The number one station in Boston is licensed to Framingham. The ID has always been WROR Framingham Boston. Legal requirement is WROR Framingham. Now it is WROR WROR HD1 Framingham. After Framingham you can say anything.
WMEX is WMEX Quincy. They add the Boston and their jingles say WMEX Boston, which is perfectly legal as long as the top of the hour is WMEX Quincy. They continue to illegally id their translator as W266DQ 101.5 FM Weymouth. Has to be call letters and city of license. They never Id when they run the METV FM feed. If it is on, that is illegal.
I'm not a translator expert, but I believe they can ID with data and not audio, and the ID does not have to be every single hour. Hopefully someone with greater knowledge can chime in... or give a link to the appropriate rule.
 
I'm not a translator expert, but I believe they can ID with data and not audio, and the ID does not have to be every single hour. Hopefully someone with greater knowledge can chime in... or give a link to the appropriate rule.
Based on the knowledge I've soaked up here, I believe you are absolutely right on translator IDs. I asked about the half dozen Connecticut translators of WMNR Monroe, only two of which ever make it into the legal ID. The response I got was that inaudible data bursts were identifying W220CE Middlefield, the 8-watt translator I listened to for classical music, and that was OK with the FCC.
 
The number one station in Boston is licensed to Framingham. The ID has always been WROR Framingham Boston. Legal requirement is WROR Framingham. Now it is WROR WROR HD1 Framingham. After Framingham you can say anything.
WMEX is WMEX Quincy. They add the Boston and their jingles say WMEX Boston, which is perfectly legal as long as the top of the hour is WMEX Quincy. They continue to illegally id their translator as W266DQ 101.5 FM Weymouth. Has to be call letters and city of license. They never Id when they run the METV FM feed. If it is on, that is illegal.
And, WROR is still ID’ing the HD1, though their HD has been shut off for at least a few months now. It has been broadcasting analog only. I guess that shows that HD is not necessary for good ratings!

If I’m correct, I’ve think I’ve heard that translators only have to be ID’d every four hours, not every hour. The WMEX translator is on 101.1 (not 101.5). I’ve heard it when I’ve been in Weymouth, or when I’ve driven by the area on Rte. 3.
 
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I think translator IDs have to be mentioned a certain number of times per day, yes.
There's an FM in Barre VT that tossed in a bunch of nearby towns after the required part (E Montpelier-Plainfield-Northfield...)
As long as WRFK Barre is there it's legal.
"WMWM Salem-Marblehead-Beverly-Danvers" etc..legal as long as calls and COL are there together.
When WKLB was at 99.5 you would hear WKLB Lowell-Boston at TOH and it was so quick it almost sounded like "oh-Boston". Now at 102.5
and licensed to Waltham. You'll hear Waltham as part of legal ID at TOH. Otherwise jingles etc say "Country 102.5 WKLB--Boston!"
 
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I'm not a translator expert, but I believe they can ID with data and not audio, and the ID does not have to be every single hour. Hopefully someone with greater knowledge can chime in... or give a link to the appropriate rule.
I did a little more research on translator identification. The rules are a bit unusual. There are two legal ways to ID. The first way is the identification shall be made during each day: once between 7am and 9am, once between 12:55pm and 1:05pm and once between 4pm and 6pm. Why only a ten minute window at 1pm is strange. The second way is to transmit the call sign in international morse code at least once an hour. The requirement still is call sign and city of license. WMEX is not legally IDing their translator.
 
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I did a little more research on translator identification, instead of speculating. The rules are a bit unusual. There are two legal ways to ID. The first way is the identification shall be made during each day: once between 7am and 9am, once between 12:55pm and 1:05pm and once between 4pm and 6pm. Why only a ten minute window at 1pm is strange. The second way is to transmit the call sign in international morse code at least once an hour. The requirement still is call sign and city of license. WMEX is not legally IDing their translator.
I've never heard audible Morse code for the Middlefield translator (or Hartford's W220CH when listening in range of that one) at ANY time. Maybe it's being time-compressed into a brief crackle or inserted during the loudest passages of the music being played. Or, as I was led to believe here in years past, subaudible data bursts satisfy the requirement.
 
If Ed Perry set it up with an authorized digital ID for the translator,the audio one does not have to be a spoken "legal" ID.

Are you listening between 1255 and 1305 Hrs?

If Ed Perry set it up, you can bet the house it is correct, if the new owners are playing with it.... I'm not assuming anything
 
I don't think a "translator" can have studios of their own for program origination. They are supposed to be "repeaters".

In common-carrier microwave relays, a repeater received a signal from one direction and transmitted it out another direction, albeit with a change of frequency, or what is referred to in signal theory as "frequency translation".

@nowradioguy
Ours can because they arent translators. They are are class D non commercial FM educational licenses with call letters in the KXXX style not K253AA style
 
I wouldn't think there is a lot of fighting for Class D licenses in the middle of nowhere AK...

right, but the competition or lackthereof has nothing to do with what we can/cant do or what we do/dont do
 
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