1430 Amherst sale (relates to 1430 here...)

[raccoonradio]

Fybush column mentions sale of WPNI 1430 Amherst to, apparently, Brian Dodge who had some tangles with the FCC over the years over translator moves, etc. When "The Love Radio Church" gets on the air, Fybush notes, "We’ll be watching closely…and we suspect Clear Channel will be, too, since WPNI’s signal can cause serious damage to Clear Channel’s 1430s in the Boston and Binghamton markets if it doesn’t drop from 5,000 watts to 11 watts at sunset."

http://www.fybush.com/nerw-2112013-radio-tv-weather-big-storm/ by subscription

 

[Early Byrd]

The Binghampton (NY) station mentioned was WENE, Endicott, back in the day... a pretty sharp sounding Top-40, as I remember it. I used to pick them up fairly regularly when the Medford transmitter was shut down at local sunset.

 

[Early Byrd]

I just checked the Radio Locator site, and apparently the call letters are still WENE, and they are licensed to Endicott.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

The FCC should deny the sale of WPNI-1430 to Brian Dodge.

There's got to be a better owner out there!

 

[MarcB]

The FCC should deny the sale of WPNI-1430 to Brian Dodge.

There's got to be a better owner out there!

Maybe, but the station's been for sale for nearly 6 years! From the questions I asked on the Massachusetts board the station's daytime signal can't even reach Springfield 28 miles (by car) to the South. That could be part of the problem. Perhaps potential buyers were thinking they could buy it to serve Springfield, but than found out they can't.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Exactly. It's either he buys it or it most likely goes dark and the license is turned in.

People aren't exactly beating the doors down for stand alone AM's on bad frequencies, that power down to 11 watts at night.

 

[4CX1000A]

The Binghampton (NY) station mentioned was WENE, Endicott, back in the day... a pretty sharp sounding Top-40, as I remember it. I used to pick them up fairly regularly when the Medford transmitter was shut down at local sunset.

It was indeed. WENE was owned by Merv Griffin; the FM was WMRV 105.7. Now both belong to Clear Channel.

However, I must point out that Binghamton is not one of the Hamptons.

 

[aaronread]

Does the FCC even really enforce the "character issues" provisions (regarding license ownership) these days?

 

[NHRadio]

So file a petition to deny. Get the addresses from their application. We all should. Let me know if you need help.

The FCC should deny the sale of WPNI-1430 to Brian Dodge.

There's got to be a better owner out there!

 

[NHRadio]

Yes. I've seen character issues (usually felonies or lying on applications) raised before.

Does the FCC even really enforce the "character issues" provisions (regarding license ownership) these days?

 

[reelyreal]

Brian Dodge isn't an "official" party to this application. He's not listed as an officer of the company, or having any attributable interest in the station. You'd have to prove unauthorized transfer of control to him AFTER the fact, which is pretty tricky. This isn't Dodge's first time around the block, he's covering his bases (even if his app has the most typos I've ever seen in an FCC app)

 

[NHRadio]

You're right, but if the Commission can be convinced the applicant is nothing but a "corporate alter ego" for Dodge the character issues are in play.

 

[pqgeorge]

You're right, but if the Commission can be convinced the applicant is nothing but a "corporate alter ego" for Dodge the character issues are in play.

Why don't they just donate it to WMUA? We all know about Dodge's past performance issues with the FCC. Whoever currently owns it should donate it to someone who is more qualified to operate it like WMUA and get a nice tax write off. That's the way it should be dealt with.

 

[NHRadio]

Dodge is putting down 35,000 with the other 65 in seller paper. I bet that loan goes bad fast.