Changes at Lite-fm?

[DToTheJ]

This is what the FCC says: (1) Official station identification shall consist of
the station's call letters immediately followed by the community or
communities specified in its license as the station's location;
Provided, That the name of the licensee, the station's frequency, the
station's channel number, as stated on the station's license, and/or the
station's network affiliation may be inserted between the call letters
and station location.

So "WLTW New York's" includes "WLTW New York" so my guess is that it would pass muster as a legit legal ID.

I guess the FCC is being lax about these rules of late. Across town on 92.3, the TOH ID, at least on weekends, reads as follows:

"It's a free rock weekend...
WFNY-FM... Your home for Opie & Anthony... Radio Chick...
This is 92.3 Free-FM... New York."

 

[nycdavey]

David Eduardo's Quote: "Hardly anyone writes down calls for a music station. They are singularly non-memorable. And I would not want to brand any station by positioning it as "yesterday" as in today's media intensive world, "yesterday" is old and negative.

For PPM, it's a whole new world of branding and marketing. WLTW gets it."

Actually, WLTW is currently using "The Best Variety of Yesterday and Today" as their slogan, so maybe they don't get it as much as you've argued.

 

[nycdavey]

I dunno, I scanned the dial yesterday after 5 PM, and Rich Kaminski talked up the next song by using the old branding - I clearly heard him say the word "Lite". I guess this new mandate is gonna take awhile for even its own personalities to get used to, let alone 20 million people...

That was not a mistake. If you notice, all of the jocks are still saying "Lite FM" one in a while. Just not every break.

 

[Johnny Morgan]

Not unless the city of license is listed as "New York's".

Name for me ONE station who has used similar imaging (and there have been THOUSANDS in the last 40-50 years at least) and gotten an NAL for an illegal ID for simply using a possessive.

The city is "New York" which is contained in the possessive "New York's". Surplusage after the city (other towns served, slogans, even possessives) is not actionable, despite some posters' hyper-technical attempted "gotcha" readings of FCC rules and regulations.

The FCC has been pretty lax about this whole call sign thing, since the AIM of the rule is to permit listeners to know the legal identity of the station. As long as the legal ID substantially comports to the rule and permits listeners to know what station and where they are listening to, the FCC has never made a big deal out of it.

Provided there wasn't a more concise, though less audible version elsewhere within a reasonable time before or after the top of the hour, Free-FM's ID, posted above, is what the rule is trying to prevent--too much extraneous information that distracts the average listener from the necessary legal information of call sign and city of license.

Does an *'s* really distract anyone? Especially when the damn city of license has already been stated.

It's surplusage.

And to show just how lax the FCC has been for decades on this whole thing: Bill Drake cut a liner intoning "From Los Angeles....MORE MUSIC! (sung--KHJ!)" I heard it used on both bottom AND top of the hour IDs in 1968.

KHJ never had their license yanked for that. In fact, to my knowledge, they never got in trouble for it.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

Not unless the city of license is listed as "New York's".

Name for me ONE station who has used similar imaging (and there have been THOUSANDS in the last 40-50 years at least) and gotten an NAL for an illegal ID for simply using a possessive.

The city is "New York" which is contained in the possessive "New York's". Surplusage after the city (other towns served, slogans, even possessives) is not actionable, despite some posters' hyper-technical attempted "gotcha" readings of FCC rules and regulations.

The FCC has been pretty lax about this whole call sign thing, since the AIM of the rule is to permit listeners to know the legal identity of the station. As long as the legal ID substantially comports to the rule and permits listeners to know what station and where they are listening to, the FCC has never made a big deal out of it.

Provided there wasn't a more concise, though less audible version elsewhere within a reasonable time before or after the top of the hour, Free-FM's ID, posted above, is what the rule is trying to prevent--too much extraneous information that distracts the average listener from the necessary legal information of call sign and city of license.

Does an *'s* really distract anyone? Especially when the damn city of license has already been stated.

It's surplusage.

And to show just how lax the FCC has been for decades on this whole thing: Bill Drake cut a liner intoning "From Los Angeles....MORE MUSIC! (sung--KHJ!)" I heard it used on both bottom AND top of the hour IDs in 1968.

KHJ never had their license yanked for that. In fact, to my knowledge, they never got in trouble for it.

Johnny is absolutely correct.

And in fact, "New York's" is completely and totally acceptable. It is not an alteration of the city of license, simply a possessive use of it (totally fine). Actually, once the "WLTW NEW YORK" part is complete...they can say just about anything they like.

 

[cawasinnj]

Whether the FCC enforces their rules is irrelevant. By their own admission they do not go out and proactively check if the rules are being followed.

Yes, you can put more words after the official COL. Saying "WLTW New York, New Jersey and Connecticut's best variety" for example would be legal. Trying to use "New York's" as the COL cannot be because "York's" is plainly a different word than "York". It doesn't get any easier.

The best thing to do would be to modify the legal ID rule and make it receivable but inaudible in much the same way translators have the option of doing. That will solve everyone's problem.

 

[DToTheJ]

Let's not forget the most famous example of this rule:

The legal ID that reads "WGTZ Eaton/Dayton Alive!" ;D

 

[Johnny Morgan]

Trying to use "New York's" as the COL cannot be because "York's" is plainly a different word than "York". It doesn't get any easier.

It is not. It is the possessive form of the same word. That does not change the city of license at all.

The possessive is surplusage after the city of license. The calls and city of license are there, one after the other. That is all 47 CFR 73.1201 requires. It does not say the city of license may not be made possessive for the purposes of surplusage post-identification.

This hyper-technical reading of the FCC rules by what I assume are laymen as a sort of "gotcha" game is absolutely hilarious.

 

[radiolover78]

It doesn't matter.

The legal ID is still saying WLTW New York's.

So Johnny is correct.

 

[cawasinnj]

Arguing any further is apparently a lost cause. I'll just chalk it up to the poor state of education in this country.

Believe what you want. That won't change the facts. Ask your English teacher the next time you're at your high school reunion.

 

[Jeffrey]

. Trying to use "New York's" as the COL cannot be because "York's" is plainly a different word than "York". It doesn't get any easier.

How is "York's" a different word than "York"? York's is the possesive of York...

 

[neo11]

Arguing any further is apparently a lost cause. I'll just chalk it up to the poor state of education in this country.

Believe what you want. That won't change the facts. Ask your English teacher the next time you're at your high school reunion.

In this case, I believe that you are the one that is mistaken. What I have heard, straight from the mouth of someone at the FCC, is that the legal id must include the call letters and city of license, and if that is done, anything can come immediately afterwards. So, if the phrase includes "WLTW New York", the "s" after New York does not alter the fact that the station aired an ID according to its regulations.

 

[calguy]

Arguing any further is apparently a lost cause. I'll just chalk it up to the poor state of education in this country.

Believe what you want. That won't change the facts. Ask your English teacher the next time you're at your high school reunion.

In this case, I believe that you are the one that is mistaken. What I have heard, straight from the mouth of someone at the FCC, is that the legal id must include the call letters and city of license, and if that is done, anything can come immediately afterwards. So, if the phrase includes "WLTW New York", the "s" after New York does not alter the fact that the station aired an ID according to its regulations.

I hate to say it, because it does sound incorrect, but this practice has been done for years. I worked at a rock station that did this. An example, “W4 is WWWW, Detroit's Best Rock". It may not sound right, but it's been accepted by the FCC for decades.

 

[Johnny Morgan]

Ask your English teacher the next time you're at your high school reunion.

Well, I'm pretty sure that they'd know what complies with 47 CFR 73.1201 better than, say, a practicing lawyer with a boutique FCC practice.

Perhaps...I dunno...MYSELF???

 

[radiolives]

How about call it one of the other names Clear Channel uses for AC/Hot AC's. Maybe "106.7 The River", or how about what XM calls their AC station "106.7 The Blend". Or this one would work fine "Sunny 106.7 FM"

 

[NJMike]

Or this one would work fine "Sunny 106.7 FM"

I like this one the best. They're already half way there with the rainbow graphic and soft fonts in thier logo, not to mention their music/format which fits the name "Sunny" perfectly. It get's rid of their old Lite label and re-brands the station as warm and fresh (no pun intended). Most importantly, it instills a brand image that the station clearly had with Lite.

"New York's Sunny 106.7 - The Best Variety of Yesterday and Today!"

 

[Jeffrey]

Or this one would work fine "Sunny 106.7 FM"

I like this one the best. They're already half way there with the rainbow graphic and soft fonts in thier logo, not to mention their music/format which fits the name "Sunny" perfectly. It get's rid of their old Lite label and re-brands the station as warm and fresh (no pun intended). Most importantly, it instills a brand image that the station clearly had with Lite.

"New York's Sunny 106.7 - The Best Variety of Yesterday and Today!"

You wouldn't find a monkier like "The River" or "Sunny" in a city like New York.