They still need to fund their operations. To do that, they need to reach some type of sustainable audience. When you don't have enough power to do that and your existence creates more crowding on an already overcrowded dial, this undercuts the viability of LPFM for any purpose.
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"Fake News" in the LPFM department
- Thread starter davideduardo
- Start date
They still need to fund their operations. To do that, they need to reach some type of sustainable audience. When you don't have enough power to do that and your existence creates more crowding on an already overcrowded dial, this undercuts the viability of LPFM for any purpose.
H
Hit By the Door
Guest
With a days reflection, I'm back for an apology and a goodbye. First to David and Frank, thank you for pulling my old account. I chose to re-up simply to offer this. I trust it will be received as intended. No excuses, just candor. To b-turner and David, I hope you'll accept my apology. Thank you for the work you do and the contributions that you make. Lately, I'm finding more and more that the stresses from dealing with family health issues have at time brought out the very worst of me. Not intended as an excuse. More directly to the point, yesterday has shown that I've reached a place where I need to move on from following an industry I once dearly loved. It has changed. As have I. Neither are the same as when I first visited a radio station with my dad in 1963, when I first heard myself on the air at that station in January 1968 as a Cub Scout reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or just out of high school when I pulled my first air shift on again that very same station in 1978. I don't think like the industry does now. Looking back, perhaps I never did. Most days as I click on one of the radio industry news websites I feel like a stranger in a land I love. I seem to speak a different language -- think a different way. The names I see are strangers to me. I don't belong here. Again, apologies and thanks. But it's time.
To Hit By The Door: Apology accepted wholeheartedly. And I extend my apology for bringing you to that point. It was not my intent. I admire you for even offering an apology. It speaks volumes about you, all good and exceptional.
I love the handle, Hit By The Door. I love the humor and wit behind that.
I gather from your post, you are like me, passionate about radio. I too began in radio in 1978. I started in Eagle Pass, Texas at the only English language station on the dial in that border town. My first song was Surrender by Cheap Trick. I am nostalgic about the days of playing 45s, firing off cart machines and reading news off the AP teletype. The phone constantly rang with requests and people stopped by the station on a regular basis. It was so much fun you sometimes were astounded somebody would pay you to do it.
Before radio I ran a 100 mw. station in the garage from 6th grade forward. I was almost on a first name basis at Radio Shack. I'd even collect soft drink bottles all week to cash in to buy the latest top 40 hits for the playlist. I rewrote news from local newspapers, etc. Eventually I got a job at a record store and the record reps gave me promos for the little flea powered station that maybe got a block or two.
Radio has changed dramatically since those days. For those of us that lived it, we tend to say radio has not changed for the better. Maybe that's because radio became so calculated that it seemed the fun, to use your handle, got hit by the door on the way out.
For me, I wanted to be a jock. When a station decided to replace me for a guy making less money, I was married and had to take anything I could get. The station across the street offered me a position in sales. I hated sales. I really struggled the first year but had a good boss that taught me. In time I began to relish having a regular schedule, getting to go home for Christmas and stuff like that. Then the call came to manage a station. I jumped. I went to 15 hour days and struggled to build back a station to it's former glory only to find I had been hired to be the caretaker until a new buyer was found. A couple of gigs later I was in a major market, rather overwhelmed and at another struggling station. Luckily the boss treated me like his son and taught me so much. I've been a that station almost 25 years. I'm not a person the industry remembers, just a guy in the trenches back in the shadows of the stations that have the limelight. I haven't realized ownership yet but I hope to in the near future. I'm one of those that has radio in his blood and I know retirement will mean I'll still do radio. To quote a radio guy I worked with that was in his 70s, when asked when he will retire, said the day he retired was after he read his obituary on the air.
Your post says you have passion for the business. I hope you won't leave. Many small town stations and many LPFM stations operate in much the same way radio did back then. They haven't lost the feel of radio you remember. I'm not saying bigger stations are bad but rather that there's so much at stake, every move must be thoroughly researched and calculated to leverage yourself among competitors.
I love the handle, Hit By The Door. I love the humor and wit behind that.
I gather from your post, you are like me, passionate about radio. I too began in radio in 1978. I started in Eagle Pass, Texas at the only English language station on the dial in that border town. My first song was Surrender by Cheap Trick. I am nostalgic about the days of playing 45s, firing off cart machines and reading news off the AP teletype. The phone constantly rang with requests and people stopped by the station on a regular basis. It was so much fun you sometimes were astounded somebody would pay you to do it.
Before radio I ran a 100 mw. station in the garage from 6th grade forward. I was almost on a first name basis at Radio Shack. I'd even collect soft drink bottles all week to cash in to buy the latest top 40 hits for the playlist. I rewrote news from local newspapers, etc. Eventually I got a job at a record store and the record reps gave me promos for the little flea powered station that maybe got a block or two.
Radio has changed dramatically since those days. For those of us that lived it, we tend to say radio has not changed for the better. Maybe that's because radio became so calculated that it seemed the fun, to use your handle, got hit by the door on the way out.
For me, I wanted to be a jock. When a station decided to replace me for a guy making less money, I was married and had to take anything I could get. The station across the street offered me a position in sales. I hated sales. I really struggled the first year but had a good boss that taught me. In time I began to relish having a regular schedule, getting to go home for Christmas and stuff like that. Then the call came to manage a station. I jumped. I went to 15 hour days and struggled to build back a station to it's former glory only to find I had been hired to be the caretaker until a new buyer was found. A couple of gigs later I was in a major market, rather overwhelmed and at another struggling station. Luckily the boss treated me like his son and taught me so much. I've been a that station almost 25 years. I'm not a person the industry remembers, just a guy in the trenches back in the shadows of the stations that have the limelight. I haven't realized ownership yet but I hope to in the near future. I'm one of those that has radio in his blood and I know retirement will mean I'll still do radio. To quote a radio guy I worked with that was in his 70s, when asked when he will retire, said the day he retired was after he read his obituary on the air.
Your post says you have passion for the business. I hope you won't leave. Many small town stations and many LPFM stations operate in much the same way radio did back then. They haven't lost the feel of radio you remember. I'm not saying bigger stations are bad but rather that there's so much at stake, every move must be thoroughly researched and calculated to leverage yourself among competitors.
The lack of knowledge really hurts many LPFM stations.
I know one operator that started his station out of his home. He had many calls from people claiming all of this experience in radio that could really put him on the map. They were eager to volunteer. In reality, they were seeking to grab his coattails and enjoy the ride. One salesperson went out and worked a bunch of trades for he and his friends. It was when these businesses called the LPFM angry their Underwriting was not airing that revealed the truth. In fact this fellow was claiming to own the station. After being found out, this guy began a smear campaign on social media against the station.
Many of the stations have nobody but themselves and a group of other stations that are in the same boat to talk to. I find these folks are very sincere and very serious about being FCC compliant but are simply overwhelmed. The problem is they can't distinguish between the real help and the sources that claim help but offer nothing. Most of these stations have become skittish about any outside help as a result. The truth is if they stay with it, they'll learn what they need to know. Some of us just want to save them from the mistakes we made along the way.
The other day an LPFM asked if it was okay to use 'call to action' in a post for an Underwriter on their website. I told them the good rule of thumb was if the FCC didn't require a license for it, it did not regulate it. That's a good example of how overwhelmed yet how sincere these folks are about doing things right. I was just happy they asked.
I know one operator that started his station out of his home. He had many calls from people claiming all of this experience in radio that could really put him on the map. They were eager to volunteer. In reality, they were seeking to grab his coattails and enjoy the ride. One salesperson went out and worked a bunch of trades for he and his friends. It was when these businesses called the LPFM angry their Underwriting was not airing that revealed the truth. In fact this fellow was claiming to own the station. After being found out, this guy began a smear campaign on social media against the station.
Many of the stations have nobody but themselves and a group of other stations that are in the same boat to talk to. I find these folks are very sincere and very serious about being FCC compliant but are simply overwhelmed. The problem is they can't distinguish between the real help and the sources that claim help but offer nothing. Most of these stations have become skittish about any outside help as a result. The truth is if they stay with it, they'll learn what they need to know. Some of us just want to save them from the mistakes we made along the way.
The other day an LPFM asked if it was okay to use 'call to action' in a post for an Underwriter on their website. I told them the good rule of thumb was if the FCC didn't require a license for it, it did not regulate it. That's a good example of how overwhelmed yet how sincere these folks are about doing things right. I was just happy they asked.
As a 21-year "refugee" from Intel I can tell you virtually all of the motivational speakers over the years were due to some suit expecting an uplifting experience from one of these 'miracle' workers. In fact, virtually all of the time the audience went away thinking "well, that was an expensive waste of time".
I've been involved in helping a few LPFM's get on the air and none of them have PPM encoders, yet all are still plugging along and paying the bills. If a given market is large enough to warrant PPM it probably means an LPFM covers maybe 5% of that audience with their 60 dbu contour. The two stations you point out probably got those ratings due to one single PPM panelist tuning in to the LPFM in each case. While none of us really know the whole story behind Arbitron's methods, I think it's safe to assume that you lose a lot of granularity when ratings are in the noise.
Not that it really matters. LPFM's are not going to sell underwriting based on Arbitron no matter what.
Dave B.
Corporate owned radio. The case made by proponents was this would be locally owned radio, designed to serve a hyper-local area. But yes, it's a lot more expensive to run than an internet station, excluding music royalties.
Initially the LPFM proposal was for 1,000 watts at I think 100 meters maximum and a commercial service. The idea was to have locally owned stations that by their very nature had to program for the local area. I think there was a requirement that you could not own any other radio stations. It seems that was quickly lowered to 100 watts at 30 meters and a non-commercial status, one to a customer and only to non-profit organizations with rigid requirements on the residency of the governing board. It was the full power broadcaster that had a problem with the initial plan. The easy, lesser investment option meant the bar for entry was too low for their liking (considering all they went through to get their full power station) and a commercial 1kw FM could actually financially hurt of local full power station.
Some LPFM doing very well, serve the community well and function pretty much as I suspect the FCC had hoped. Some are hobby stations. Many more are religious mouthpieces for a certain flavor of religion and there are some that are really struggling. In essence, there are LPFM stations that function virtually identically to the small market station with tons of local info on the air. Some actually cover full counties.
I hear people yell and scream about the bad coverage yet the LPFM might reach 50,000 people in the 60 dbu and have honed in on a segment of those folks. Compared to a rural small town station, the audience size is about the same or more and some do just about as well. It's all about how many you reach and what you do with that. The coverage area is no big deal if you have a concentrated population or you super serve your coverage area.
Some LPFM doing very well, serve the community well and function pretty much as I suspect the FCC had hoped. Some are hobby stations. Many more are religious mouthpieces for a certain flavor of religion and there are some that are really struggling. In essence, there are LPFM stations that function virtually identically to the small market station with tons of local info on the air. Some actually cover full counties.
I hear people yell and scream about the bad coverage yet the LPFM might reach 50,000 people in the 60 dbu and have honed in on a segment of those folks. Compared to a rural small town station, the audience size is about the same or more and some do just about as well. It's all about how many you reach and what you do with that. The coverage area is no big deal if you have a concentrated population or you super serve your coverage area.
Actually, it was the pro-LPFM (i.e. social justice movement) folks that fought against the LP-1000 and commercial aspects.
Those aspects of the proposed LPFM service were written by Rodger Skinner, a LPTV speculator as a part of RM-9242. After the FCC reached the decision that LPFM would remain noncommercial, Skinner declared LPFM dead (including a tombstone on his website).
The other petition, RM-9208 was written by hobbyists who originally wanted 1-watt stations spaced in a "cellular" fashion and then after advice from others including myself, was re-written to be more of a 10 and 100 watt proposal.
While all of this was going on, the social justice movement (United Church of Christ, National Lawyers Guild, Prometheus Radio Project, etc.) were lobbying, staging protests and directly interacting with Commissioners and other decisionmakers.
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