FCC makes decisions on old MX'ed applications

[webcastboy]

The FCC announced today 76 cases of MX'ed NCE applications dating back many years. It's not every MX'ed situation, though.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb

Locally it appears only two cases were relevant. It appears that WUMB is going to get 550watts on 91.7 in Marshfield, instead of the Talking Information Center.

However, WUMB apparently will not get the 1kW on 91.3 in Orleans they wanted; Lower Cape Communications (WOMR) is getting 750 watts there instead.

Construction Permits have not been issued yet, so the applications still appear as "Accepted for Filing" in the CDBS. But I imagine that'll update fairly soon.

Also, supposedly it's confirmed that the next filing window for new & major change NCE applications will be this October.

 

[Neggy]

effn U Mass won't be happy till they own every spot on the spectrum. The T.I.C. is far more worthy of that allocation.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

effn U Mass won't be happy till they own every spot on the spectrum.

I don't think the school actually cares so much about owning more small relay transmitters, I think it's more just the station GM, but they'll go along with it.

I'm glad WOMR didn't lose out. She was trying to get them for years. Not only the new 91.3 application, but kept making offers to buy their main station at 92.1 also. They wouldn't sell.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

Damn f*ing Umass.. like Neggy said.. the TIC deserves it alot more then they do. This is just like spitting in Ed perry's face.

However, good for WOMR!

 

[webcastboy]

I personally know several of the top staff at both WUMB and TIC so I can see the pluses and minuses of either side winning. Frankly, I'm just glad another hole has been filled and it's NOT filled with another goddamn religious broadcaster (esp. after what WSMA did to WZBC's fringe coverage).

Still, there's a part of me that wonders exactly what TIC would air on that signal...I tremendously respect what they do, but I don't really think that reading a newspaper belongs on a public broadcast. That's what subcarriers (or FMeXtra) are for.

Admittedly...in Orleans I have to think WOMR is more "deserving" since WUMB already has WFPB-AM...even if WFPB is inferior to any FM application.

Since in both cases both sets of applicants could be considered "deserving" I would hope the winner, assuming they install HD Radio, would be gracious enough to rent a multicast channel at a reasonable rate. Yes, HD Radio isn't as good as analog...YET. Transmitter issues have to be viewed within a 10-20 year timeline. 10 years from now HD Radio should be faaaaarrr more prevalent.

Re-reading the actual FCC determination of how many points each applicant was granted...it appears that TIC definitely lost, but WOMR did not definitely win. The Orleans MX situation is moving to a tiebreaker round.

_________________________________________________

WUMB vs. TIC
192. Group 990512. This group consists of the mutually exclusive applications of University of Massachusetts (“UMass”) and The Talking Information Center (“TIC”). Both applicants propose to serve the community of Marshfield, Massachusetts.

UMass and TIC each claimed three points as an established local applicant.

UMass and TIC each claimed two points for diversity of ownership. As discussed supra, however, TIC erroneously excluded the broadcast interests of one of its board members. We have determined that TIC is thus not eligible to receive any points under this criterion. 224

No applicant claimed points as a statewide network.

With respect to technical parameters, UMass’s proposed 60 dBu contour would encompass 306 square kilometers with a population of 78,910. TIC’s proposed 60 dBu contour would encompass 452 square kilometers with a population of 59,682. One technical point is awarded to the applicant that serves at least 10 percent more area and population than the second best proposal. Two points are awarded under this criterion on the basis of a 25 percent differential. Neither applicant qualifies for any points under this criterion.

Accordingly, UMass is credited with a total of 5 points, and TIC is credited with a total of 3 points. Thus, UMass is the prevailing tentative selectee in Group 990512. A tie-breaker analysis is not necessary.

WOMR vs. WUMB
193. Group 990607. This group consists of the mutually exclusive applications of Lower Cape Communications, Inc. (“LCC”) and University of Massachusetts, Boston (“UMass”). Both applicants propose to serve the community of Orleans, Massachusetts.

LCC and UMass certified that they qualify for three points each as established local applicants.

LCC claimed two points for diversity of ownership. UMass certified that it is not eligible for any points under this criterion.

UMass claimed two points as a statewide network. LCC certified that it is not eligible for any points under this criterion.

With respect to technical parameters, LCC’s 60 dBu contour would encompass 356 square kilometers with a population of 57,024. UMass’s proposed 60 dBu contour would encompass 346 square kilometers with a population of 50,309. One technical point is awarded to the applicant that serves at least 10 percent more area and population than the second best proposal. Two points are awarded under this criterion on the basis of a 25 percent differential. Neither applicant qualifies for any points under this criterion.

Accordingly, LCC and UMass are credited with a total of 5 points each. Both applications will proceed to a tie-breaker.

 

[Neggy]

I'd love to know where U Mass is planning on putting a transmitter and antenna in MarshVegas.

I assure you the town will NOT be receptive to it, there is a municipal airport there (GHG is the designation and it is where I fly out of) and Ed Perry owns the only tower space in town.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Still, there's a part of me that wonders exactly what TIC would air on that signal...I tremendously respect what they do, but I don't really think that reading a newspaper belongs on a public broadcast. That's what subcarriers (or FMeXtra) are for.

You're not TIC's audience. You're not a visually impaired person. You can't determine what programming best serves them, or belongs on airwaves geared toward them. You can read a newspaper. A blind person can't. I'm sure that there are visually impaired people within the range of WVBF 1530 AM in Middleborough, or some of the outlying suburban college stations that air TIC when no students are doing programming, who are very glad that they can "hear" the newspaper that way.

Also, be realistic about the availability and affordability of receivers for alternate broadcasting technologies at this time. Though many visually impared people hold down jobs, there's also a higher percentage of them who can't when compared to sighted people. Many live on low income or subsidies. Expecting visually impaired people to have to purchase subcarrier receivers, FMeXtra, or HD radios in order to hear programming serving their needs is not realistic at this time, especially when an independent station owner was proposing to serve them with a conventional FM station that they could easily hear on any FM radio.

And, though the station may have been able to garner some charitable grants or a bit of underwriting, you know that Ed Perry would not have made any significant money from it. He probably would have lost money on it, and done it out of his own benevolence. All because an aggressive, encroaching professional public radio music station in Boston wants to try to get a few more fundraiser pledges in that area from people who are not satisfied with the signals from either their Quincy, Falmouth or Orleans transmitters, which CAN be heard there, though maybe not with pristine crystal-clear local quality.

 

[webcastboy]

Why guess when you can know! From the lat/long given in their application, it looks like a water tank at the end of Duffers Lane...about a 1/2 NNW of the Marshfield Country Club, and smack between Rt.3 and Rt.3A in Marshfield itself.

Check out Google Maps: http://tinyurl.com/2ybgsa

 

[webcastboy]

Expecting visually impaired people to have to purchase subcarrier receivers, FMeXtra, or HD radios in order to hear programming serving their needs is not realistic at this time

Okay, $200 for an HD Radio or FMeXtra radio? I can understand that being "too expensive". But a subcarrier radio is like $20 or $30. If you can't afford that, then I don't buy that you CAN afford a regular FM radio that'll receive such a small signal to begin with.

And while I heartily agree that the purpose was noble, the FCC does not judge on nobility. It judges based on serving your community of license. According to the American Foundation for the Blind, there are 1.3 million people who're "legally blind" in America today. There are approximately 300 million people in America altogether, so that's 0.4% of the population. According to the 2000 Census, Marshfield's population is 24,324.

Obviously this is oversimplification, but I think it's inappropriate for a station to aim to serve only 105 people (0.4% of 24324) in an entire area. How often does this list decry college radio stations that do the same thing (only aim to serve a tiny fraction (their campus) of the entire city of license)?

And let's not forget - Ed runs TIC on the WATD subcarrier doesn't he? So everyone in that area DOES get TIC service.

I'm not saying that I vehemently feel that WUMB deserved the CP over TIC. I feel pretty much 50-50 on that. But I do strongly feel that all this hatred of WUMB is completely unjustified.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Okay, $200 for an HD Radio or FMeXtra radio? I can understand that being "too expensive". But a subcarrier radio is like $20 or $30. If you can't afford that, then I don't buy that you CAN afford a regular FM radio that'll receive such a small signal to begin with.

And let's not forget - Ed runs TIC on the WATD subcarrier doesn't he? So everyone in that area DOES get TIC service.

Subcarrier receivers are affordable, but not all that easy to purchase. Unlike conventional FM radios (and now even HD radios), I don't think they can be found at department stores such as Target, Walmart, Best Buy or Circuit City. I don't even recall seeing one at Radio Shack. They have to be purchased at specialty electronics stores, through certain organizations that supply them, or directly from companies that manufacture them. This can make it more difficult for some people to acquire them, so although the service is currently on the air in the area, I wouldn't say that everyone in the area can readily get it.

 

[webcastboy]

This can make it more difficult for some people to acquire them, so although the service is currently on the air in the area, I wouldn't say that everyone in the area can readily get it.

Your logic is correct but it's in the wrong context. At the risk of a bad analogy...it's sort of like saying, although cable TV is available in the area, it's not sold at Target or Best Buy so it's not "readily available". When you want cable TV, you don't go to the people who sell you a television...you go to the cable TV provider.

Radio Reading Services are designed on a similar model...when you want an RRS like TIC, you go to the RRS provider and ask them to sell you a radio. Most RRS services function in this manner - selling SCA radios. Sometimes the radios are subsidized so the RRS service can give away the radios cheaper or even free...but regardless...the listeners are getting the radios from the RRS.

There's good reason for this, too...technically a tunable SCA receiver is illegal. So usually when you get an SCA radio from an RRS, the radio cannot be tuned; it's fixed to whatever the RRS's transmitter frequency is. The ones you frequently see on eBay are illegal but it's so harmless these days that the FCC doesn't enforce it much.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/subcarriers/

We're arguing this from two opposite mindsets here. You're assuming that a Radio Reading Service is considered a public broadcast service and therefore is deserving of airing on a regular AM or FM broadcast outlet. I'm saying what the FCC says: while there's no rule prohibiting an RRS from being on a regular AM or FM broadcast outlet, the feeling is that RRS's fall under the schema of private broadcast service and therefore are best utilized on a subcarrier. I quote the FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/1988--10--28--readsvc.html
Section II-A-3: "A radio reading service is an aural service provided primarily for the blind and visually impaired through the use of an FM licensee's subcarrier capacity."

Again, it's not that I think TIC isn't a noble enterprise...I think it's really great what they're doing; I know some of the people involved personally and they do a great job. But to argue that TIC programming is appropriate for FM airtime is dubious at best - it's not unlike saying airing TV programming on the radio is appropriate. Technically you can do it...and it sort-of works for the listener...but it's not really "ideal programming" for the majority of the listeners in a given region...only for a tiny niche that already can be served through an established method.

 

[Neggy]

KNowing the people involved in TIC, I assure you that the reading would be just one part of thier offerings.

 

[kalimba]

Seems like TIC would have tied in the point system if they hadn't been docked over what sounds like a technicality.

Also, how could WUMB claim "diversity of ownership" on the Marshfielf app, but not on the Orleans app?

 

[webcastboy]

Also, how could WUMB claim "diversity of ownership" on the Marshfield app, but not on the Orleans app?

You know, I've been wondering that myself. The applications WERE filed at different times. Maybe the circumstances changed? "Ownership" is, presumably, comprised of the UMass Board of Trustees...whose makeup does change from time to time. Anybody know for sure?

FWIW, I suppose it could also have to do with WUMB already owning WFPB-AM in Orleans...but not owning any stations in Marshfield (or any stations that have a protected service contour that covers Marshfield)

Knowing the people involved in TIC, I assure you that the reading would be just one part of their offerings.

That's good to know. Although I wonder if such a thing was made clear to the FCC. In theory the type of programming shouldn't be factored into the point system...but still, if it wasn't made clear you'd think such a bias trap would be easy to fall into. Certainly I did. :-[