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FCC Rule Change?

J

Johnny Marchese

I've heard somewhere a rumor that the FCC is almost ready to require all talk stations staff boards
24/7 because of a syndicated show host that uttered a profanity that unstaffed stations could not dump. Is there any truth to this? This after the station I work at cut overnight staffing? They would have to cut elsewhere!
 
My question was where the people at the syndicator's end to make the dump... I figure that's what a lot of stations are operating on the pretense of... that the syndicator has enough brains to make a dump before it hits the bird (even though it falls to the stations to catch it)
 
Johnny Marchese said:
I've heard somewhere a rumor that the FCC is almost ready to require all talk stations staff boards
24/7 because of a syndicated show host that uttered a profanity that unstaffed stations could not dump. Is there any truth to this? This after the station I work at cut overnight staffing? They would have to cut elsewhere!
Click to expand...

Half of what you heard is correct.

In two separate proceedings the Commission has proposed a physical presence at a broadcasting facility -- at all stations, not just talk stations -- during all hours of operation. The possibility has nothing to do with profanity.

The first reference to proposed new rules is in the Digital Audio Broadcasting FNPRM, released May 31, 2007. See paragraphs 118-120, page 48 at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-33A1.pdf. Radio World did an article on the issue at http://radioworld.com/pages/s.0046/t.10470.html.

The second reference is in the Localism NPRM, published in the Federal Register on February 13, 2008. See paragraphs 28-29, pages 15-16 (radio) and paragraph 87, page 11 (television) at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-218A1.pdf.

The most short-sighted statement of the Commission comes in the second document. The Commissioners state that, "Requiring that all radio stations be attended can only increase the ability of the station to provide information of a local nature to the community of license."

Wrong.

Lost on the Commissioners is the likelihood that stations in small and medium markets will sign off in the overnights, due to the economic hardship such a rule change would inevitably cause. A station that is off the air cannot carry carry any EAS message. An on-the-air unattended station can still relay EAS messages -- assuming emergency responders would ever embrace the capabilities of the existing system. The effectiveness of the current EAS is an entirely different issue, also presently under review by the Commission.

Requiring that all radio stations be attended will likely decrease the ability of the small stations to provide information of a local nature to the community of license -- they won't be on the air.

You can file comments on the proposal (hopefully, opposing) via the FCC Web site.
 
This is why I posted on this board because I knew I could get answers on this. First, I work at a station who until recently had 24/7 manning, and we were able to get info on the air during the overnight, but it was not enough to keep spending bucks while we are trying to work on signal issues and stick needs to be moved soon. On the idea of the syndicator dumping profanity, the syndicator we use for overnight can't even have board ops that run a good ship. They are a big NY station, and sound like they are being run by people who constantly fall asleep at the console. This station probabally would take the downtime option, and I would agree with that wholeheartedly. Thanks for the info guys!!
 
Johnny Marchese said:
On the idea of the syndicator dumping profanity, the syndicator we use for overnight can't even have board ops that run a good ship.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that a safe harbor applies to indecent or profane material broadcast between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (obscene material is always illegal to broadcast, though I cannot even recall the last time obscentity was alleged in the broadcast media). Therfore, overnight profanity is of very little legal concern.
 
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