Amazing how in this era of deregulation nobody seems to notice or care about a blatant violation of FCC rules that have been going on for at least 3 weeks now. This one's quite obvious and in addition you can hear their automation either get stuck for hours at a time or hear 2 or 3 things on the air at once continually. I will leave it to the local sluths here to figure out what station it is!
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FCC Rules broken every single day!
- Thread starter Mike Sheridan
- Start date
There is no set of rules on programming content beyond the restrictions on profanity, obscenity, restrictions on advertising certain things like cigarettes and, of course, political ad rules like "lowest unit rate".
Within programming, there is a station ID rule that is enforced very flexibly. There are some requirements on community service like news, public affairs and such, but those are vastly less onerous than they once were.
There is no rule against stupidity and doing things like running two audio sources at once; it is sort of assumed that doing that is bad for business and won't be done on purpose.
During the pandemic, we've seen staff restrictions, financial losses and many other things that have affected station performance. The FCC is not involved in those.
1660 KHz? Heard this the other day while driving to a Job Site. Sounded weird to say the least. Thought maybe it was a harmonic of some sort. I planned to investigate further but by the time I got home it had completely disappeared off the airwaves. I did get home at sunset so that may just be a co-incidence. At least that is what I thought. Steve.
Sorry David none of the above, blatant violation every day...okay big hint every NIGHT!
Nope, not 1660. They are temporarily still off the air I believe. They have lost their tower site. The land was sold!
That is what I thought, so while I was scanning the AM Band that day I was suprised to hear Audio on this Frequency. I remember them selling their Land. I am currently uploading the Footage from my DashCam so I can investigate further. Sounded like 2 or 3 Interviews mixed into the Final Output of An EQ before it reaches a Transmitter. Very strange without a doubt. Steve.
So have you filed a complaint with the FCC? Otherwise, how would they know?
There are a lot of stations that blatantly ignore the rules. Staying on full power past designated power change time to make sure they have a listenable signal for their ballgames. I know of one not to far from me in East Tenn with an automation system so old they dont want to bother with programming it, they let the satellite system run with no local interaction, no ID's for at least 18 hrs a day sometimes longer. I'm not sure if its still a rule or not but some stations don't have any staff on hand during business hours.
In my first radio gig, I lowered power during a ballgame, and then at the proper time switched off the main transmitter, switched on the "flea power" one for night coverage and noted everything on the logs. The next day when I arrived for my shift I was given hell by the woman doing traffic/scheduling as well as the station manager, telling me very clearly that we do NOT do that during ballgames, and that it was against the contracts with both the small network that broadcast those games and with the advertisers. I was still in high school at the time, was anxious to get/keep my foot in the door and I didn't know enough to ask questions. Had that been now I'd have handled it differently, or at least made certain notations on the logs before putting my signature on the line.
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Logging can be completely automated and a station owner can run everything with no employees. Automated logging is legal, and there is equipment and software that will notify if there is a problem and shut down if out of legal parameters.
A lot of the violations of FCC rules in the last year have been due to the horrible turn-down in revenues due to the pandemic plus what was an ongoing decline in revenue overall after adjusting for inflation.
This is particularly pronounced on "bad" AM stations that are daytimers, graveyarders or low power high on the dial. Some barely stay on the air, others are on the air just to justify an LPFM. For every WBZ or WLW, there are 50 or so AMs that are worthless except as an excuse for a translator.
The FCC would do a service by allowing translator operators to elect to turn off the AM.
From fcc.gov:
Please notify the FCC if you are suspicious of or are aware of an unauthorized radio station operation:
Consumers: File a complaint online at: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov
Licensees and Public Safety Entities:
If you are only complaining about unauthorized operations, file a complaint at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov
If you are complaining about unauthorized operations and harmful interference to a licensed service, file a complaint online at PSIX-ESIX Homepage - PSIX-ESIX
You also have these options for filing a consumer complaint:
By phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322); TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)
By mail (please include your name, address, contact information, and as much detail about your complaint as possible):
Please notify the FCC if you are suspicious of or are aware of an unauthorized radio station operation:
Consumers: File a complaint online at: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov
Licensees and Public Safety Entities:
If you are only complaining about unauthorized operations, file a complaint at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov
If you are complaining about unauthorized operations and harmful interference to a licensed service, file a complaint online at PSIX-ESIX Homepage - PSIX-ESIX
You also have these options for filing a consumer complaint:
By phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322); TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)
By mail (please include your name, address, contact information, and as much detail about your complaint as possible):
Way ahead of you and yes it was a daytimer with a translator operating 24 hours. Not only was the FCC notified but also the station that occupies said clear channel frequency. It took the FCC or the station some time to get around to it but I do notice the station isn't on tonight.
On past sunset tonight....
A daytimer can legally operate a translator even when the AM isn't on air.
Yes of course...but the AM is on the air. I understand the confusion based on the wording in my reply to David above. Sorry about that. Again the AM is on well past the hours specified in their license.
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Station reported to FCC back in March, station still in violation! The FCC is a joke!
K
kenglish
Guest
Nope. That's only used for jaywalkers and people who have a beer after work. You know...."important stuff".
The FCC has, what, seven enforcement people in the field. Last I checked, Utah had 7,000 uniformed cops.
Since you did not mention exactly which station on 1660 in NC I looked up the only licensed on 1660 in the state and see that WJBX-AM 1660 is listed as licensed and silent.
Notwithstanding the grant of this Special Temporary Authority, the broadcast license for Station WJBX(AM) will automatically expire as a matter of law if broadcast operations do not resume by 12:01 a.m., January 1, 2022.
Notwithstanding the grant of this Special Temporary Authority, the broadcast license for Station WJBX(AM) will automatically expire as a matter of law if broadcast operations do not resume by 12:01 a.m., January 1, 2022.
And that is the Charlotte station.
I'm wondering now what the point was. This is supposed to be the station that started out as WGIV on 1600. It didn't have much of a signal. But WGIV made a comeback on 1370 and some translators.
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