High School Sports On Radio

[WCWalker]

Do any of the Pittsburgh area stations routinely carry any high school sports? More specifically, which high schools get their games on the radio and which don't?

 

[Johnny Morgan]

WJPA AM & FM carries football, basketball, wrestling, hockey (I think; I know they once did), and baseball for the western Washington County schools (Wash High, Trinity, McGuffey, Canon-Mac, Burgettstown, Avella, Peters Twp.).

The AM/FM combo allows them to run simultaneous games, or, if there's only one match, run the game on the AM and keep the oldies going on FM.

The AM also has Steelers and Pirates clearance; the FM has Wild Things minor league flagship rights.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Do any of the Pittsburgh area stations routinely carry any high school sports? More specifically, which high schools get their games on the radio and which don't?

North Hills high school games are carried on 73 WPIT. 1360 WPTT carries a 'game of the week', featuring schools such as Penn Hills, Thomas Jefferson, Rochester, but nothing exclusive. I believe they carried the Duquesne games when they went to the playoffs last year. WLSW also carries a game of the week, mainly schools in the Fay-West area, but again, nothing exclusive.

 

[WCWalker]

This is excellent info. Thanks. I am thinking that many suburban locations don't have their games carried on the radio and one or more of these high schools might be receptive to the idea of my part 15 station carrying their games.

 

[kenhawk1160]

This is excellent info. Thanks. I am thinking that many suburban locations don't have their games carried on the radio and one or more of these high schools might be receptive to the idea of my part 15 station carrying their games.

Good luck.

 

[WCWalker]

The new Part 15 AM station in East Liverpool is starting to work on getting high school sports on their station. I will be interested to see how that works out.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Some of these games are carried on AM stations using PSSA authority with not much more power than Part 15.

 

[WCWalker]

Freddy, please forgive my ignorance on this subject. What exactly is PSSA Authority?

 

[kenhawk1160]

Freddy, please forgive my ignorance on this subject. What exactly is PSSA Authority?

William:

PSSA means post-sunset authority. PSRA means pre-sunrise authority. I'll explain them both to you.

PSRA/PSSA were handed down to former daytime-only AM stations in the mid to late 80's to allow them to keep their broadcast hours consistent during the varying changes of sunrise and sunset each year. It was enacted partly in response to local daytimers claiming that they needed more revenue to survive expensive regulatory mandates, and they couldn't get that revenue if they weren't allowed to go on the air until 7:45AM during the month of January.

Thus, PSRA allows stations to sign on at greatly reduced power two hours before local sunrise for that month. PSSA allows stations to sign off two hours after local sunset, giving these same stations opportunities to offer more service to their communities with the extended hours.

People often confuse PSSA with nighttime operation. The two are NOT the same. I've found that some stations with PSRA/PSSA authorization at the time actually wished they kept it...because their authorized nighttime operation was much less than their PSRA/PSSA, and before the advent of LPB transmitters, this was extremely hard on their full-power transmitters because it actually cost more in maintenance costs to run on that lower power than it did to run it higher. They just weren't that efficient.

Now that we have those little 'breadbox' transmitters, as well as much more efficient full power ones, it's gotten much better. You can actually afford to run at 25 watts at night and not have it kill your transmitter.

 

[WCWalker]

Thanks for responding Ken. Yep, I've heard of both and have some understanding of them but I just was not familiar with the acronym for either.

Some part 15 stations that synch multiple units actually do have ranges greater than some of those PSSA stations at night!

 

[kenhawk1160]

Thanks for responding Ken. Yep, I've heard of both and have some understanding of them but I just was not familiar with the acronym for either.

Some part 15 stations that synch multiple units actually do have ranges greater than some of those PSSA stations at night!

That's quite true. Some AM's with that level of low power are so weak that the operator can barely hear himself in the studio when he's on the air.

Back in the day, there actually was a small handful of engineers out there who, after PSSA/PSRA rules went into effect, were savvy enough to build their own low-powered AM transmitters. Yes, legally. There's not much to them. You build it, field-test it and submit the forms and test results into the FCC for Type Acceptance, which is usually given for use of that device on that station only. All you would have to do is build an antenna switch between the high-powered main and the homebrew low-power unit.

 

[Radio_Realist]

If you are going to base a business plan around carrying local school sports, I'd recommend talking to the school boards involved first. You might see carrying the local high school football or basketball team on a low powered station (and selling commercials on the broadcast) as nothing but a positive thing for the school, but the elected school boards might see that very differently.

You might see it as "good for the kids". They might see it as hurting ticket and printed program ad sales.

You might see it as "positive exposure". They might see it as negative, especially if it's a large, consolidated school district that includes both the small town your signal will reach, plus the large tracts of surrounding it that your signal won't reach.

You might see it as no problem or expense for the school. They might see it as meaning making accomodations for someone to do play-by-play.

Also, have you figured out how to do remote broadcasts for away games from facilities with no provisions for phone lines at all? WJPA used to use a mixer baord attached to an old 3-watt cellular "bag" phone for such games.

Those aren't problems that cannot be solved or negotiated away, but they are things you should address before you start shopping for a transmitter site.

 

[WCWalker]

Ken: I've often thought there might be a market for a FCC Type Accepted Part 15 AM unit or units in the hands of these stations. They can be used as Translators for the main signal. In fact, if licensed LPAM ever becomes a reality I plan to utilize Part 15 AM transmitters in that manner to increase the range of my station at night and possibly expand into nearby communities that the main signal will not adequately cover.

Radio Realist. Thanks for the tips. Some of these I've already implemented and others I will plan to utilize after I get by the initial research phase. Previously, in other states I've found some school districts receptive to the idea and others were not. Clearly it will be hit or miss and I will likely choose a location that wants their games on the radio.

 

[Radio_Realist]

I will likely choose a location that wants their games on the radio.

Just keep in mind that for any school, there will be some people who participate in making the decision who do want "their" games on the radio, and others who don't want "their" games on the radio. It's not like one person makes that call. You'll need the approval of the school board and/or the administration, plus the cooperation and support of the athletic director and the individual sports' coaches. I don't envy you the task of dealing with the elected official on the school board (and re-negotiating every time new people get elected), nor of having to deal with the appointed administrators and coaches.