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How Can Stations NOT Serve Their COL ??

C

Captain Fantastic

Guest
How is it nowadays that a station doesn't have to serve the city or community that they are really licensed to ? There are many such examples of this , but for this post I will touch on this one : WKXI - Magee / Jackson . This was the old 107.5 freq that used to be WSJC-FM - Magee . The station is STILL a Magee station that was sold and moved to Jackson. It is STILL licensed to MAGEE , MISSISSIPPI . But , do you ever hear anything of local interest to Magee / Mendenhall or Simpson County on the air ....NO , YOU DON'T !!!! ..... and you won't !!! So , is this legal and if so how ?????????????
 
It's perfectly legal, as long as you say "WKXI-FM Magee-Jackson".. and drop in some 30 minute public affairs junk on early Sunday mornings, the FCC doesn't really care.

The days of a 100KW FM serving their tiny lil' city of license and ignoring a major city are over, it's the other way around now.

Mind you, I disagree, but thems just the breaks.
 
Yeah that "the airwaves belong to the public" stuff doesn't really count now, unfortunatly, it's all "just business" now I'd say. Corporations have taken over and the creative people have been sent packing.

Of course the price has been high, terrestrial radio listening is off, especially for young people. And they'll probably never return.
 
The city grade requirement is being met, so, what's yer beef? I've been in the biz over 30 years, and don't ever recall any checks coming from the federal, state, or city government coming into any station I worked at. It's always been a business.
 
Yeah, radio is not about serving the customers of some hick town, when you can't get enough advertising revenue to buy lunch
at their local McDonald's. ;D
 
tzbarber said:
The city grade requirement is being met, so, what's yer beef? I've been in the biz over 30 years, and don't ever recall any checks coming from the federal, state, or city government coming into any station I worked at. It's always been a business.
Click to expand...

Amen to that!

Small-town stations have difficulty making money. And if there is more money to be made by moving into a larger city, do not tell me any decent businessman/woman would not do it!

Unless you're in the non-comm category, radio is about money! If somebody wants a small, local AM/FM station for a small town away from a large city, chances are you can get it with some good engineering and about $75,000.

As Bruce Hornsby said "That's just the way it is". I'd rather it be this way than living in Europe where public radio and weak FM stations (usually under 1kW) dominate the dial. Not to mention you have to pay about $100/year if you own a radio or more if you own a TV.

Just remember, radio is first about money, then about listenership.

Radio-X
 
Sorry, King...Your facts are flawed...where is there an AM/FM combo ANYWHERE that can be had for 75K? If you are referring to new stations...Check out the auction prices...Nice try...
 
tzbarber said:
The city grade requirement is being met, so, what's yer beef?
Click to expand...


Where's the beef you ask ?? Ok , here it is . There is NO local FM station anyplace in Simpson County and probably never will be . Because , there is a 100 kw FM station licensed to Magee that doesn't have a damn thing to do with Magee or Simpson County anymore . If you want to serve Jackson and Hinds County , then have the COL changed to WKXI - Jackson /Raymond or something . And this is just one example , there are dozens of others . I know that I am sounding old-fashion and I certainly realize that it's all about money , but it just doesn't seem right to me . Sorry if you don't agree ! That's your right !
 
Although the FCC recently relaxed the rules and requirements for changing your City Of License, you can't just do it willy nilly.

If they were to change their COL to Raymond or Jackson would they put the required dBu/mvm over that COL that the FCC requires each station to have??

And if they didn't, they'd have to move the tower.. and if they're short spaced, they just cant move.

If 107.5 was the ONLY station "licensed" to Magee, it couldn't remove the cities only aural service without first replacing it with something else. Moving a station is one thing, but moving it and having ti replace it with something else is tough.

However, "removing the cities only aural service" doesn't apply, as WSJC 810 is licensed to Magee as well.
 
> But , do you ever hear anything of local interest to Magee....

No; but there is no reason you would. Cities of license have essentially become a legal fiction. Many stations have or are converting to one of convenience all perfectly within the confines of the Rules. Expect an avalanche very soon as applications are being filed under new Rule changes.

WKXI (then WSJC) moved under the Rules as they existed before the recent changes. Changing the COL then was not impossible, but more difficult than it is now. Now matter for them, really, as Magee worked as well as any other city, and the legal requirements were small. I was the first Jackson-based OM of that station (WMJW), and dutifully made the trek down to Magee once every quarter to update the Public File which was tucked away at the Magee City Library. That, along with some toll-free phone line for Magee folks to call us was really all that was required. So, yes, 'KXI's current status ignoring Simpson County is normal, expected, and quite legal.

I suppose we could have a discussion on the public policy aspect of this, but even that is of dubious value. While WSJC was paying its way prior to the move, efficiency dictated a higher use to that Class C allocation. Did Magee need a 100 kW station? I would argue not. The public may be better served by allowing the signal to move where it can cover more people. I do agree, of course, that Magee could use its own station (other than 810), but, the FCC passed on that opportunity several years ago, when it allocated 93.9C3 to Pearl, instead of Magee. Cest la vie!

I would argue that Magee and/or Mendenhall might be a fine place for an LP-100. But, the Radio Preservation Act of 2000 makes that possibility less tenable. So, we can take it up with Congress.

DE
 
To clarify, WVIV was allocated to Pearl as an "A", tho studio was in Brandon...that is the facility we upgraded...tho we are speaking of the same scenario...JBI
 
I find as long as it's broadcasts the weather warnings and any emergency news for the COL (which all stations in an area will normally do due to it being big news) then the FCC technically doesn't care that the station's only mention or anything to do with the COL is at the top of the hour and nothing more IMO...

Around Jackson I don't see this as much as you will in other areas such as Houston,Texas where the rimshots trying to aim a signal into Houston have to actually broadcast weather issues for Beaumont instead of Houston due to the rimshot's COL being in a completely different weather watch area than Houston.

RFLA
 
jboydingram said:
Sorry, King...Your facts are flawed...where is there an AM/FM combo ANYWHERE that can be had for 75K? If you are referring to new stations...Check out the auction prices...Nice try...
Click to expand...

Hahaha...I AM THE KING, FOOLS! YOU WILL BOW TO ME! ;D

Yes, and I did look at the auction prices. I didn't include those in there...my bad. Most were above my range of 75k. But putting a class A FM in a town of, lets say 6,000 will set you back 150,000. Add $50-$100,000 in equipment expenses, and you have a station on the air in your rural town for less than $250k. An LPFM could probably exist for $50k or less!

But that was besides the point, bro. The point is, if you have the cash, build the station if you want a local voice! For most, it's too much cash, either at $75k or $750k! even with $250k in billing (a lot for a podunk station) it would take you wany years to run the station properly and make a profit! It sucks, but that's life!

Go on the public access cable or a "rent-a-mouth" AM station and focus on the local issues there! Why would I, (I live in Orlando Florida), want to listen to the school board meetings, commercials for Jim-Bob's liquor store, or the little league baseball games for a COL which is licensed 50+ miles away because of FCC regulations? It has no relevance to me! And for the most part, it has no relevance to the people in the COL! For most people, radio is now something they play at work, in the kitchen, or listen to in the car.

And don't think I'm against local stations...I got my start in one. But if a station can make more money and have more listeners in a larger market, why would anyone be foolish enough to keep the station in the small town?

The sorely mistaken king of something, otherwise known as Radio-X
 
Because: Properly operated it can be a very profitable venture...and not everyone
wants an hour commute and the other attendant disadvantages of metro living...at least, I don't. Thanks JBI
 
We are forunate to have a religious broadcasting station locally that gets its feed from Missouri,..... when they are on the air. We also get the Missouri weather forecast. We also get to be the third city named in their station identification. Local presence? We keep hearing they are going to get a "community representative." I love radio but to tell you the truth, a lot of stuff that goes on just plain sucks. But what do you do?
 
WZNF-"Z95.3" comes to my mind. Lumberton, MS is still the original col, I believe, and the ID is the only time Lumberton is mentioned. Most or all advertising comes either from the Coast or Hattiesburg, or Slidell, LA. "Eagle 99"-- I cannot say that I hear anything beyond an ID with Heidelberg mentioned from them, but all Hattiesburg/Laurel stuff.
 
WKXI - Magee / Jackson . This was the old 107.5 freq that used to be WSJC-FM - Magee . The station is STILL a Magee station that was sold and moved to Jackson. It is STILL licensed to MAGEE , MISSISSIPPI . But , do you ever hear anything of local interest to Magee / Mendenhall or Simpson County on the air ....NO , YOU DON'T !!!! ..... and you won't !!!
[/quote]

Well , for that matter . WSJC -AM 810 is still in Magee on Hwy 28 East ( Same location it has always been ) , and they don't serve Magee or Simpson County either . All you hear is some type of religious network feed and you may hear WSJC -Magee at the top -of -the-hr . As far as anything local , you're not gonna hear it . I'm sorry , but gone are the days of " The Swap Shop " and " The Wake -Up Dixie Program " with the " Top Gun In Dixie - WSJC " liners .
 
I made an offer to the owner of WSJC AM about three years ago but she wouldn't sell. I do not understand how she keeps the station going. All they run is syndicated programming and have no advertiser. As previously stated, nothing is local.

My goal was to bring back the former glory days with local programming including the Swap Shop, etc. considering there are no local stations in Simpson County.
 
Simpson County is considered by all organizations excluding Arbitron as part of the Jackson Metro. The station does serve the Metro as good as any other station. From the looking at the numbers, I would guess that most Africain Amercains in Magee and the metro would say that the station does it's job of serving them very well. Not to Mention, the station is a part of radio history as the birth place of a format: Urban AC.
 
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