-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Inspecting the public file
- Thread starter nd2023
- Start date
The Public File of the 20 some stations I have worked at as jock or engineer has never been viewed by a single member of the public.
Of the views by other than the public: 1) A competing applicant wanted to see an upgrade application; and 2) regular viewings by po;litical candidates to see how much airtime the competing candidate purchased.
Of the views by other than the public: 1) A competing applicant wanted to see an upgrade application; and 2) regular viewings by po;litical candidates to see how much airtime the competing candidate purchased.
Same here. 25+ years of owning a station, only person every interested in the public file was the owner of another station who wondered about our upgrade application (way back in'87--now, of course, he would just look at it on the internet).
The only real function of the public file is to raise money for the Congress.
The only real function of the public file is to raise money for the Congress.
ChiefEngineer said:
You forgot about broadcasting majors fulfilling a class requirement. They are the only ones I've ever had ask for the public file.
I feel like inspecting the public file of a station just for the hell of it.
So I can just show up at a station during business hours and ask to view the public file and I would have unlimited time to view the contents of the public file and would be able to copy any document.
Maybe next time a station changes its format and people want to protest the flip, they should just ask to view the public file all day to be a pain.
Is the public also allowed to inspect the transmitter or view the transmitter/EAS logs at any time to see if it's operating at the proper power and modulation?
So I can just show up at a station during business hours and ask to view the public file and I would have unlimited time to view the contents of the public file and would be able to copy any document.
Maybe next time a station changes its format and people want to protest the flip, they should just ask to view the public file all day to be a pain.
Is the public also allowed to inspect the transmitter or view the transmitter/EAS logs at any time to see if it's operating at the proper power and modulation?
Because I have looked at many files inside the business most are unhappy when you want to see the "whole file", even had one say, okay, what part of the file do you want to see? All of it wasn't the answer they wanted.
S
Seattleradiodude
Guest
Nick said:
Just out of curiosity, Do you have a life?
Regardless, I'd like to add to what others are saying. No one has ever asked to see any contents of the P.I.F. in any of the stations I work for.
In my 35+ years in the business my Public File was inspected twice. Both times by the FCC. No gigs.
Like the EAS, the Public File is just another revenue stream to the FCC. It has no bearing at all on the proper operation of a radio/TV station.
LOL! I like the idea of using the public file as a harrasment tool of a station that's hacked off their former audience. Now that's funny stuff! I can just imagine a line out the door of people looking through the public file... LOL!!
I was at a protest of a station that flipped from alternative rock to CHR. The protest was on a freezing day in January with about 200 people present, right outside the studio. We all could have had a bigger impact if we had all demanded access to the public file at once. And also if we had written complaint letters to put in the public file.OKCRadioGuy said:
In all seriousness, if LMAs and Time Brokerage Agreements are required to be placed in the public file for the duration of the license term, I'd like to inspect the public file of a certain LPTV station.
B
bilco
Guest
Our six stations here in Las Vegas have had only 1 person looking at the PI files in the last year. We are not allowed to ask why. These requests can only be made during normal business hours and we would not have to stay late to allow you to finish. You'd have to come back the next business day. We would assign a staff member to be with you while you examined it. Copying....yes you can ask for a copy of anything in the file, that does not mean you can take it to copy. You may not remove anything from the file under penalty of law. The station can charge you a reasonable fee for the copy. 25 cents per page to cover labor, machine use and materials has been found to be reasonable. The Transmitter logs, EAS logs and anything not specifically required in the PI file are not for public consumption, but of course the FCC can look at them any time. I have been advised by inspectors never to put anything in the PI file not required. Look up and download "The Public and Broadcasting" from the FCC.gov site for complete PI file information.
Bill
Bill
Back in the early '80s I found that I needed to look at the engineering section of a public file for a group that had received a CP for an AM in a neighboring town.
For whatever reason, this station was never built. The file was housed in the basement of an elementary school.
I paid for copies of the pages I needed.
The woman who located the file told me that I was the only person ever to request to see it.
Later I was manager of a local AM station. In 13 years I never had anyone ask to see that station's file. Ironically, not even the FCC inspector asked to look at it.
For whatever reason, this station was never built. The file was housed in the basement of an elementary school.
I paid for copies of the pages I needed.
The woman who located the file told me that I was the only person ever to request to see it.
Later I was manager of a local AM station. In 13 years I never had anyone ask to see that station's file. Ironically, not even the FCC inspector asked to look at it.
I have never inspected the public file of a station for which I was not employed, nor has anyone ever come to one of the stations at which I was employed and asked to see the public file, except for the FCC.
But really, why would anyone from the general public want to see the public file? Ok, so Rose Montgomery ran for city councilor 3 years ago and spent $1000 with us. Whoopty-doo.
But really, why would anyone from the general public want to see the public file? Ok, so Rose Montgomery ran for city councilor 3 years ago and spent $1000 with us. Whoopty-doo.
Only ones I can remember looking have been politicians.
Probably need to keep an eye on those digging through the files. There has been alleged thefts. At least according to some who got a NAL in the mail because they were missing things. FCC doesn’t care why or how it went missing, What ever happened it was “willful and repeated”.
What if someone showed up every day for a week, all day, and copied everything in the file. Then continued to show up the next week and the next. The station doesn’t have to give them access to the bathroom?
Probably need to keep an eye on those digging through the files. There has been alleged thefts. At least according to some who got a NAL in the mail because they were missing things. FCC doesn’t care why or how it went missing, What ever happened it was “willful and repeated”.
What if someone showed up every day for a week, all day, and copied everything in the file. Then continued to show up the next week and the next. The station doesn’t have to give them access to the bathroom?
I would suppose that they are allowed to show up at the start of the day and stay to the end of the day and they can show up every day.boiseengineer said:
Next time there's a protest due to a format change, people should bother the management by getting a large group of people to inspect the public file every day for a week. And also put complaint letters in the public file. The station legally cannot do anything, even if they feel like they're being harassed by the repeated inspections of the public file.
Nick,
Harassing a station and having a line of people to look at the public file after a format change will not bring the former format back. Most public files really are not that interesting, I assure you. People with real lives have better things to do than read through them.
Stations primarily change format because they're not making money with it..or think they could make more by flipping to something else.
A better bet would be to have people support the advertisers on the stations you do like. Or give them a financial donation, even if they're commercial. THAT will get their attention. (One station where I worked as ops manager had this happen..a man walked in, said he loved the station, and handed me a check for $1000. And this was a commercial station.)
Once a station actually changes format, any action at that point is too late.
Harassing a station and having a line of people to look at the public file after a format change will not bring the former format back. Most public files really are not that interesting, I assure you. People with real lives have better things to do than read through them.
Stations primarily change format because they're not making money with it..or think they could make more by flipping to something else.
A better bet would be to have people support the advertisers on the stations you do like. Or give them a financial donation, even if they're commercial. THAT will get their attention. (One station where I worked as ops manager had this happen..a man walked in, said he loved the station, and handed me a check for $1000. And this was a commercial station.)
Once a station actually changes format, any action at that point is too late.
B
bilco
Guest
Boise and Nick, Sure someone could do that. There is nothing that says the station has to give them a place to sit down, or access to the bathroom, or anything else that makes their visit worth doing. The fee for copying might be increased by the wage of the person having to supervise the copying if that time was excessive and that would meet the feds definition of reasonable. Alan has it right. Most format changes are the result of much research, and/or caused by a failure in the existing format. In any event what counts is not the lines at the door but the numbers in the book. A hundred people at the door doesn't compare to ratings that represent several thousand listeners. Listeners, not harrassers. Odds are people with enough time to harass a station like that probably aren't customers of the advertisers anyway. Definately support the advertisers and mention that you heard it on such and such station. The client apprciates it, the salesmen appreciate it and the station gets better. Show up at activities, not just as prize pigs but to let the sponsor know you listen.
Bilco
Bilco
- Status