Re: So why is this even worth noting?
> > > Again I ask, how is relocating one's offices a few miles
>
> > > away doing anything negative to a City of License? The
> > > transmission tower is what counts, that's where the
> > signals
> > > are distributed. What difference does it make where the
> > room
> > > with the microphone is located?
> >
> > Because Keymarket made a big deal about not leaving when
> > they changed formats. They promised, in the media, that
> > they weren't going anywhere. Three months later,
> > boom...they're gone. Studio location doesn't matter, as
> > long as it's in the signal contour under the rules. But
> > this isn't about studio location or sales office
> > location--this is about a broken promise to stay in a
> > community from a company that has a history of skirting
> > public service and community involvment.
>
> Let's address that "promise". Since I live in Pittsburgh
> (almost), I don't read the East Liverpool newspapers. So
> fill me in. Did Keystone PROMISE, as in "cross my heart and
> hope to die" or did they simply say that they planned to
> stay in East Liverpool. And, if they made a bona-fide
> PROMISE, was it conditional upon the good people of East
> Liverpool doing something in return, like listening to them,
> or maybe that the businesses of East Liverpool were expected
> to buy sufficient advertising time to make a continued
> presence in East Liverpool profitable? Or was in an
> unconditional pledge to stay in East Liverpool regardless of
> how much money they lost, until they had no choice but to
> close up shop and turn the license back to the FCC?
The quote by Gerald Getz in re: WOHI, directly from the article in the East Liverpool
Review Nov. 2, 2005:
"We're not moving anywhere," said Getz, who has owned the Calcutta-based station for five years. "We're just changing the product line."
"You know, I don't wake up every morning trying to take something away from the community," he continued. "I have a lot of good employees that depend on us to make good decisions for them. And something needed to be done."
According to Getz, "The new ESPN radio 1490 will cater to residents' passion for sports, while retaining the station's commitment to the local community."
By going public with this statement "we're not moving anywhere," Getz's intent is to reassure the community that the station and its presence will remain in East Liverpool. He's not talking about signal here--that would remain regardless. He's talking about presence in the community--a physical presence after the closing up shop of the Martin program and the community programs.
If East Liverpool at all relied on that statement, it's a promise. Keymarket promised to remain in East Liverpool, not to move anywhere. And now they have moved.
> > At the time the statement that they were staying was made,
>
> > Keymarket had just dumped the full-service format and
> killed
> > off Jim Martin's show and some other community programs
> > (like Swap Shop and whatnot).
>
> Again, since I don't live there, fill me in. How many local
> companies bought advertising time on Jim Martin's show? Was
> it profitable? How much profit did they make from Swap Shop
> and whatnot? Were the good people of East Liverpool (at
> least a 51% + majority of them) taking advantage of all the
> full service? Or was that "full service" a theoretical thing
> that the majority of East Liverpuddlians ignored?
Here's Getz again, same article:
Getz said a change was necessary because a consistent decline in ratings was resulting in fewer advertising dollars for the station.
As a result of the change, Keymarket of Ohio LLC cancelled local shows such as Swap Shop, Talk Back 2005, Meet the Commissioner, Friendly Trapper, and local church programming.
"It doesn't fit in with the sports talk format," Getz said of the former programming. "And it's not going to work to keep (the programs) because you're going to lose people who want to listen to sports."
"These shows have been on for a long time," he continued. "But now, one thing we were seeing was that the product line was not selling with local advertisers. So we decided to make a change. We're just trying to come up with a better product that more people will be in tune to."
Getz said one aspect that local advertisers were in tune with the sports programming offered on the former WOHI 1490. Because of this demand, the station will still continue to carry local football and basketball broadcasts for the East Liverpool Potters, Beaver Local Beavers and the Wellsville Tigers.
"What we've been seeing is the reaction from local advertisers -they like the local football games. Local retailers appreciate the sports broadcasts and that brings in advertising dollars," said Getz.
Where you make a serious miscalculation is with your invented "51% + majority". No station in the modern day and age--in fact, I think KDKA last got such ratings in the 30s maybe?--has 51% of anyone listening at anytime. What you're attempting to do is rationalize this by imposing your own, made-up, and unrealistic service goal.
Furthermore, we all know that service elements aren't the biggest ratings gainers. No one expects them to be. Very few people tune in just to hear church programs or Swap Shop. Yes, advertisers pay more for sports. But as part and parcel of getting the license, a licensee is obligated to air public service elements. This is not just format, but non-format, non-programming elements. This is aside and apart from a licensee's obligation to the community at large (which historically included a physical presence in the community, whether it be a studio, or transmitter/tower, or remotes, or charitable contributions, etc.)
When a station's sole direction is based not on public service but on how many advertisers will purchase that airtime, the licensee is losing sense of their obligations to operate in the public interest, convenience, and necessity.
This isn't an argument about the format change. That's fine and dandy. But it's an argument about Keymarket's overall sense of service to the public. That is not, and cannot, be fulfilled solely by format, but by their presentation and action within the community. Community programs go a long way toward that intangible, as history has proven.
> If a station transmits something that few people choose to
> receive, how does that serve anyone but the few?
So, broadcasting should at all times serve the majority? If so, tell thsoe religious stations, those ethnic stations, public radio, oldies, classic rock, alternative, AC, variety hits, news/talk, etc. to get off the air. They're only serving their small portion of the audience. They have to serve the crowd, not a few.
Broadcasting does not mean appealing to the majority--it means reception by the majority. Programming may be broad or narrow, appealling to many or few. But public service appeals to the public, not any amount and all amounts. It is an intangible, we know. But it is a requirement aside and apart from format. You know that, but for some reason refuse to accept it.
Not everything on a station is advertiser friendly, but advertisers will be smitten by a station that does all it can to be the voice of the community. I like to use WJPA because it does the best job of it (WDVE's pretty good too). KDKA nowadays is a good example of the opposite--a station that once was the voice of the community but is now trying its grandest to be advertiser-exclusive. Where has it gotten them? Hell, outside of increasingly shabby news coverage, what community service does it provide? Just this year, KDKA ended its presence and live broadcasts at the Children's Hospital booth at PPG Place.
> > Now, turning around three months later and reneging on
> that
> > statement makes the whole process self-serving. And
> adding
> > back in Martin and some of the community programs from
> miles
> > away reeks of "Here, have this crumb. We got what we want
>
> > out of it."
>
> What difference does the "miles away" thing make? They are
> broadcasting over radio, right? As far as Mr. and Mrs. East
> Liverpool are concerned, the sound comes out of the speaker
> on their radio.
It's hard to do community stuff when you're not "in" the community. Who knows, they may be live and local in East Liverpool for that. I'll keep this open.
> > > Especially when a station is serving "the 'Burb of the
> > > 'Burgh"? Clearly, the local government of Steubenville
> and
> >
> > > E. Liverpool don't have a problem with business
> relocating
> >
> > > into their areas. Surely that door swings both ways.
> >
> > First off, I don't know if I'd tell Steubenville and East
> > Liverpool that they're Pittsburgh suburbs. Especially
> since
> > the commute rivals an hour. And that whole TV station
> thing
> > serving the area (WTOV) tends to negate the suburb idea.
> > But if that's how you want to misleadingly frame the issue
>
> > to make yourself feel better about your pre-ordained
> > conclusion, whatever.
>
> I know I wouldn't tell them that. But the civic and business
> leaders of the Steubenville and East Liverpool area have
> spent some of the public's tax money to purchase commercials
> on Pittsburgh radio stations urging Pittsburgh businesses
> who are looking for a good business climate with low taxes
> but close proximity to Pittsburgh to relocate to their
> towns. The slogan "The 'Burb of the 'Burgh" was coined by
> the leaders of the Steubenville and East Liverpool area! I
> doubt if they have a problem with it, as they wrote it and
> paid good money to air it in Pittsburgh.
Leaving aside Ohio's tremendous business tax burden...
If this is a city plan, then I apologize. The mayors should be strangled for coming up with that. Burb of Weirton, OK. Burb of Wheeling is more like it, but who wants to say that?
> > It's not format and programming that serves the
> public--it's
> > service that serves the public. Format and programming is
>
> > but one part of the whole. It's time for station
> operators
> > to understand that. Yes, you can make money, but you
> can't
> > do it independently of anything and everything. You have
> a
> > rule book, start following it.
>
> You have an outdated rule book that doesn't work. Stop
> following it and change it to get in in step with the times.
Don't tell me. Tell Congress--they made the law, and the FCC made the rule. Because they stopped enforcing it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If they want to get rid of it, fine--make owning a braodcast license a total business and a free market free for all. But don't try to back-end this in and come up with creative ways to screw communities out of long-time presence. That's wrong.
