La Favorita is in danger of losing its licenses

[1030khz]

Posted to the FCC website - La Favorita, Inc., Licensee of WAOS(AM), Austell, Georgia, at 1600 kHz, WLBA(AM), Gainesville, Georgia, at 1130 kHz and WXEM(AM), Buford, Georgia at 1460 kHz is in danger of losing its licenses for failure to pay regulatory fees to the FCC dating back to 2010. The notice was posted October 28, 2019 and they have 60 days to respond.

Harry S.
Buford, GA

 

[secondchoice]

Does any one have a ballpark figure for what they owe?

 

[LegalTender]

Does any one have a ballpark figure for what they owe?

$79,457.69

 

[HGR1290]

These stations have openly flaunted the Rules Regulations for years by operating 1600 and 1130 with daytime power at night. It would be nice to see them go away just based on that issue.

 

[secondchoice]

Assuming they don't come up with the funds will the FCC try to auction off the frequencies? Unless you need the AM's to "power" a translator is there any value?

 

[b-turner]

Should the FCC delete the frequencies, they would be available in the next AM filing window which may be years away. As I understand it, the elimination of a frequency allows for other stations to upgrade and change patterns. The stations as they are, would not be exactly as they are today. Frequencies are doled out based on a lack of interference over geographic areas, so by going away, the original coverage does not stay intact. For example, a station I worked for bought a small 250 watt daytimer and applied to move it in order for my station to increase power. The original station purchased went away permanently in it's original community but in doing so increased coverage of one station elsewhere and created a more powerful station in a community without a station.

Is there value in AM? Your answer is the auction itself and prices realized. AM is not dead. There are AM stations that work hard serving their areas and some enjoy some good cash flow and ratings. It really is what you do with the station more than whether it is an AM or FM. True, the AM dial is the most challenging...the tough road compared to much easier of FM. Still, it's about like sweat equity getting you ownership with AM. If you work hard and smart you can get in fairly cheap depending on the value you put on your sweat equity. A station I sold for had about 1/3 of all radio listening as an AM and that wasn't 30 years ago but in the past year. And those sales figures would make an FM proud. I laugh at how many people say AM is worthless and a money pit. I'll take all those supposed dead AMs off your hands for free if you have a 'dead' money pit AM.

 

[kf4rca]

Always wondered how these stations stayed afloat. When I've tuned thru, I've never heard any spots. Guess they figured they only had to make the electric bill.
Besides , een Mexico, ve don't need any steenkin license.

 

[davideduardo]

Always wondered how these stations stayed afloat. When I've tuned thru, I've never heard any spots. Guess they figured they only had to make the electric bill.
Besides , een Mexico, ve don't need any steenkin license.

In Mexico the radio licensing requirements and fees are much more stringent than in the US because the government believes there is a "social responsibility" for the media.

Your comment is very unfortunate and offensive.

 

[secondchoice]

Of the three stations the Buford station IMHO is the most intriguing.

It is a class B with 193 Wats at night. I thought a station had to have at least 250 watts at night or some kind of shunt fed antenna that gives a “gain” or a really low frequency and really good ground conductivity. 1460 is a very crowed channel In the southeast:

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/l...Y&format=&dx=3&radius=200&freq=1460&sort=freq

so I doubt there will be any meaningful facility improvements. I doubt there is any real opportunity for a FM translator:

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/vacant?select=city&city=Buford&state=GA

But Buford GA has a population around 15,000 in the city limits so local sports packages would be and easy sell.

I wonder if the current Hispanic programming is getting the results the local merchants need to advertise with the station. Would something Hispanic CHR work? Whatever programming English or Hispanic, it should have a “local” feel. I doubt third tier national talkers will cut it.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Of the three stations the Buford station IMHO is the most intriguing.

It is a class B with 193 Wats at night. I thought a station had to have at least 250 watts at night or some kind of shunt fed antenna that gives a “gain” or a really low frequency and really good ground conductivity. 1460 is a very crowed channel In the southeast:

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/l...Y&format=&dx=3&radius=200&freq=1460&sort=freq

so I doubt there will be any meaningful facility improvements. I doubt there is any real opportunity for a FM translator:

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/vacant?select=city&city=Buford&state=GA

But Buford GA has a population around 15,000 in the city limits so local sports packages would be and easy sell.

I wonder if the current Hispanic programming is getting the results the local merchants need to advertise with the station. Would something Hispanic CHR work? Whatever programming English or Hispanic, it should have a “local” feel. I doubt third tier national talkers will cut it.

My recollection is a number of years ago--I'm guessing back in the 80's--the FCC told every daytime AM station in the country, almost all of which had been signing off at local sunset, how many watts they could run on without interfering with the station(s) that they needed to protect. So almost every daytime station was then authorized to broadcast at night. It was the station's decision whether their permitted wattage was worth staying on. Some run on ridiculously low power, such as 3 watts. If a station is in a really small town, that could work.

Am I correct, engineers? David?

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Of the three stations the Buford station IMHO is the most intriguing.

It is a class B with 193 Wats at night. I thought a station had to have at least 250 watts at night or some kind of shunt fed antenna that gives a “gain” or a really low frequency and really good ground conductivity. 1460 is a very crowed channel In the southeast:

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/l...Y&format=&dx=3&radius=200&freq=1460&sort=freq

so I doubt there will be any meaningful facility improvements. I doubt there is any real opportunity for a FM translator:

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/vacant?select=city&city=Buford&state=GA

But Buford GA has a population around 15,000 in the city limits so local sports packages would be and easy sell.

I wonder if the current Hispanic programming is getting the results the local merchants need to advertise with the station. Would something Hispanic CHR work? Whatever programming English or Hispanic, it should have a “local” feel. I doubt third tier national talkers will cut it.

Class B is usually 250 watts or more at night, but there are exceptions like if the tower is taller then need be for the frequency so it exceeds the minimum efficiency for the class , thereby can run a little less power

 

[jabba17]

I wonder if the current Hispanic programming is getting the results the local merchants need to advertise with the station. Would something Hispanic CHR work? Whatever programming English or Hispanic, it should have a “local” feel. I doubt third tier national talkers will cut it.

When it was 70s AM gold oldies and before it went Latino, WLKQ Lake 102.3 did carry local high school sports, drawing from the schools in east Forsyth, south Hall, and north Gwinnett.

Now the problem is what to do Friday nights after the sun sets.

 

[davideduardo]

My recollection is a number of years ago--I'm guessing back in the 80's--the FCC told every daytime AM station in the country, almost all of which had been signing off at local sunset, how many watts they could run on without interfering with the station(s) that they needed to protect. So almost every daytime station was then authorized to broadcast at night. It was the station's decision whether their permitted wattage was worth staying on. Some run on ridiculously low power, such as 3 watts. If a station is in a really small town, that could work.

Am I correct, engineers? David?

Yes, you got the broad points of the issuance of Post Sunset Authorizations. A large number of daytimers got everything from nite-light power up to enough to cover a small market.

Stations with relatively centrally located towers got the best deals, as the limited power covered at least the central zone of the market. Those with towers outside of town, or in the suburbs, often could not justify staying on as the signal did not reach the market well.

 

[secondchoice]

1460 was one of the old “regional” channels. I think the minimum daytime power was 500 watts. The “protection” was not as stringent as a US , Mexico, or Canadian clear channel but way better than any of the “local” channels (1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, 1490) There use to be a lot of regional stations that had pre sunrise power. I worked at a couple that had 500 watts at 6AM till sunrise. I never got the real story but apparently the FCC “lost” the files, (I find that part of the story questionable) but if you had the “original” telegram you could get it back. I haven't be able to find anything on the FCC website listing Pre Sunrise is it still around?

500 watts at 6 in the morning in December could be kind of important revenue wise.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

1460 was one of the old “regional” channels. I think the minimum daytime power was 500 watts. The “protection” was not as stringent as a US , Mexico, or Canadian clear channel but way better than any of the “local” channels (1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, 1490) There use to be a lot of regional stations that had pre sunrise power. I worked at a couple that had 500 watts at 6AM till sunrise. I never got the real story but apparently the FCC “lost” the files, (I find that part of the story questionable) but if you had the “original” telegram you could get it back. I haven't be able to find anything on the FCC website listing Pre Sunrise is it still around?

500 watts at 6 in the morning in December could be kind of important revenue wise.

pre sunrise and post sunset authority is still around, but its not online.. you have to have the records at the station. they issued some a few years ago but messed it up, rescinded it and told stations to go back to whatever they had i was also told if you got post sunset or pre sunrise authority lower then your night power, you could use your night power instead

 

[BarryATL]

1600 used to be 1000 watts day and 500 watts pre-sunrise. That meant they could sign on at 6 am in January when all the other day timers had to wait till 7:45 am.

 

[secondchoice]

pre sunrise and post sunset authority is still around, but its not online.. you have to have the records at the station. they issued some a few years ago but messed it up, rescinded it and told stations to go back to whatever they had i was also told if you got post sunset or pre sunrise authority lower then your night power, you could use your night power instead

IIRC Pre 1980 all of the "regional channel" stations I ever heard about or worked at had 500 watts pre sunrise. I believe that most regional channels had one or maybe two stations that had over 1KW non directional at night and everybody else was directional at night, daytime, or daytime with pre sunrise at 500 watts. Most of the "nighttime" powers levels for what would have been a "daytimer" back in the day are usually less than 500 watts. If I had one of these stations, I would definitely run the 500 watt presunrise at 6 am till sunrise if I could.