Guess what...the FCC will show up at all the stations and ask them to shut down and if there is resistance Federal Marshalls show up ready to draw their guns. It's a nice idea but much like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Pirate radio is like a ticking time bomb. Eventually you get caught. Had a friend who ran a pirate station for 6 years. He thought he was immune until thhe day the FCC knocked on his door. He asked "How'd you know it was me?" They said they knew of the station and where it was for some time. They were arming themselves with evidence some time before the visit.
-
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
LPFM enthusiasts- email or call your senator
- Thread starter Goat Rodeo Cowboy
- Start date
Nate Wesley said:
True, but as a commercial broadcaster struggling to pay my much larger electric bill along with other costs I do not need QRM from more stations on the band. And as an AM owner, having a bunch more folks competing for translators that may be the salvation of my small operation. I feel that I could better serve my area if I werent required to power down to 18 watts at night. I loose everything beyond the city limits at night. A nice little 100-250 watt translator would keep my signal out into the county 24/7.
I guess my big beef is that if they are non-commercial, then keep the LPFM's and religious translators in the reserved or non-comm part of the band and translators for commercial stations in the upper part of the band. When I look at the list of applications and see hundreds of translator applications by religious broadcasters (supposedly non-comm too) and LPFMs affiliated with churches filing for every open spot up and down the band my blood begins to boil! OK, flame off........
Nostalgia said:
though I have supportive words for the LPFM concept, I do recognize the legitimate odor of boiling blood! Let me tell you the first form of resistance and protest you and others in your plight should push. Lean on the FCC long and hard that stations featuring religious programming must assertively seek out programming from all faiths and creeds that feel they need a voice in the local community.
The second change you should push for is that the FCC needs to get some credibility and declare that stuff that comes in on the satellite and is parked on the hard drive for an hour and then broadcast does not qualify as local programming. Today's rationale is that since we played it off our local hard drive, it's local origination. Now that one is a two-edged sword. Since a lot of stations are music centric, would the implication that music on the hard drive via automation is not local programming either? Writing that rule/regulation would be dicey.
Yes, there is a lot of static in the air about "the great translator invasion" of some seven years ago or whenever. Any some of them are still on file, unprocessed as I understand it, and part of the housekeeping that has to be done to deal with the next Application Window for LPFM is to decide what to do with those over-ripe applications. Same is true for coming up with new program to allow A.M. operators like yourself have an Application Process for frequencies to get your place on the F.M. dial.
Its funny that you'd talk about the 'salvation' of your business--I'm sure you knew what you had when you bought it. Could you have held out for a full-power FM in the first place? Have you embraced the cheaper licensing available for you to stream? Does your station even have an active website and social networking to begin with? Podcasts of local content? Are you reaching people beyond the dial position and the terrestrial footprint like so many other commercial stations are happily doing now?Nostalgia said:
When I hear complaints like yours, I can't help but hear commercial broadcasters afraid of more local choices. I applaud the efforts of LPFM (and the proposals for a similar LPAM service) to bring those diverse and possibly better programming choices. I know there's good and usable content that the commercial side can't make money on--it doesn't attract enough listeners or enough ad sales. So let the non-profits run with it! You can't be that afraid of people programming to a niche.
You'll actually find some agreement from me here, given the great translator invasion of the Calvery Chapel & Edgewater outfits. That's why the localism rules should have been passed--it's not too much to ask your station to have a local office, a local staff, and local files, etc. all within reach.Nostalgia said:
Actually, one CAN make money with LPFM. Well, I suppose if you consider $100,000-$200,000 gross revenue per year "making money." The problem is that most LPFM stations are not setup or operated properly, primarily due to lack of broadcasting experience/knowledge of LPFM specific regulations. Most flounder with income of $1,000 or less per month. That is not an LPFM problem, it is a management problem.cold_coffee said:
Many LPFMs bring in very little money. Mostly these are not former radio people or if they are, they, like the non-radio people, are scared to death of sales.
I have talked to many LPFM operators. A couple just open their wallet to pay the bills. One station I know does $40 a month (2 underwriters at $20 a month). Another has 10 underwriters at $100 a YEAR. Yet another has 4 underwriters at $45 a month. One station has 9 underwriters at $20 a month. A Florida station has 4 underwriters at $75 a month. Still another station has 4 underwriters at $250 a year and a Washinton State station has 10 underwriters at $300 a year. None of these stations solicit donations from listeners.
The few that make money (over $100,000 a years) I can count on my fingers with a few left over. These operators do not fear sales. They all have prior radio experience.
While I hated and was scared to do sales years ago, I knew how to sell but never realized I did. If you ever convinced someone to do something you want to do, you've proved yourself as a salesperson. Sales is mostly making friends and working for the buyer's success. There is nothing magical about it. It is not degrading and you don't become someone to avoid like the plague. The trick is being patient and persistent. You have to let people get to know you, learn to trust you and get comfortable enough to give you a shot. The only way you can do that is stopping by to visit a number of times so this can happen. Most sales don't happen because the seller won't be patient enough to let it happen. It helps if you get the potential buyer to talk about their busness because it makes you think of ways to help them. Even though they likely thought of any idea you come up with, they appreciate you are trying and that only makes them want to work with you. So, I add this to the post for you LPFMers that are scared of sales. Fact: you sell yourself every day already so it is something you already do usually several times a day already. Selling is really making friends, so go out there and make some new friends.
I have talked to many LPFM operators. A couple just open their wallet to pay the bills. One station I know does $40 a month (2 underwriters at $20 a month). Another has 10 underwriters at $100 a YEAR. Yet another has 4 underwriters at $45 a month. One station has 9 underwriters at $20 a month. A Florida station has 4 underwriters at $75 a month. Still another station has 4 underwriters at $250 a year and a Washinton State station has 10 underwriters at $300 a year. None of these stations solicit donations from listeners.
The few that make money (over $100,000 a years) I can count on my fingers with a few left over. These operators do not fear sales. They all have prior radio experience.
While I hated and was scared to do sales years ago, I knew how to sell but never realized I did. If you ever convinced someone to do something you want to do, you've proved yourself as a salesperson. Sales is mostly making friends and working for the buyer's success. There is nothing magical about it. It is not degrading and you don't become someone to avoid like the plague. The trick is being patient and persistent. You have to let people get to know you, learn to trust you and get comfortable enough to give you a shot. The only way you can do that is stopping by to visit a number of times so this can happen. Most sales don't happen because the seller won't be patient enough to let it happen. It helps if you get the potential buyer to talk about their busness because it makes you think of ways to help them. Even though they likely thought of any idea you come up with, they appreciate you are trying and that only makes them want to work with you. So, I add this to the post for you LPFMers that are scared of sales. Fact: you sell yourself every day already so it is something you already do usually several times a day already. Selling is really making friends, so go out there and make some new friends.
RadioTheNet said:
Making money was never the intent or goal of the congress or the FCC when LPFM was set up.
Some of our friends are also operating NCE religious stations in the reserved band (and I guess some are licensed in the upper frequencies as well come to think of it!) and the FCC never intended for those assignments to be "money makers".
Not everybody that operates either an LPFM or a religious NCE that has low gross is a BAD MANAGER. Some of them are simply playing the game the way it was intended when the rule book was written.
Just for round numbers.... so I "invest" $30,000 into my not-for-profit and I end up with an LPFM grossing $75,000 per year. I pay some rent on space and tower site, I pay the electric bill and the phone bill and some music royalties. I buy some insurance. Here a person or two part time so I can get sick once in awhile or take a vacation now and then. Maybe I devote considerable time to a day job" or running some business enterprise I own. So if I make $25,000 that I can pay myself much like the manager of a Goodwill Store might make, or the Executive Director of a food bank or other not-for-profit in my community, Where do you put me in your scheme of things? Apparently if we could audit all the LPFMs in the country, my $75,000 operation would be among the elite. But I don't have a responsibility or a job or a "business enterprise" on which I could live and send kids to college. So does that make me a failure or a success?
Nate Wesley said:
I have to embrace much of what Nostalgia complained about. I know something of his circumstances. I know that he (as one of my former employers used to put it)... I know that he "bet the family grocery money" on a broadcast property that may have been about as big a financial bite as he could chew at this time. Sure, life would be sweet if you could walk up to the window and plunk down the money for a Class C FM in a larger market. Some of us can't do that.
It is not unreasonable for him to cry out for justice in the form of giving him a playing field that is on level ground.
RadioTheNet said:
JEEZ!!! $100-200k gross revenue per year?!?!!?!? From my perspective, that's not just a king's ransom.... it's a GOD's ransom!
tfcwings said:JEEZ!!! $100-200k gross revenue per year?!?!!?!? From my perspective, that's not just a king's ransom.... it's a GOD's ransom!
We are talking GROSS revenue. It appears that some feel that non-profit entities should not be able to pay their bills and should become a societal burden and not an asset. That sounds like a socialist community to me. ALL COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS should be able to sustain themselves and not be a financial burden on the community! And if they are serving the community, and attempting to generate revenue, they will.
$100-200K can pay bills, maintain equipment, and employ a few people. Success, by my definition, is just that: providing a community service, giving a few people jobs, and not being a financial burden. LPFM is not a joke. The NAB seriously crippled the radio service, and serious operators can learn to offer a viable service that doesn't drain anyone's pocketbook and adds community value. And the people that do this deserve to have an income comparable to those who do it for a for-profit entity.
Erik Anderson
LPFMhelp.com
Where would you put yourself, and where would the community you serve put you? An LPFM with a gross of $75K can provide an income equivalent to the national median HHI and enable the station to not be a financial burden to anyone. With the right attitude and priorities, the station is a success. If run like it is a hobby and the station cannot be self-sustaining if you had a stroke, well, you might want to consider what adjustments are necessary. To me, success is not exclusively measured by the dollar. Some communities can generate more revenue than others.Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
Erik Anderson
LPFMhelp.com
- Status