We have a LPFM. It's had countless outages since its inception, which have been quite expensive. Due to multiple catastrophic storms in the area, the station has been off-air for over 6 months. But the rental tower invoices have accrued to almost 12K. How do we get out of this sinking ship? Thanks so much for your advice!
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Our LPFM has been off-air for 6+ months and we're behind on tower rental invoices. What should we do???
- Thread starter LPFM Newbie
- Start date
Are you looking for tips on how to make money to get out of the hole? Get consulting on relocating the station to a new tower? Or to transfer the license?
Those are your three options outside of surrendering the license, but even there based on your contract for the tower rental, you may still be liable for rent for the length of your contract. This seems like you didn't due enough due diligence and planning ahead of launch and it's now coming back to bite you.
Those are your three options outside of surrendering the license, but even there based on your contract for the tower rental, you may still be liable for rent for the length of your contract. This seems like you didn't due enough due diligence and planning ahead of launch and it's now coming back to bite you.
The hurricanes in Tampa have caused signal loss. Cannot afford to send up a climber to fix transmitter. Do you know if there is a termination clause or reduced fees in the tower lease for LPFM regarding "acts of God"? Thanks!
Wouldn't things like that be addressed in your tower lease? Perhaps a call to your insurance broker might also be useful, especially if you have weather related equipment damage.
We don't know the contract you signed...
Respectfully, you're not going to get the answers you need here.
You NEED a lawyer at this point, because your issues with the tower lease are contractual.
The only solid advice I can offer is that you are required to notify the FCC when you're off the air for more than 10 days, and you're required to file a silent STA when you're off for more than 30 days.
Have you done that?
You NEED a lawyer at this point, because your issues with the tower lease are contractual.
The only solid advice I can offer is that you are required to notify the FCC when you're off the air for more than 10 days, and you're required to file a silent STA when you're off for more than 30 days.
Have you done that?
The Beat
Banned
A lot of your questions about the lease are probably best addressed with the tower owner. Explain how the storm took you off and there's no revenue... for now. Maybe they have a heart and work out a payment plan or a reduction in fees owed. It's also possible they won't, so, like other's recommendations, it's probably best to do so with an attorney.
Get back on the air somehow. Locate a sympathtic tower owner, or a water tank owner, or buy a telescoping 50 foot mast or connect with the owner of a tall building nearby... get back on the air. Contact with a great engineering firm like REC and explain your situation. They will help you file for minor mod move at the FCC and suggest ways to get you back on the air. Operate that way until you can sort out a permanent location. Remember, if you are off the air for 12 months, your license expires.
Get back on the air somehow. Locate a sympathtic tower owner, or a water tank owner, or buy a telescoping 50 foot mast or connect with the owner of a tall building nearby... get back on the air. Contact with a great engineering firm like REC and explain your situation. They will help you file for minor mod move at the FCC and suggest ways to get you back on the air. Operate that way until you can sort out a permanent location. Remember, if you are off the air for 12 months, your license expires.
Certainly getting back on the air means monthly expenses. You really need to be thinking commercial radio here: It's all about the money. Your LPFM needs money. You need a plan for obtaining that money. I'm not talking violating rules, I'm talking plans to generate revenue versus finding people to do shows and things that do not bring money to the table. And you must spearhead this even if you think you'd hate it.
Commercial radio says I'll bring the listeners. You need to think programming that reaches the masses and is out there in the community (community events that are of interest to everyone such as things my station covers: Christmas Parade, Junior Livestock Show, Spring Festival and free movie for the kids, so on). Question: how does what you do on the air make someone want to donate? Playing punk rockabilly at 7am Monday is NOT the plan.
Your LPFM needs structure, a board that pays attention and a real roadmap for the station highlighting the goals along the way.
Your very first tasks are getting right with the FCC and educating yourself. REC Networks | REC Networks is a great place to get an education.
There are many questions I have. For example, comparing your board members when you applied for the LPFM to the board members now, has more than 50% of the board changed? If so you have an illegal transfer of the license. You already are in a situation you could lose the license for rule violations or get hefty fines and FCC requirements that are rigid going forward.
The thing that is obvious is what was done in the past is NOT anything to be revisited. It not only didn't work but allowed you to be captain of a sinking ship that has been taking on water for way too long.
Does the station have a website? You might not want to make that public with connection to your prior posts but it is an important factor because it can help in bailing water out of the sinking ship.
If you want to message me, I can try to help on the station image, on air sound and some ideas on raising funds. I can give you tips to help remove the fear of calling on businesses. In full disclosure, I am working in a small market doing sales in radio. I've been in radio over 45 years in programming, on air, sales and management. I don't charge you to give you some advice and suggestions.
Commercial radio says I'll bring the listeners. You need to think programming that reaches the masses and is out there in the community (community events that are of interest to everyone such as things my station covers: Christmas Parade, Junior Livestock Show, Spring Festival and free movie for the kids, so on). Question: how does what you do on the air make someone want to donate? Playing punk rockabilly at 7am Monday is NOT the plan.
Your LPFM needs structure, a board that pays attention and a real roadmap for the station highlighting the goals along the way.
Your very first tasks are getting right with the FCC and educating yourself. REC Networks | REC Networks is a great place to get an education.
There are many questions I have. For example, comparing your board members when you applied for the LPFM to the board members now, has more than 50% of the board changed? If so you have an illegal transfer of the license. You already are in a situation you could lose the license for rule violations or get hefty fines and FCC requirements that are rigid going forward.
The thing that is obvious is what was done in the past is NOT anything to be revisited. It not only didn't work but allowed you to be captain of a sinking ship that has been taking on water for way too long.
Does the station have a website? You might not want to make that public with connection to your prior posts but it is an important factor because it can help in bailing water out of the sinking ship.
If you want to message me, I can try to help on the station image, on air sound and some ideas on raising funds. I can give you tips to help remove the fear of calling on businesses. In full disclosure, I am working in a small market doing sales in radio. I've been in radio over 45 years in programming, on air, sales and management. I don't charge you to give you some advice and suggestions.
Cold Coffee
Banned
As long as your antenna is on the tower, you owe. Call the tower owner yourself and plea for mercy. Have a lawyer contact them and expect no mercy. Looks like the LPFM here needs $20,000 instead of advice.
The first thing to do is get right with the FCC. File for a STA. Don’t tell them you’ve been off the air 6 months already. Say you need a new tower site. Don’t say you've been silent 6 months unless you get a letter asking.
Look at your list of board members when you applied and board members now. Is more than 50% of the board changed. Was the FCC notified with a change in ownership? If you are current with the FCC, great. If not, do an ownership change as soon as you can.
Being off the air for 6 months means what the LPFM was doing is not working and after 6 months is long forgotten among radio listeners. You want nothing to do with what didn’t work.
Get with an attorney and figure out your tower contract. You might have to find the dollars for your guy or their guy to remove the antenna and coax. You want to save that if possible otherwise you need a new antenna and coax with all the fasteners. For the tower company, they have clients in your financial situation from time to time. Dealing with you on this is not the tower company’s first rodeo. Having a rep that knows these guys or deals with them through other stations might get you a better solution than an attorney letter. That rep is a broadcast engineer.
Potential locations for a tower site: roof of a building, parking lot street light, water tower and you can even mount an antenna on a tree. Your tower sit cannot be too far away and the site does change how distant your board members are. Check their addresses for mileage.
The first thing you need to do after getting right with the FCC is to get on the air again. It’s really tough to get dollars when those dollars go toward something that does not exist. Literally, you must spend money to make money.
You need to know Underwriting Rules like the back of your hand. You need to ask why a phrase or word is there and determine legality. For example: “Once a year fire ant control” for an exterminator. Saying once a year is intended to say their fire ant control may be better than the next exterminator. You might change that to say ‘offering fire ant control and other exterminating services’.
Look at your list of board members when you applied and board members now. Is more than 50% of the board changed. Was the FCC notified with a change in ownership? If you are current with the FCC, great. If not, do an ownership change as soon as you can.
Being off the air for 6 months means what the LPFM was doing is not working and after 6 months is long forgotten among radio listeners. You want nothing to do with what didn’t work.
Get with an attorney and figure out your tower contract. You might have to find the dollars for your guy or their guy to remove the antenna and coax. You want to save that if possible otherwise you need a new antenna and coax with all the fasteners. For the tower company, they have clients in your financial situation from time to time. Dealing with you on this is not the tower company’s first rodeo. Having a rep that knows these guys or deals with them through other stations might get you a better solution than an attorney letter. That rep is a broadcast engineer.
Potential locations for a tower site: roof of a building, parking lot street light, water tower and you can even mount an antenna on a tree. Your tower sit cannot be too far away and the site does change how distant your board members are. Check their addresses for mileage.
The first thing you need to do after getting right with the FCC is to get on the air again. It’s really tough to get dollars when those dollars go toward something that does not exist. Literally, you must spend money to make money.
You need to know Underwriting Rules like the back of your hand. You need to ask why a phrase or word is there and determine legality. For example: “Once a year fire ant control” for an exterminator. Saying once a year is intended to say their fire ant control may be better than the next exterminator. You might change that to say ‘offering fire ant control and other exterminating services’.
Cold Coffee
Banned
Six months off air. How do you get the listeners back? They've gone somewhere else.
All good advice except none of it matters if you can’t answer the most important question. How much money is available? None of that happens without some cash, and being as how the station has been off the air and has defaulted on their tower lease, there may not be any money to do anything other than transfer or delete the license.
And there would likely be many more months before the financial and transmitter issues could be worked out. You would need to treat any eventual reactivation the same way you would launch a completely new station…perhaps with a rebrand and new call letters.
There are many examples of LPFMs being off the air for considerable periods of time without proper notifications to the FCC. Here in Houston KOER-LP has been off the air for almost two years. While they filed an initial Silent STA, there have been no further filings, and the FCC has yet to cancel the license. Another Houston example is KOYM-LP, which has been off the air for almost a year without any notice to the FCC.
Cold Coffee
Banned
I suspect a station that hasn't paid tower rent has no insurance. Maybe try GoFundMe | The #1 Crowdfunding and Fundraising Platform
Ask for $40,000. Then if you only get half that you will be OK.
Ask for $40,000. Then if you only get half that you will be OK.
I agree with @fybush .. you need to get an attorney to address the back rent. Hopefully, you did file for a silent STA including notating that the issues were caused by the natural disaster. This is also why I urge stations to report their daily situations to DIRS when it is activated. That way, it's on the record in another place.
Cold Coffee
Banned
Are you on the board of directors?
Thanks so much, this is helpful!
Correct.
Cold Coffee
Banned
Does your transmitter put out RF? Is the antenna damaged? Did water get into a connector? What do you know about the technical problem? Do you have an engineer?
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