Stations going "Dark"

[Bakers_Bookstore]

I just put this on the Boston board but I really think it has relevance everywhere!

We all know that the FCC does not allow stations to go "dark" without giving up their licenses. So I look at the recent trend of corporate stations eliminating local staff and programming and "simulcasting" with other properties they own. So I ask you, do those stations that are now the "victims" of simulcast constitute a "dark" station and license?

I would argue, yes!

Perhaps it is time for Mom and Dad to start filing peititons again!

 

[Gadon]

I would say no, since the two simultcasting stations may serve different geographical areas, or provide full coverage to a market... For example, stringing two class "A"'s together.. One signal of the simulcast may be economically viable than the other for both signals to prosper.

 

[louiemanno]

Mr. Dactyl

I agree with Gadon’s take… But I like your thinking.

Louie Manno

 

[vetguy]

There are many owners who have been able to purchase small stations, AM or FM and ring a market with them. It gives the little guy a chance to fight against the bigger guys. One other technical aspect: Many small AM's are grandfathered in with respect to coverage and location. Some FM also. Should the station go dark and turn in the license, the grandfathering goes away. If the station tries to come back, they have to meet current FCC regulations and spacings, which many will not. I know of several stations that went dark and it was impossibe for anyone to bring the station back due to the loss of the grandfathering of the technical specs. The options are simulcast, sell it off to someone or go dark.

 

[buoy40]

I am not being a wise guy or anything but it would seem to me radio stations go silent and tv stations go dark. I see dark so many times on radio blogs what is the distinction?

 

[nhradiochild]

I am far from an expert in this category, but it seems to me that the signal that is the originator of the simulcast should alter its programming (if need be) to incorporate the additional coverage area in order to satisfy (what is it, public domain?) issues regarding its city of license. If the public interest is being served by the simulcast, then no harm no foul. Say for instance, GIR were to completely simulcast HEB, if HEB didn't offer Manchester news/events of interest, then they would be in default of the requirements of the license. If they simply add that programming, then all is well in the broadcast world.

That's just my take. :-\

 

[Radiodeity]

I am not being a wise guy or anything but it would seem to me radio stations go silent and tv stations go dark. I see dark so many times on radio blogs what is the distinction?

I have to venture a guess here... the term must go back to a time when a radio station would go dark, or should I say when they turn the transmitter off the tubes would go dark - back in the day when they used to glow that nice warm orangeish glow or sometimes the old diode tubes would glow purple - those were pretty cool to see.

Anyway, hope that makes sense. Anyone else venture a guess...

(Just my 2¢... Carry on...)

 

[probuttonpusher]

Or could it be because radio stations USED to have someone in them 24/7 so the lights were always on? Remember the good old days when you could call a DJ up at 3 o clock in the morning? When I first started full time in radio that was one of my shifts and the 3rd shifters would call up sometimes. Some said it made them feel more normal knowing that they werent the only person up at that time of the day. Now of course radio stations have no lights on in the middle of the night, only the soft glow of the computer screen.

 

[bossbill]

I'll throw in a couple of things:

When a licensee of a station (radio or TV) is unable to remain on the air, a request is made to the FCC for a Special Temporary Authority to REMAIN SILENT...

If a station remains DARK, I mean SILENT, for a year, the license can be cancelled.

Some stations have gotten around this by going back on the air briefly, then coming up with another excuse, I mean reason, to again request an STA to remain silent.

I also lament the good old days when radio really had an "all-night guy" and the beginners worked Sunday morning and on Thanksgiving. But I also miss staying in the car while my gas was pumped for me and the oil was checked, and the clerk at the hardware store adding up the purchase on a piece of paper and figuring out the sales tax from a tax table.

What is happening in the radio industry is not totally new; as much as I don't like the way the industry has gone, many small market radio stations used automation beginning back in the 60s to survive.

My friend Chester Coleman (now gone) sold broadcast automation for many years. Sometime in the 70s, he had me listen to airchecks of WGTR in Natick. The station was automated and used VOICE-TRACKING, using reel-to-reel and cart machines.

And around 1995, imagine my surprise when I called on KOIT San Francisco, and found a rack of CD players and an automation controller.

Technology has made it easier to do, and de-regulation has made it legally permissible and in many cases absolutely necessary to stay in business.

 

[HipHopAnonymous]

Why don't you guys just ask?

http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/martin/mail.html

 

[Oldbones]

What is happening in the radio industry is not totally new; as much as I don't like the way the industry has gone, many small market radio stations used automation beginning back in the 60s to survive.

Technology has made it easier to do, and de-regulation has made it legally permissible and in many cases absolutely necessary to stay in business.

Very true, and a fact that many on these boards tend to forget.
Back in the old days someone had to be at the station whenever they were on the air because (1) the FCC required it and (2) those old automation systems weren't very reliable. Of course, it was usually the FM that was automated and the AM jock would babysit it as part of the job. This does not necessarily mean anyone paid attention to it...many a time someone would load a music reel not knowing the tape was "tails" and we'd hear every third song backwards (not that I would ever have been guilty of this) until someone called in (presuming anyone was listening in the first place).

Getting back to the OP's question, it would not surprise me greatly to see some marginal stations go dark if the economy continues to tank. How many daytimer or graveyard channel AMs are running in the black (even with minimal staffing)? Even in multi-station clusters it may not make sense to continue to operate a station that's a drain on the bottom line. Most of these have lousy signals, and have been dogs for years...the likelihood of anyone being able to turn them around is close to nil.