WBAI Struggles

[K.M. Richards]

"Eduardo is my second given name. G is the first initial of my last name. Me thinks thou makest much ado over nothing. "

Oh, hell. Just pick a name -ANY name and stick to it.

He does. For as long as I've known him -- and that's over a decade now -- he has always used "DavidEduardo" as his posting name.

His last name of Gleason has become more well-known in recent years because of his americanradiohistory.com site with its vast library of PDF scans of industry publications, which operates from the same server as davidgleason.com ... but I don't think questioning his name is advancing your argument very well, sir.

"As to calling Mr. Liu's stations "rimshots" 1480 is not a rimshot... it is licensed to New York City." The COl may be. The signal is not.

By industry definition, a "rimshot" is a station which attempts to cover all or part of a market from a community which is either at the edge of the market or just outside it. By your definition, I can name several AMs in Los Angeles that would be considered rimshots. Two that immediately come to mind are KABC/790 and KEIB/1150, both of which are COL Los Angeles.

 

[Art Landing]

I've only been active on these boards since they were revived earlier this year. Before that I'd never been acquainted with David by either surname - but have found him to be very well informed and helpful.

There is an old canard about attacking the message if you can't discredit the messenger or else attacking the messenger if you don't like the message. Either is a sign of weakness in the attacker. Frankly it appears to me that David has more than paid his dues and deserves respect for the time and energy he spends trying to educate the rest of us.

 

[reelyreal]

I haven't seen it posted here yet, but WBAI submitted their application for 10kw from 4TS yesterday.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I haven't seen it posted here yet, but WBAI submitted their application for 10kw from 4TS yesterday.

I've already looked at it. Very carefully crafted so that the new site/ERP exactly matches the current primary service contour, which allows WBAI to get away with filing it as a "minor change in facilities" and protect all their grandfathered short-spacings.

 

[RadioFan123]

Is it just me, or is a licence renewal sitting for five months a bit odd? (I mean, WBAI is odd, but you get the idea )

 

[K.M. Richards]

Is it just me, or is a licence renewal sitting for five months a bit odd? (I mean, WBAI is odd, but you get the idea )

No, in extenuating circumstances (and Pacifica has lots of those) the FCC has in the past taken over ten years to clear out the matters standing in the way of a license renewal.

 

[Unregistered]

WBAI now

dysfunctional WBAI is doing a decent job of covering protests in NYC.
better than many commercial radio & TV stations that hype the situation for ratings or totally ignore it.

 

[Barry]

WBAI's Antenna

A blog which follows WBAI 99.5 has stated that the station owes a lot of money to the Empire State Building's management, due to the fact that they have been paying only part of the rent due for their transmitter and antenna. The station had filed an application with the FCC to move the equipment to 4 Times Square, and it was approved over a year ago. Presumably the rent would be cheaper there.
But WBAI has not made the move. Would it be difficult for the ESB to evict WBAI, should they choose to do so? Could WBAI ask the FCC to block such an action, as they are still licensed to broadcast from there? I wonder whether the management at 4 Times Square has refused to allow WBAI to move their transmitter and antenna to their building, given the fact that they have been behind in their payments to ESB.

 

[ansky212]

I wonder whether the management at 4 Times Square has refused to allow WBAI to move their transmitter and antenna to their building, given the fact that they have been behind in their payments to ESB.

If they're smart that's exactly what they should do. Just like I wouldn't let someone rent an apartment if their credit check or references revealed they weren't paying their rent on time.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Would it be difficult for the ESB to evict WBAI, should they choose to do so? Could WBAI ask the FCC to block such an action, as they are still licensed to broadcast from there?

Not difficult at all. Change the lock to the transmitter room where the WBAI transmitter is and post an eviction notice.

The FCC is powerless to intervene in what is essentially a business arrangement between the licensee and its landlord. However, if WBAI were to be evicted as described above, the FCC could order them to go silent on the basis of no longer having required legal control (including 24/7 access) of the transmitter.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

The FCC is powerless to intervene in what is essentially a business arrangement between the licensee and its landlord. However, if WBAI were to be evicted as described above, the FCC could take away their license on the basis of no longer having required legal control (including 24/7 access) of the transmitter.

Fixed.

 

[BarryATL]

While I do not live in NYC, I have been following the WBAI saga. It is like watching a really bad soap opera... two years later and the story has not changed much... just the actors.

 

[K.M. Richards]

The FCC is powerless to intervene in what is essentially a business arrangement between the licensee and its landlord. However, if WBAI were to be evicted as described above, the FCC could take away their license on the basis of no longer having required legal control (including 24/7 access) of the transmitter.

Fixed.

It's more likely that the FCC would issue a silent order first and not go directly to "revoke the license" under the circumstances, to allow the licensee (Pacifica) to straighten the mess out themselves. In fact, I bet Pacifica would file for a STA before the FCC even knew anything had happened.

 

[Barry]

Perhaps the management at the Empire State Bldg. figures that receiving even part of the rent due from WBAI is preferable to evicting them, and then having one less tenant making payments. It's not like an average rental situation where someone else can move in when the original tenant leaves.
Have their been any radio stations that have relocated from ESB to another location in the past decade or two?

 

[Radio-X]

Perhaps the management at the Empire State Bldg. figures that receiving even part of the rent due from WBAI is preferable to evicting them, and then having one less tenant making payments. It's not like an average rental situation where someone else can move in when the original tenant leaves.
Have their been any radio stations that have relocated from ESB to another location in the past decade or two?

I know there is a push to get 1WTC to get tenants up there. Just like an apartment building with too many vacancies, landlords are a bit less picky about credit/rental references when there's a lot of empty units sitting in their building causing them to lose money every week/month.

In the case of WBAI, 1WTC (or VerticalBridge/whoever owns the tower rights) sees that it is a cash-strapped non-comm. They are losing money by not having a permanent rent-paying tenant yet still paying to maintain the structures up there. Given the questions about the viability of 1WTC as a FM broadcast site, I could see them offering WBAI a better deal to move to lower Manhattan so they can have a guinea pig to fine-tune and lay to rest issues about FM multipath problems from that site.

And as for ESB, this is also a sticky situation. Here, you have a "tenant" who is clearly not paying full rent...you can spend the cash to evict them, after the legal wrangling goes through the courts in 6 or so months (along with several thousand in lawyer fees I'm sure) you can then usually deny them (WBAI) access to the site...perhaps if you're lucky after you've sent them packing you'll be able to collect pennies on the dollar in back rent if they can be forced to go silent and/or liquidated.

What you're then stuck with is a bit of a negative backlash among certain types as "The Man" who kicked a long-time non-profit political/cultural institution and community "voice" out on the streets. That could be more of a headache any of us imagine! On top of this, you now have an empty rental space with very few interested parties that you're making $0 on for potentially years/decades.

By that point, we can all hope Pacifica gets sold piecemeal to a competent operator who'd have no problems paying the full ESB tower rent!

Radio-X

 

[Ai4i]

Pacifica can trade for any AM in NYC, except for maybe 660, come out million$ ahead, and cover the northeast at night. Come on guys, do it already, do you want go down fighting bravely or stay afloat?

 

[TheBigA]

Pacifica can trade for any AM in NYC, except for maybe 660, come out million$ ahead, and cover the northeast at night. Come on guys, do it already, do you want go down fighting bravely or stay afloat?

To them, it's all about the fight and the struggle.

 

[Barry]

I believe that WNYE 91.5 would be a terrific fit for WBAI. WNYE puts out a decent signal, and like WBAI has a tiny audience with its hodgepodge of disjointed niche programming. And they transmit from the less expensive 4 Times Square. A broadcaster could seek to purchase it from NYC, and offer it to Pacifica along with cash, in exchange for 99.5. WBAI could gain some goodwill and serve the community by continuing to broadcast the few hours of ethnic shows that are aired nightly on WNYE.
But I do realize that Pacifica is not likely to do something on the basis of it making sense.

 

[TheBigA]

A broadcaster could seek to purchase it from NYC,

Many broadcasters HAVE approached the city, and the city isn't interested in selling the station. If they were, a former mayor with broadcast interest might be the first to grab it.

 

[Barry]

Perhaps the current mayor would be amenable to selling WNYE, on the basis that it would help ensure that a progressive outlet remains on the air in New York.