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WCTA 810AM Alamo,TN Dark?

The family needs to cut their losses, submit to the inevitable, and turn in the license. People now get their news, information, and entertainment from other sources. And those who once listened to the station have long since either passed on, or switched the dial to other stations. It's over for this station. Their best days are behind them.

And the building that houses the station could be put to better use for something (or someone) else.
 
I'm thinking someone's paying at least two electric bills a month, and probably a telephone bill or two a month. There isn't an STL, so programming is most likely being delivered from downtown via telephone line to the transmitter site. I think there's probably a second phone line for transmitter remote control.

Mr. Williams, the owner of WCTA, died in May of 2014. In October of 2015, the license was assigned to Robert Davis (Alamo Media LLC) in exchange for forgiveness of a $43,500 debt. It appears Mr. Davis is an attorney in Chattanooga, TN. A sign that was once on the front door of WCTA listed Dave Colvett as Operations Manager, but Mr. Colvett died in 2016.
 
AMFMKYTN said:
I'm thinking someone's paying at least two electric bills a month, and probably a telephone bill or two a month. There isn't an STL, so programming is most likely being delivered from downtown via telephone line to the transmitter site. I think there's probably a second phone line for transmitter remote control.

Mr. Williams, the owner of WCTA, died in May of 2014. In October of 2015, the license was assigned to Robert Davis (Alamo Media LLC) in exchange for forgiveness of a $43,500 debt. It appears Mr. Davis is an attorney in Chattanooga, TN. A sign that was once on the front door of WCTA listed Dave Colvett as Operations Manager, but Mr. Colvett died in 2016.
Click to expand...
Yes, scroll back a few pages, and you will see that the engineer has died, as well.
 
The door still had the same old sign with the MO phone number posted, which was probably Dave Colvett, and it hasn't been changed since. There isn't any information on the Chattanooga number or e-mail, which was probably Robert Davis on the door any more.
 
WCTA's license is set to expire on 08/01/2020, just over a month from when I'm writing this.

I don't check it often, but the few times I have in the last months, the station's once again been off.
 
AMFMKYTN said:
WCTA's license is set to expire on 08/01/2020, just over a month from when I'm writing this.

I don't check it often, but the few times I have in the last months, the station's once again been off.
Click to expand...

Probably for good this time. The last time I heard anything was just before Christmas. I wonder if the owners will actually surrender the license or if the FCC will have to put some heat on them.
 
anotherguy said:
Probably for good this time. The last time I heard anything was just before Christmas. I wonder if the owners will actually surrender the license or if the FCC will have to put some heat on them.
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Somehow, I think that the FCC would be too busy (or too disinterested, one extreme or the other) to hassle a licensee about their license. It would seem to me that it would be up to the licensees to keep up with that.
 
The "must file license renewal application date" for radio in Tennessee has passed, as it was April 1st, 2020. The "license expiration date" for radio in Tennessee is August 1st, 2020.
 
They may have already filed on time. If not, you can file late but you are admonished and usually fined (depending on income).
 
There's definitely no income since they haven't been running any ads and had to be going further in the hole to keep the station running even sporadically. I think that they're probably off for good now since I saw a notice on the door from the electric system and the power has probably been cut off by now.
 
b-turner said:
They may have already filed on time. If not, you can file late but you are admonished and usually fined (depending on income).
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Such happened back in 2007 to WIRJ in Humboldt. An application for renewal of the license should have been filed by April 1 of that year. However, it was instead filed filed one day after the license had expired in August of that year. This resulted in a $3,500 fine.
 
AMFMKYTN said:
Such happened back in 2007 to WIRJ in Humboldt. An application for renewal of the license should have been filed by April 1 of that year. However, it was instead filed filed one day after the license had expired in August of that year. This resulted in a $3,500 fine.
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Somehow, I don't think that WCTA could take a hit like that. They have had NO income in recent years. If they had the money, they could have already used it to keep the station afloat.
 
This could be the final gasp of WCTA. Even if they file late and show no income, they might just be admonished or fined a small amount.
 
It's August 2nd so I guess WCTA is officially dead, even though I haven't heard them on the air since before Christmas last year, and even with that you could consider them dying ever since they came back on the air in 2012. I could say rest in peace but it should have rested years ago.
 
anotherguy said:
It's August 2nd so I guess WCTA is officially dead, even though I haven't heard them on the air since before Christmas last year, and even with that you could consider them dying ever since they came back on the air in 2012. I could say rest in peace but it should have rested years ago.
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It would be interesting to go back through this thread, and see how many times any of us said "this could be it" over the years. But since they don't have any electricity (per your earlier message), I don't see how they could return to the air. August 1st fell on a Saturday this year, so they may have through today to make any decisions on it.

But if they were to finally officially go off the air, the only ones who would miss them would be US!
 
firepoint525 said:
It would be interesting to go back through this thread, and see how many times any of us said "this could be it" over the years. But since they don't have any electricity (per your earlier message), I don't see how they could return to the air. August 1st fell on a Saturday this year, so they may have through today to make any decisions on it.

But if they were to finally officially go off the air, the only ones who would miss them would be US!
Click to expand...


Here's what i predict happening.

One of the guys keeping WCTA afloat died a few years ago.. not the original owner, but someone else who stepped in. I think he was the only one with true broadcasting expierience and knowledge

WCTA will get a letter, it will go unanswered.. or the fcc will get it turned.. and the FCC will delete the license by procedure for no renewal and no answer to their inquiry. Look up WSAO 1140 Senatobia, MS. Same thing... letters, emails, phone calls went unanswered after the license wasnt renewed.. it was then deleted.

5-6 years ago, if someone had gotten ahold of this place, applied for a translator and ran some satelitte service with local info, they couldve made a go of it. Too late now.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
One of the guys keeping WCTA afloat died a few years ago.. not the original owner, but someone else who stepped in. I think he was the only one with true broadcasting expierience and knowledge
Click to expand...
Not sure who you are referring to, but the engineer who was once affiliated with this station has also long since passed away. You can read about him on previous pages of this thread.

Seems like everyone who had any type of real (internal) knowledge about this station is long gone.
 
firepoint525 said:
Not sure who you are referring to, but the engineer who was once affiliated with this station has also long since passed away. You can read about him on previous pages of this thread.

Seems like everyone who had any type of real (internal) knowledge about this station is long gone.
Click to expand...

Annnndddd theyre done. it is now DWCTA as of Monday
 
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