• 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

What's wrong with this "legal" ID?

Well for starters, KGOW's COL is Bellaire, not Houston.

Even if it was Houston, the stuff in between the calls and "Houston" is not
permitted, other than the frequency. No "The Game," no "K-Gow," no "Ka-Pow."

Are they really doing this at the TOH, with no evidence of "KGOW Bellaire"?
 
The call sign and the city of license have to be together, such as "KGOW, Houston," or even "KGOW 1560, Houston."

All of the Game, Ka-Pow and best sports talk sloganese needs to be placed after the call sign/city of license.

As the ID reads now, that's not a legal ID under the FCC rules.

Oldiesfan's post, at about the same time as mine, proves how incorrect it is. You can't tell what the COL is!
 
Some stations have been running the legal TOH several minutes prior to the top of the hour. I have heard them sped up to where they are said clearly but quickly, in between commercials. It could be that KGOW is doing this as well.

I don't see the big deal with this any more. How many of the FM stations add the FM to their call letters? Why should they, any more than AM stations add that suffix to their calls? Lighten up, people! This must be the anal retentive radio thread.
 
stan said:
Lighten up, people!
Click to expand...

KGOW has been airing an illegal ID for several years now, in that a station's call letters (with no suffix, unless assigned) must immediately be followed by their community of license, with these exceptions as outlined in FCC rule 73.1201: "Provided, (t)hat the name of the licensee, the station's frequency, the station's channel number, as stated on the station's license, and/or the station's network affiliation may be inserted between the call letters and station location." So KGOW 1560 AM Bellaire, Texas isn't legal (although it's close), and it certainly isn't legal to ID the station as being licensed to Houston.

But you're right, it's no big deal, not to the FCC apparently and it shouldn't be of any concern to us, either. As I see it, the only way the FCC would probably do anything about it is if someone (like another station, maybe) filed a complaint or if they found other apparent violations (or if someone at the Bureau happened upon this thread on a slow day, I suppose).
 
It seems the Legal Id is no longer a big deal to the FCC. What gets me is how some stations I've heard are running a legal as early as :42 or :42 past and then the jock is IDing the station over a donut in the jingle at the top of the hour. Would they argue the top of hour they do is not a 'natural break in programming'.

I was at an FM where the boss said I had to read the supposed Legal ID at the top of the hour which was "Call Letters, FM Stereo, City of License". We were never find in almost 4 years.
 
Slow day explains why I stumbled across this thread in the first place.

Most people don't know or care what the call signs are. They'll say things like "I listen to Talk radio 100.7" or "I listen to the Wolf" or some other identifier..almost never the call letters anymore.

I'm aware of a station (which will remain unnamed) that's not in Texas that probably has not run a legal ID in close to five years. No sign-on or sign-off either. It "pops" on in the morning and back off near sunset and runs a satellite feed all day. I'm sure others do the same thing and it probably doesn't really matter anyway.
 
Alan McCall said:
I'm aware of a station (which will remain unnamed) that's not in Texas that probably has not run a legal ID in close to five years.
No sign-on or sign-off either. It "pops" on in the morning and back off near sunset and runs a satellite feed all day.
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty much like KAZG Scottsdale (AM 1440, Phoenix market), although they do a
legal ID at the TOH. But nothing at sign-on or sign-off, as the carrier just pops on and off
in the middle of whatever song is playing.
 
oldiesfan6479 said:
Alan McCall said:
I'm aware of a station (which will remain unnamed) that's not in Texas that probably has not run a legal ID in close to five years.
No sign-on or sign-off either. It "pops" on in the morning and back off near sunset and runs a satellite feed all day.
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty much like KAZG Scottsdale (AM 1440, Phoenix market), although they do a
legal ID at the TOH. But nothing at sign-on or sign-off, as the carrier just pops on and off
in the middle of whatever song is playing.
Click to expand...

Long live the Lamptimer!
 
Isn't it amazing how no one can ever give commendation when it's possible, but there's always room for tearing down. What exactly has KGOW done to piss you guys off? Someone always has to come and give an explanation here because someone is complaining.
 
Rad10 said:
Isn't it amazing how no one can ever give commendation when it's possible, but there's always room for tearing down. What exactly has KGOW done to piss you guys off? Someone always has to come and give an explanation here because someone is complaining.
Click to expand...

I work in a factory during the day, and one of the assemblers listens to various talk shows while she works.

A few weeks back she asked me, "You know people at the stations, right? Do you know anybody at 1560? Has anybody bothered to tell them that they have dead air for a long time in the middle of the day? It's almost like nobody there gives a (bleep). I turn them on all the time and it's dead air. It's not my radio, because I can punch over to 610 and 740 and they're on..."

I like the shows on 1560. But details matter. When you turn on both transmitters at once and they null each other out, you literally can't listen. When you don't set the automation right and shows get cut off, you can't listen. When you set the day transmitter to shut down at 5:15 and you don't set the night transmitter to come on until 5:45 for three days in a row, you can't listen. All of the things I'm describing here I have experienced while trying to listen to Travis Rodgers on the way home from work since he started in PM Drive.

You want commendation? I'll give you this: the hosts on 1560 run rings around the other sports talk shows in town, which is why I'm listening long enough to hear all of this stuff. But like in the playoffs, executing the fundamentals is the difference between winning and going home.
 
It gets a bit difficult to praise a radio station that fails to do a legal ID each hour. I believe it is not intentional but rather a lack of attention to detail. Indeed the periods of silence and such are so basic to broadcasting its is second nature.

Think of it this way: a restaurant serves exceptional food you love but the staff is so blind to basic details you always sit there an hour or so to get your food even if you're the only customer in the place. You never get drink refills or the condiments you want for your food. Plus, they are sometimes closed when you stop by to grab a meal. The place would be perfect if they paid attention to the details because the product is exceptional. A restaurant as I described never succeeds and frequently is short-lived.
 
The silence issues are being worked out now, so are the automation issues. They were in need of some engineering help, and thngs are getting better everyday. Start listening again, the detail is creeping in.
 
Glad to hear that their issues are being resolved. It always seems at my station such problems never vanish quickly enough for us, so I can imagine their frustration. KGOW was a long shot on day one. The fact KGOW is still fighting the good fight after so long is a testament they are on the right path with smart ownership to keep things rolling along
 
johndavis said:
I work in a factory during the day, and one of the assemblers listens to various talk shows while she works. A few weeks back she asked me, "You know people at the stations, right? Do you know anybody at 1560? Has anybody bothered to tell them that they have dead air for a long time in the middle of the day? It's almost like nobody there gives a (bleep). I turn them on all the time and it's dead air. It's not my radio, because I can punch over to 610 and 740 and they're on..."
Click to expand...

Whoa, when did Jim Rome jump from 610 to 1560? ::)
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom