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Who Would You Talk To? (New Community Radio Station)

seattlesarchiebunker

seattlesarchiebunker

There is a station near where I live that has a CP for a new non-comm station. Based on what I have seen from the applicant, it appears to be a legitimate attempt to do "community" radio. This non-profit organization does not have a web presence or really any contact info to ask about their intentions and to see if I can be of assistance in helping to start things up.

So, that being said, would you:

1) Bother to contact them at all before the station is built/on-air?
2) Regardless of when to contact them, should I attempt to contact via the address (PO Box) given on the FCC application, try any personal email/phone/addresses of the board members mentioned, or ask around town to see if anybody knows anybody? (It is one of those kind of towns where most everyone knows everyone after long enough)
3) As its a share-time station, would I attempt to contact the other share time group as well to hedge my bets of a positive response?

Thanks in advance!
 
Non-comm but "share-time"? My guess it will be a religious station full of dollar-a-holler preachers.

If they really wanted to be a "community" radio station they could've just put a 10-watt TIS on the air.
 
The earlier the better. Don't ask for a job. But volunteer your help. See what happens.

I see a lot of applications, and very few go beyond that.
 
I would contact using contact information of the FCC application except for the attorney or engineering firm if either are utilized. They may welcome some help. If nothing else, it's always fun to meet new broadcast groups.

Being a share time, this means two applicants met the same 'point' criteria and qualified for the last remaining frequency that would work at that location. Sure one or both could be religious formatted but they can't sell 'dollar a holler' time to preachers...it's illegal on non-commercial stations and hardly anybody buys airtime these days. They all go with a 'share' meaning you get a portion of donations that comes in from zip codes in your coverage area. If you get the 'top 40' best national ministries that have professionals designing the flow of the programs, that share can be fairly decent because the big boy national ministries have decent followings. Focus On The Family under James Dobson, started the share trend that pretty much evolved ministry radio from paid time to 'share' in a few short years. At that time, Dobson was to Christian radio what Rush is to conservative talk.

If you have the call letters, that would be nice to know. If it's a Low Power FM, you might be talking a few people with virtually zero radio knowledge. I'm talking crazy thinking. One board told a friend with 35 years in on air, programming, sales and .management that he knew nothing because his experience was in commercial radio. In fact they said they knew as much as he did. They turned in their license a couple of years ago. I bring this up to demonstrate the need for some actual radio experience at many such stations and to caution, they might not understand anyway.

Also, understand programming descriptions on applications frequently are vastly different from reality, especially for LPFMs. For some,the thinking is to appear as ultra community service oriented to not be questioned but really it's a guy that wants to play his music library or they have no grasp on how to execute the elements they describe.
 
Tried that once. Local community station had an open house so I went down there to see if there was anything I could do to help. No studio. Just a mic in a room. Used to record PSAs. Talked to the station manager. Told me the station was run from a computer at home and he could 'control the whole station from my i-Phone'. Left.
 
kevtronics said: If they really wanted to be a "community" radio station they could've just put a 10-watt TIS on the air.

Depending on the definition of the word community, a 10 watt TIS or Traveler Information Station, is not what many consider a community station. TIS stations are heavily restricted on what programming is allowed. There cannot be any underwriting and generally speaking must be a voice-only format (I have heard sound effects and background music utilized to enhance the text). TIS stations must be licensed to government entities although I have heard of Chambers of Commerce operating such stations for the purpose of communicating information about local visitor-interest attractions and possibly services available on a continuing loop. Usual licensees are airports, cities/towns, county governments, state and national parks and departments of transportation. When I was near Houston, a few towns used the stations to communicate essential information, say for hurricane evacuation or if the water supply was disrupted. Outside those times, many just ran National Weather Service audio. Early in TIS history, the FCC backed off rules a bit because the Los Angeles Airport named their gates for the airline that served that gate. In the original rules it was illegal to even mention a for-profit business for any reason..
 
b-turner said:
kevtronics said: If they really wanted to be a "community" radio station they could've just put a 10-watt TIS on the air.

Depending on the definition of the word community, a 10 watt TIS or Traveler Information Station, is not what many consider a community station. TIS stations are heavily restricted on what programming is allowed. There cannot be any underwriting and generally speaking must be a voice-only format (I have heard sound effects and background music utilized to enhance the text). TIS stations must be licensed to government entities although I have heard of Chambers of Commerce operating such stations for the purpose of communicating information about local visitor-interest attractions and possibly services available on a continuing loop. Usual licensees are airports, cities/towns, county governments, state and national parks and departments of transportation. When I was near Houston, a few towns used the stations to communicate essential information, say for hurricane evacuation or if the water supply was disrupted. Outside those times, many just ran National Weather Service audio. Early in TIS history, the FCC backed off rules a bit because the Los Angeles Airport named their gates for the airline that served that gate. In the original rules it was illegal to even mention a for-profit business for any reason..
Click to expand...

Los Angeles Airport canceled their license 10/01/2012 as it was proven that they had very few people listening to it.
 
Many towns maintain a TIS station just for use during emergencies and natural disasters that may affect power, telephone, and Internet access. Otherwise they just broadcast a repeating ID message.
 
While in New Martinsville, West Virginia, one can tune to such a station on 1610 am. At least I think it's a TIS. I cannot find who operates it.
 
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