WQSG On Air / NY Times Article on WRFT

[jegrant]

American Family Radio's WQSG Lafayette/Kokomo is now on the air at 90.7 FM broadcasting their Inspo/Talk format. A main studio waiver means the station duplicates WAFR/Tupelo except for the TOH ID, AFAIK.

Can anyone tell me if WWTS Logansport has ever come on the air at 89.5 FM? I don't hear it here in Kokomo, but I'm not sure I should. The FCC CDBS identifies the station as "DWWTS". Does this mean they actually lost the CP?

Also, the New York Times has published an article about the various attempts by religious radio conglomerates to swallow up high school radio stations across the country. WRFT is prominently featured.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/23/n...b6ca4aecf&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

 

[Wazzie]

<groan> Turning an educational channel into an uneducational channel does NOT serve the community. That group should not be allowed to use this channel as a repeater for their Mississippi trash.<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>

 

[xmtrucker]

My question is: How can Hensley claim that WRFT, WBDG, etc do not serve the community, when, if he would take them over, they would repeat a signal that is nowhere near the COL? The only time the community "would be served" is at the top of the hour (when the ID would be mumbled through with the 10's of others within 10 seconds).

 

[radiofn12]

> Turning an educational channel into an uneducational channel
> does NOT serve the community. That group should not be
> allowed to use this channel as a repeater for their
> Mississippi trash.
>

Amen. People like this are anything but Christian.

 

[Apollo79]

> American Family Radio's WQSG Lafayette/Kokomo is now on the
> air at 90.7 FM broadcasting their Inspo/Talk format. A main
> studio waiver means the station duplicates WAFR/Tupelo
> except for the TOH ID, AFAIK.

I was beginning to wonder when 90.7 would actually be put on the air. The station has had numerous CPs and applications over the past several years.

I stumbled upon WQSG last night just west of West Lafayette. Pretty good signal for it being on the non-comm band and 30 miles from town (WQSG is on the Shine 99 tower between Rossville and Kokomo).

Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed with AFR's format choice. It would have been nice to have a CCM station in this area. 89.9 WHPL is already established as the place to go to for preaching and inspirational music. WHPL does mix in some CCM in the daytime and has done so since WGNR in Anderson took over the station's programming, but it would have been nice to see such a format on the air in the Lafayette area full-time for a little variety on the dial if for nothing else.


> Can anyone tell me if WWTS Logansport has ever come on the
> air at 89.5 FM? I don't hear it here in Kokomo, but I'm not
> sure I should. The FCC CDBS identifies the station as
> "DWWTS". Does this mean they actually lost the CP?

Still nothing on 89.5 in the Lafayette area, a place where they should be booming in. I may be wrong, but it looks like the construction permit may have been denied. I did notice WWTS' primary contour does not cover any of Logansport. That might have had something to do with it.

 

[Apollo79]

> > Turning an educational channel into an uneducational
> channel
> > does NOT serve the community. That group should not be
> > allowed to use this channel as a repeater for their
> > Mississippi trash.
> >
>
> Amen. People like this are anything but Christian.
>

The groups that are challenging these licenses in multiple states due to lack of community service need to ask themselves...Am I going to put a satellite format on this signal or repeat another station nowhere near the coverage area once I get it? If so, am I effectively serving the community as well, if not better, than the previous license holder? It's one thing if the person petitioning these licenses plans on adding lots of local content with a local presence in the community (local announcers, local business office, etc.), but we all know no one petitioning to deny these schools of their license have no intention of doing anything of the sort.

If anything, stations like WRFT ARE serving the community and serving it very well. Hell, most of the lower-power, part-time high school stations I've heard, past and present, do a much better job at serving the community with local announcements, news, and sports than any other local full-powered, full-time commercial and non-commercial station does at any time of the day. Sure, the on-air staff at high school stations suck, but EVERYONE sucked to some degree when they got their first start in broadcasting. It's sad that these religious organizations are trying to squeeze the last bit of localization out of radio as well as deny students a chance to really test the waters to possibly launch a successful radio career.

 

[gr8oldies]

Not at all defending the religious broadcaster, but does anyone listen to HS radio other than the students? As far as the so-called Christian broadcaster is concerned,, he may be thinking along the lines of "while those kids are playing DJ, precious souls are being consigned to HELL because the message that WE ARE THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH is not being preached"!<P ID="signature">______________
..from the Ball Park Franks sponsored gr8oldies keyboard...</P>

 

[jegrant]

> I stumbled upon WQSG last night just west of West Lafayette.
> Pretty good signal for it being on the non-comm band and 30
> miles from town (WQSG is on the Shine 99 tower between
> Rossville and Kokomo).
>
> Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed with AFR's format choice.
> It would have been nice to have a CCM station in this area.

AFR does have 3 networks - their Inspo music / Talk (as on 90.7), a Christian AC format (flagship WAJS @ http://www.wajs.net/wajs2005/default.asp ), and a "Christian Classics" Classic Gospel format.
I am not convinced that AFR's Christian AC would be significantly different from the WFRN network (which does overlap somewhat), but it would be a niche that's not filled in the Lafayette market. I would certainly prefer it to the format they chose.

BTW - Is WAJS truly an AC or a CHR? Their page http://www.wajs.net/wajs2005/insideajs.asp claims they play Mary Mary & KJ-52. I have only ever heard the station online, and usually just for a few minutes each time, but I find it hard to believe (especially given their rather conservative theology) that they play those artists in regular rotation.

If you are in the market for CCM, one of the two Lafayette LPFMs might suit you - IIRC 97.3 has a softer CCM, whereas 97.7 had a decent mix of CHR/Rock. Of course, those signals don't really cover the whole market.

>
>
> > Can anyone tell me if WWTS Logansport has ever come on the
>
> > air at 89.5 FM? I don't hear it here in Kokomo, but I'm
> not
> > sure I should. The FCC CDBS identifies the station as
> > "DWWTS". Does this mean they actually lost the CP?
>
> Still nothing on 89.5 in the Lafayette area, a place where
> they should be booming in. I may be wrong, but it looks
> like the construction permit may have been denied. I did
> notice WWTS' primary contour does not cover any of
> Logansport. That might have had something to do with it.

I wondered myself how exactly the laws of physics permitted a station licensed to Logansport to direct the vast majority of its output toward Lafayette. (However, if it put a city grade signal into Logansport, I think I really ought to be able to at least pick it up on a car radio here in Kokomo.)

FWIW, if you look in FCC files, they had filed a modified CP for a much smaller signal that would have basically covered Cass County and not much else, then it appears they requested the FCC to dismiss it soon afterward.
(Isn't it inappropriate for a licensee to win a CP based on a hypothetical large coverage area, then modify the CP to cover a much smaller area? Perhaps that was another issue.)