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WRFD in Columbus,OH not signing off at legal sunset to yield for WCBS.

D

del_griffith

Guest
WRFD 880 am in Columbus-Worthington, OH is staying on the air past legal legal sunset for the Columbus, Ohio area. March legal sunset and sign off is 7:45 under DST. WRFD is remaining on the air until 8:15.

They yield the air for clear channel WCBS.

WRFD had the same issue last year when DST was implemented during March instead of April.
 
Sign on/sign offs i believe are based by the FCC by region not the Protected stations Sunrise/Sunset thus the reason why WCKY in Cincinnati gets to keep its day pattern on till sunset of KFBK in Sacramento.
 
MikeStandardsFromIndiana said:
Sign on/sign offs i believe are based by the FCC by region not the Protected stations Sunrise/Sunset thus the reason why WCKY in Cincinnati gets to keep its day pattern on till sunset of KFBK in Sacramento.
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Nope.

It's defined by the sunrise/sunset of the station in question and is defined on the license. There are exceptions. I'm not familiar with WCKY/KFBK, but I am with WQEW and KNZR Bakersfield.

This is the table of sunrise/sunset for WRFD
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/srsstime?dlat=39&mlat=56&slat=31.00&dlon=83&mlon=1&slon=20.00&tzone=A
Note that this is not adjusted for daylight time.

WRFD does however have a critical hours limitation which should lower the power 2 hours before sunset. That may also be a factor, but the OP is correct that they should be gone by 7:45EDT.
 
The license for the station shows 6:45 pm for March sign-off non advanced for DST.


They were on the air until 8:15 tonight. I think part of the problem is the station is unmanned and the automation in the transmitter thinks DST still happens in April and is running the April schedule.
 
del_griffith said:
The license for the station shows 6:45 pm for March sign-off non advanced for DST.


They were on the air until 8:15 tonight. I think part of the problem is the station is unmanned and the automation in the transmitter thinks DST still happens in April and is running the April schedule.
Click to expand...

This makes the most sense.
 
The FCC should fine WRFD every day they are on the air past sunset. And shut down those Newark pirate stations too. However, nothing gets done.
 
Nick said:
The FCC should fine WRFD every day they are on the air past sunset. And shut down those Newark pirate stations too. However, nothing gets done.
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You're right they should, but this kind of thing goes on all the time.
 
In these days of reduced FCC staffing, a lot of things are sliding, including enforcement of technical rules. Ask any station that has to change patterns at night if all the co-channel stations are changing at the appropriate times along with them. They'll tell you that a lot of small market stations aren't bothering to do their mandatory pattern/power changes at local sunset--some that are supposed to sign off at night are also skipping the signoff and staying on the air on daytime power/pattern.

WRFD is a Columbus-market station, owned by Salem, with a transmitter closer to the center of that city than many of the Columbus-licensed stations. You'd figure a large market operation owned by a major national group would know better, or at least be more concerned about being busted by a competitor, if in fact they are messing up. But it could be simple error in implementing the rules...and perhaps they just need a reminder from CBS, which is, after all, even bigger and stronger than Salem.
 
Bob1370 said:
In these days of reduced FCC staffing, a lot of things are sliding, including enforcement of technical rules. Ask any station that has to change patterns at night if all the co-channel stations are changing at the appropriate times along with them. They'll tell you that a lot of small market stations aren't bothering to do their mandatory pattern/power changes at local sunset--some that are supposed to sign off at night are also skipping the signoff and staying on the air on daytime power/pattern.

WRFD is a Columbus-market station, owned by Salem, with a transmitter closer to the center of that city than many of the Columbus-licensed stations. You'd figure a large market operation owned by a major national group would know better, or at least be more concerned about being busted by a competitor, if in fact they are messing up. But it could be simple error in implementing the rules...and perhaps they just need a reminder from CBS, which is, after all, even bigger and stronger than Salem.
Click to expand...

A reminder from CBS would probably help, but I hear examples of this kinda stuff all the time. I think your comment about the FCC being understaffed in right on the mark.
 
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