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WTSP Illegal ID
- Thread starter rfrus
- Start date
The same way WZPH-LP in Zhills does. 
As long as they include the city of license somewhere in the ID, it's legal.
rfrus,
I was wrong. Thanks for providing the information. I thought that the FCC had changed the rules to permit other cities to be added between the call letters and the official city of license.
I was wrong. Thanks for providing the information. I thought that the FCC had changed the rules to permit other cities to be added between the call letters and the official city of license.
At some point they VISUALLY identify themselves as WTSP St. Petersburg - Tampa. I know, I've seen the same thing every once and a while on the station too. But I bet at some point it's done the opposite with St. Petersburg first and that's all that matters. Once and hour is all it takes. The rest of the time the visual text may have Tampa first. The only other reason I could think of is that the new digital signal IS licensed to Tampa. So essentially, they could in fact be legal with an ID of WTSP-DT Tampa... But I'm pretty sure they're still St. Petersburg.
At least WTSP is more efficient with their legal ID's than 105.9 The Buzz...
Thats been fixed DtotheJ, thanks for pointing it out
billalm said:
No, the digital signal is also licensed to St. Petersburg.
I'm not in the market, so I haven't seen the IDs -- but the scenario you cite (where at least once an hour they run a visual ID as "WTSP St. Petersburg") is indeed legal. They can call themselves WTSP Tampa (or even WTSP Anchorage - Tokyo...) the rest of the hour, and every time they *aurally* ID, if they want.
Little off topic, however, love WWRM's legal ID.
A bit off-topic but one of the most egregious stretch of the rules is WFLF-AM, Pine Hills/Orlando.
They identify themselves as AM540 WFLA. The only time that you hear their licensed call letters is at the top of the hour.
Even their website is www.540wfla.com
Now ... back to the topic.
They identify themselves as AM540 WFLA. The only time that you hear their licensed call letters is at the top of the hour.
Even their website is www.540wfla.com
Now ... back to the topic.
sbe1 said:
Nope. Hubcom (Hubbard Communications) closed their door a number of years ago.
I agree about the call letters. I was CE for WGTO when they were in Cypress Gardens.
They had a much better signal back then.
Their OTA transmitter is most definitely licensed for St. Petersburg.rfrus said:
Just because you are on cable, doesn't mean you are watching OTA.
The legal ID is for the OTA transmitter only.
Since most viewers are on cable or a dish, the legal ID does not have to be seen.
If you are watching over the air, it may be done only at the transmitter and inserted there.
Most of the time it is in the TOH graphic originating at the studio. But if they want to downplay the COL, it can be done anywhere as long as it is sent through their OTA transmitter.
But we don't have to see it if we are watching other than OTA.
Although, you swerved into another question:
Can the ID be on PSIP only?
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
I enjoyed going out to the WQTM 540 transmitter site..very cool when Paxson owned it I worked there during the tansition to Clear Channel.. 540 "The Team" was a pretty unconventional sports station..So here's a 540 ID that everyone loved until it got pulled..Circa 1994
www.jefflaurence.com/audio/qtmid.mp3
www.jefflaurence.com/audio/qtmid.mp3
badjef said:
I suppose that's technically possible...but: I've been to a lot of TV stations. I've never seen it done that way. You'd be surprised how many cable systems are still getting their feeds (especially HD feeds) directly OTA, and even when there's a separate fiber or microwave feed from the TV station to the cable headend, it's coming from the same MCR feed that's feeding the OTA transmitter.
The only exceptions that come readily to mind are a handful of markets where a station is providing a separate regionalized feed to part of its market - WSAZ providing split newscasts and spots to cable viewers Charleston and Huntington WV, for instance, or WHSV's "ABC3" feed for Winchester, Virginia, or KGO's separate ABC feed to Monterey/Salinas.
No. The current version of 73.1201 still requires either an aural or visual ID.
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