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FCC Move Could Shut Down High School Radio Station
Saeed al-Sahaf writes "This probably has been happening all along, maybe just not in my area. A broadcasting company bought an FM radio station in The Dalles, Oregon (a little hick town east of Portland), and wants to move it to a much choicer market in Seattle, Washington. The FCC has given the green light for the move. Problem is, the frequency in Seattle is being used by a station owned by a local high school, Mercer Island High School. The school has appealed, saying the decision ignores the FCC's own rules, and questioned the FCC's assertion that there's space available elsewhere on the Seattle-area radio dial. The school says the proposal is 'little more than an effort to migrate from a rural community to an extremely well-served urban area.' Critics of the proposal contend that the move is an attempt to tap the much larger Seattle radio advertising market."
Trying to relocate a radio station such that it better covers a major metro area rather than covering the subberbs on the fringe of the city is a regular event in the radio biz. The FCC originally wanted to hand out radio allocations so that small communities had stations all to themselves, but this policy has more or less outlived its usefulness as small town ad markets simply just don't exist. A station needs to be either allowed to play ball in its nearby major market, or it most likely is being rented out or sold to a 24/7 national interest which doesn't serve the small market very well anyway.
"...and questioned the FCC's assertion that there's space available elsewhere on the Seattle-area radio dial"
If there's space elsewhere on the radio dial, why doesn't the other station take it?
Class D stations are hanging on by a grandfather clause at this point. The FCC is handing out no more new Class D allocations, and all Class D stations have been demoted in status such that if any higher-class stations (which include all commercial stations, since Class D's are by definition non-commercial) gets an allocation that interferes with them, the Class D must cease operations.
In short, Class D is in a phase-out period... stations in the Class D status need to get themselves moved into the dedicated educational slice of the FM band from 88.1 to 91.9, or convert their license to being LPFM station (possibly with lower power than they had before) in order to regain primary status so that nobody else can stomp on their turf.
This poor high school hasn't acted, and now the bulldozer of several stations re-aligining themselves on "their frequency" is coming in to knock them down. Sure, changing frequencies or converting to LPFM isn't a free thing to do, but it was part of their obligations as a broadcaster to keep up with the changes in the FM band. They did nothing, and if they can't afford to get themselves onto a safe channel then that's there problem. They clearly had a chance to do so when LPFM came out, and they passed...
Whatever decision is eventually made in this dispute, I hope it protects "my rights online" -- somehow.
It would be bad if my rights were somehow jeopardized by some high-school vs. commercial radio station dispute in distant Washington state. Bad indeed.
The FCC and most federal agencies work on the opinion that the largest income intake from licensing and taxation is the best way to serve the public. Sadly this only benifits the largest markets eliminates any minority services and ends with a homoginized beaurocracy controled competetive monopoly market.
Have you hugged your penguin today?
Here is San Diego, we're lucky that Clear Channel can own stations in San Diego, and in Tijuana, Mexico (right across the border). We thus get double the Clear Channel, and yes, our radio sucks more than most cities.
>Seriously, there's nothing else to be said after this post.
Oh please. The post does not go into why the Class D change happened, who is serves, why community radio is being killed in favor of commercial radio, etc.
Last I checked, the people owned the airwaves and the little slice they had for colleges and highschools is being systematically being pull-out in favor of more clear channel crap.
Secondly, if you read the article you'll see the FCC asked them to move to 104.something. If the FCC didn't ask them to move, they wouldn't be having this problem.
LPFM is largely a joke and its too late to get licenses now. A LPFM station covers a few blocks at best, especially if there are any tall buildings.
As far as the "keeping up with the changes" comment goes, well its important to ask why and understand such changes. What if your city aldermen or state legislature decided the land you live on is too close to the freeway and the Walmart people should have it? Would you and the grandparent be quick to defend a change of law without asking the ethical questions involved? Or is it "that's the law, shut up" all the way?
FCC is not above criticism, especially when its run by Michael Powell and the GOP.
Hate to be a jerk, but just because you don't like their musical selection doesn't mean they should have to give up their frequency. I'm not arguing either side of the fence in this discussion, but by no means should personal preference in musical choice be used as a consideration of whether this station should give up it's piece of the spectrum. Also, regardless of where the station is, they should have a fair chance in the system.
"Do you ever get the feeling that everything in America is completely fucked up?" - Hard Harry, Pump Up The Volume
First they want to move the station in question a full state, from Oregon north several hundred miles to Seattle. I could possibly see moving it to Portland, but this is a real streach.
Next, if the high schoolers really want to fight, all they have to do is to talk to their parents. Mercer Island, is located in the middle of Lake Washington and the residents are VERY well off. Paul Allen lives on the island as do a lot of the Microsoft millionairs. Bill Gates lives just north of the island. Quite a few Boeing executives in addition to at least one Senator for Washington (if I remember correctly). If they want, they (the school) have the connections to steam roll the station and make an example of them. Given that its the end of the shcool year with exams, now is the perfect time for this move on the station's part in the student body is out for the summer.
Housing prices start around a million for a modest home....
just as with the Internet, it was the efforts of educational institutions that pioneered and gave birth to radio as we know it in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The communications act of 1934 was essentially a giveaway to commercial interests, but it did, however, state that the airwaves belong to the public--a commons, if you will, and it did, as part of the compromise, carve out some of the spectrum for educational broadcasting and create special educational licensing.
The commercial interests basically got their way. It is a crying shame that they can't be content with what they have and that they, and the FCC, are now pushing around little educational stations and generally acting as if the airwaves were private property.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Software defined digital radio is great. But who is going to pay to upgrade all the existing radios? Some stations are useing the same hardware they started with 50 years ago. The stations will probably continue to use that gear for another 50. An AM reciever has maybe as much as 50 cents worth of electronics in it. A FM reciever costs another 25 cents. Can a digital radio be made that cheaply?
Reed (RTFA) may be correct about the technology, but in my view he is naive about the economics.
Or maybe it's because their cost structure is better. Once syndicated talk-host broadcast across the whole country is far cheaper than one per small-town across mid-america.
There's an enormous economy-of-scale in Radio; and just becasue a station is cheaper doesn't mean it's better for listeners.
Oh the otherhand it _does_ mean it's better equiped to buy expensive spectrum.