|
Post by David on Apr 9, 2017 8:59:17 GMT -6
KEGH-FM (107.1) has been on the air with nothing but a dead carrier for at least a week now. This isn't surprising given the fact that the company which owns KEGH belongs to Nicolas Vicente, the guy responsible for broadcasting dead air on KXOL 1660 for several months after KXOL's license was cancelled before the FCC finally shut down the station's transmitter. KEGH's sister station KMRI 1550 AM was also broadcasting a dead carrier for several days last week, but that station appears to be back on the air as of today. Vicente better start paying attention to the stations he owns, or the FCC might shut down a couple more in the near future!
|
|
|
Post by CAwasinNJ on Apr 9, 2017 16:47:18 GMT -6
According to the FCC database it doesn't look like the sale of KEGH has actually been finalized yet, so the divestiture trust is still listed as the licensee. If they aren't broadcasting anything but dead air they wouldn't be broadcasting a legal ID and that would be a problem that needs to be addressed before it becomes an issue. Given a choice I would guess that most people would be listening on the FM so I would assume that would be a priority to get working, though you know what happens when you assume.....
|
|
|
Post by David on Apr 9, 2017 21:27:02 GMT -6
Still on the air with a dead carrier as of 9:30 PM tonight, so I think it's safe to assume that whoever's responsible for "minding the store" isn't listening.
|
|
|
Post by David on Apr 12, 2017 12:02:18 GMT -6
Still on the air with a dead carrier as of 9:30 PM tonight, so I think it's safe to assume that whoever's responsible for "minding the store" isn't listening. For some reason the system won't allow me to edit my posts today, so I'm posting a new message. KEGH-FM is still broadcasting dead air as of Noon today (April 12th). Don't radio stations have some kind of alert system to notify the engineer or other person in charge that the station automation is off line? It seems pretty strange that 107.1 has been broadcasting a dead carrier for nearly two weeks without anyone noticing.
|
|
|
Post by David on Apr 14, 2017 19:11:59 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by CAwasinNJ on Apr 17, 2017 4:31:23 GMT -6
Nice detective work.
That does bring up more questions than it solves though. WHY did the deal fall through? The STA request implies that there is another buyer lined up, but is there or is that just posturing for the FCC? And it still doesn't answer why the stations are running dead air instead of being off the air. (Silent and dead air are two different things. Save some money on the power bill guys.)
|
|
|
Post by David on Apr 17, 2017 6:14:55 GMT -6
Perhaps the station trustee felt he was no longer obligated to continue airing programming on KEGH because of non-consummation of the pending sale. (KMRI 1550 is back on the air with audio, while KEGH 107.1 continues to broadcast dead air.) In a case from 2008 involving an FM station in Miami which broadcast dead air after listeners filed an objection to the sale of the station with the FCC, the FCC actually ruled in favor of the station and didn't fine them for not broadcasting a legal TOH ID: americanbandscan.blogspot.com/2008/03/fcc-rules-dead-air-doesnt-require.html
|
|
|
Post by CAwasinNJ on Apr 18, 2017 3:28:03 GMT -6
The situation at WMCU/WKCP isn't exactly that clear cut. The ruling was only in regard to whether the assignment of license would be granted, though it does say that the chief of the media bureau agrees that the station was considered silent. The enforcement bureau might have a different take on it. I've definitely seen cases where violations were considered insufficient to be considered for one thing but were referred to the enforcement bureau for their consideration also. I wouldn't bank on that ruling. Even if it was not considered a violation of the letter of the law, it certainly is a violation of the spirit of the law. The purpose of a legal ID is to help track down problems with a signal so the offender can be identified. One can argue (and I do) that those rules are antiquated and unnecessary these days, but they haven't been repealed yet. Back in the 1930's when AM and its propagation was all we had, yes it was necessary. Today, not so much.
|
|
|
Post by David on Apr 18, 2017 18:37:52 GMT -6
Excellent points. The FCC direction finding (DF) equipment is pretty sophisticated these days, and it can usually track down violators within a few hundred meters. However, I think most stations would still broadcast an ID at the top of the hour even if it was no longer required. It's a good way for radio listeners to identify what station they're listening to when they're reporting to radio ratings services.
|
|
|
Post by CAwasinNJ on Apr 19, 2017 22:45:37 GMT -6
As far as Arbitron went in the old diary era (and its successor Nielsen Audio still uses diaries in smaller markets) they accepted dial positions and slogans and positioners and all sorts of things other than callsigns. That's a good thing since I doubt most people would even know what the callsign of their favorite station is. We're radio geeks and we know these things, but most people couldn't care less. Plus we've been using PPM for a long time now so even that wouldn't matter in this market.
|
|
|
Post by David on Apr 19, 2017 23:16:21 GMT -6
That just goes to show you what an old fart I am. The last time I was asked about what radio stations I listen to, I wrote down all the pertinent info in a diary and got a crisp $1.00 bill as my reward! These days I'm old enough that virtually no one cares what stations I listen to because I'm no longer in any of the "important" demographic groups.
|
|
|
Post by David on May 12, 2017 18:04:42 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by CAwasinNJ on May 14, 2017 23:11:15 GMT -6
It was still on the air Friday night, but the signal was weak. I'm wondering if maybe just the main was on.
|
|
|
Post by David on May 17, 2017 11:56:19 GMT -6
It was still on the air Friday night, but the signal was weak. I'm wondering if maybe just the main was on. The carrier is still full strength at my location in NE Ogden. One would think that the trustee would have shut down the transmitter by now since the FCC approved the request for remain silent authority nearly a week ago. Weird!
|
|
|
Post by CAwasinNJ on May 18, 2017 6:53:37 GMT -6
If you're right and a dead carrier qualifies as being silent, then there's really no change needed. Still dumb in my opinion, but maybe there's a reason.
I had an idea, though it's a bit crazy. What would you think of a Kickstarter so we can program 107.1 (or 910 or 1320 or whatever) until they get a real buyer. Think anyone would go for that?
|
|