Another Comment on Licensing

When a station is licensed to a particular community it should be operated from that community. Period. That is not a difficult concept to understand. Licensing a station to a small town and operating from a larger nearby city not only does a disservice to the city of license, it makes a complete joke of the intent of the law. Paynesville, Minnesota...Clear Lake, South Dakota...Atwater, Minnesota...Pelican Rapids, Minnesota...are four communities, for example, which should have radio stations located within their borders since there are licenses assigned to those locations. My partner and I could successfully operate a station from any of those communities (just as we have from Madison, Minnesota for 26 years), I don't know why any other respectable owner couldn't do the same. Unfortunately most people in those towns don't even know they have a radio station. I guess they missed it when it was mentioned in passing at the top of hour. You have to go the St. Cloud, Brookings, Willmar and Detroit Lakes to find their "home" studios.

Some Of My Favorite Stuff!

It's time to get off the soap box and offer a little practical advice. Whether you're the station engineer...or the GM who needs to do some minor repairs on to the door knob on occasion...here are a couple of item's I'd recommend. I have a big box full of tools...but if I had to choose one tool kit it would be the little hand-held Radio Shack Deluxe Computer Toolkit with zipper case. (Cat. No. 64-1990, I'm not sure if they still sell this particular one or not). It contains a couple of flat and a couple of phillips screwdrivers, a tweezers, a part retriever, a chip puller which I love, a chip inserter which I've never used, a couple of computer-size nut drivers and a plastic tube with a cover for keeping track of parts. That kit, in conjunction with my Ace Hardware GDT-190A 19-range multi-tester (which is my all-time favorite digital meter at a cost of about $18.00) will solve a lot of problems. Add a wire cutter, a needle-nose pliers a soldering gun (my Radio Shack 100-watt model is my favorite) and a roll of solder.....you're set to take on just about every problem that arises...unless, of course, you have to change some bolts in the tower or something like that. I'm talking about approximately fifty-bucks worth of tools here. I think just about every station can fit that into the budget.

Leave The License Where It Is Supposed To Be!

This little story popped up in my e-mail today from "Inside Radio"

Minority groups reject move-in proposal.The FCC is currently considering rule changes that would make it more difficult for owners to move stations from small towns into bigger cities. But dozens of groups are telling the FCC the change would “set back the clock” since most minority owners are only able to enter radio by buying outside the big cities.

Well, to that I say....why can't the minority groups license the station to the smaller community and operate from there? They'd be helping economic development in a small town and they'd still be putting a signal on the air. The idea of licensing a station to a community is to serve that community...not to serve the licensee. When are the so-called "broadcasters" of the world going to figure this out. Why is the FCC having difficulty understanding their own rules? Operate from your community of license damn it! The whole system of licensing stations is a joke...but I'm not laughing.

How Do They Pick These People??

I just got done looking at my latest edition of Radio Ink. It contains a list of radio's "40 Most Powerful People". How do they pick these lists? Half these guys are captains of sinking ships...downsizing, laying people off...one guy even brags about the fact that his company's revenues are only down 11 percent....apparently he thinks that's success! If these dudes are powerful....I'm glad I didn't get picked. By the way, they keep missing me on Cosmopolitan's list of Sexiest Men, too. I'm going to look into how to get nominated! The powerful people in radio are the owner/operators who work seven days a week...wearing several hats! They serve their communities and occasionally put a little money in the bank, too!

Up..Up..and eBay!!

If you're a broadcaster and you're not an eBay fanatic, you are really missing the boat. Not only is eBay a good source of everything from computer supplies, to cheap CD players and stereo cassette decks, it's also an excellent way to turn that junk in the backroom into cash! What do you have that people might want? One thing collectors like is old broadcast equipment catalogs....your old 4CX250B's and assorted other vacuum tubes are hot items...as are variable capacitors, NOS (new old stock) repair parts for a tape deck you probably don't have any more...those old QRK turntables in the corner will sell quite readily as do old cart machines. Do you have an old console or two lying around? It doesn't matter whether or not they work...somebody wants 'em! Let me repeat, an item does not have to be working...it doesn't even have to be complete...somebody somewhere probably wants it. Whatever you do, do NOT bring in a dumpster and toss out your old stuff, sell it on eBay. If you want to see what broadcasters are selling just go to ebay.com and type "broadcast" in the search box...or type in the brand name and model number of something you have in your possession. WARNING: Once you start delving into the world of eBay you'll have a hard time stopping.

The FCC Should Be Ashamed of Themselves

Does it bother anyone else that the FCC punishes licensees for honesty? I cannot believe how many stations have been fined thousands of dollars for admitting that they were missing a few pages in the public file. Apparently in this day of budget reductions the FCC is making up the difference on backs of broadcasters and other licensees. What ever happened to a warning and a chance to set things straight? I can understand fines for repeated flagrant violations but to use licensees as "cash cows" to line the pockets of the Feds is disgusting. They should be ashamed.