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FCC Move Could Shut Down High School Radio Station 212

Posted by timothy from the arrogance-at-play dept.
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."
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FCC Move Could Shut Down High School Radio Station More

FCC Move Could Shut Down High School Radio Station

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  • Not an unusual request... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:03PM (#9291526)
    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.

    • Re:Not an unusual request... (Score:5, Informative)

      by EssenceLumin ( 755374 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:12PM (#9291586)
      The Dalles is 250 miles from Seattle and isn't a suburb of anything. It's 85 miles from Portland.

    • Re:Not an unusual request... (Score:5, Informative)

      by zentec ( 204030 ) <zentec@@@gmail...com> on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:20PM (#9291636)
      This isn't necessarily true. There are still a number of small owners in very small markets that make a decent business out of serving the community. Granted, you're going to hear high school sports, and "trade-e-o", and community bulletin board and all that folksy stuff, but isn't that what serving the community of license is all about?

      Your comments that small communities had stations all to themselves isn't on point either. None of the reallocations I've been involved with had nothing to do with the smaller community not requiring the services of the station and everything to do with the new big owner (Cumulus, Clear Channel et al) wanting to push it into the market and require advertisers to buy multiple advertising packages on all stations.

      Let me tell you, you'll never hear high school sports scores or community bulletin board on a Cumulus station. You'll hear rap music being piped to farmers, but nothing of community interest.

    • Re:Not an unusual request... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Detritus ( 11846 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:37PM (#9291718) Homepage
      If the station received its license on the basis of its promise to serve Fooville, why should it be allowed to move to a nearby major market? If it can't comply with the terms of its license, it can return it to the FCC. Maybe another broadcaster, who didn't pay an inflated price for an existing station, can build and operate a profitable station in Fooville.

      I've seen this sort of thing happen several times in my local area. A big conglomerate buys a small station outside a major market for big bucks, and immediately applies to move the station to a more profitable location inside the major market. They never had any intentions of continuing to serve the community that the license was originally issued for. They just see an opportunity to gain an outlet in the major market.

      • Re:Not an unusual request... (Score:5, Informative)

        by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Sunday May 30, 2004 @05:00PM (#9291815)
        If the station received its license on the basis of its promise to serve Fooville, why should it be allowed to move to a nearby major market?

        Because they can claim that Fooville is already recieving a "primary local service" from several other radio stations, so even though they were the closest station to Fooville and got their allocation in the early days by promising to serve Fooville, Fooville doesn't really need them anymore. Therefore, they want to move to Barville and provide a new "primary local serice" to them since they seem so underserved.

        The fact that the real motivation is that a new setup in Barville will give them a whole lot better signal in Capitol City, which is where they've really been trying to aim themselves at all along, is something that they can easily leave out of the FCC applications.

        The fact is, "primary local service" is a joke these days, and have been that way for a long long time. The laws of market economics have basically taken over. If there's an ad market to support a community than the market exists, otherwise it gets folded into the nearest market that is large enough to qualify.

        Afterall, ad sales is really what local service is all about in broadcasting these days. Community calendars are being left to the local newspaper, which more and more is now just some localized inserts into an otherwise regional newspaper. (In some cases, it's one title with a regional section... in other cases it's 5 co-owned papers with different titles that have their own front page, but share any story that applies to the whole area or is purely a "feature" story.)

        If the local radio market really was that viable... than MegaCorp wouldn't be able to justify coming up with enough money to get the local owner to part with his station.
    • this policy has more or less outlived its usefulness as small town ad markets simply just don't exist

      That's not quite true. There are thousands of small-town radio stations making money in the U.S.

      But because the FCC allows the stations to be moved, the market for small-town stations has changed. There is more money in selling out to a conglomerate and crying poor, garnering the FCC's blessing for a move, than staying in one place and making a lower level of profit serving the local community.

      So the b

  • Do I smell evil? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by irokitt ( 663593 ) <archimandrites-iaurNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:03PM (#9291527)
    Is this a ClearChannel Station?

    • Bad yes, Clear Channel no (Score:5, Insightful)

      by lothar97 ( 768215 ) * <owen&smigelski,org> on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:19PM (#9291623) Homepage Journal
      The station that is moving is owned by Mid-Columbia Broadcasting Inc. It looks like that Mid-Columbia only has 1 station, and 10 employees [oregonbankers.com]- so it's a pretty small fish compared to Clear Channel.

      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.

      • i remember a few years ago when i lived in north county we had Y107, and for a long time while i guess they were looking fo djs, they didn't have any! it was jut music. ok music, sometimes git ood music, but it was a beautiful change. i think it used to be modern rock Y107 from arcadia, but couldn't compete with kroq, and now it's a spanish station...

    • Parent is not OT.... (Score:3, Informative)

      by josh3736 ( 745265 )
      Mods, I'd like to take this oppertunity to point out that the parent is not really offtopic. He raises a good point, that the larger corporations (ClearChannel) are coming in and pounding the little stations into the ground. In my area, pretty much ALL the stations are ClearChannel, except for the (suprisingly good) local college channel [www.wzip.fm].

  • Space on the dial? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by EvanED ( 569694 ) <evaned.gmail@com> on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:06PM (#9291543)
    "...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?

    • Re:Space on the dial? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by irokitt ( 663593 ) <archimandrites-iaurNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:11PM (#9291578)
      Which station? According to the article, the school changed from the lower end of the dial (where most public/community radio stays) to 104.5 because the FCC told it to (in the early 90s). Supposedly they could change it back, but the FCC would have to approve, and that's provided the lower band isn't already saturated. Of course, the station that is new to the area should be the one to change frequency, because making the school change frequencies can confuse/drive away customers. The station that is moving to Seattle will be new to the locals no matter what the frequency, so it doesn't suffer a disadvantage by accepting a different frequency.

      • Re:Space on the dial? (Score:5, Informative)

        by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Sunday May 30, 2004 @05:12PM (#9291876)
        KMIH has been an exception to the FCC rules since 1978, when after being backed by NPR and universities operating larger stations in the dedicated "educational band" from 88.1 to 91.9 got the minimum power requirement for any station in that band to keep its primary status to be 100 watts. KMIH was lucky to have survived this timeframe... dozens of similar stations got bumped out of the band when larger stations filed for upgrades leaving the smaller station with nowhere to go other than out of business.

        KMIH didn't meet its match until the 1990s when finally a larger station came forward with a plan that bumped them off their allocation. The FCC, however, was nice to them... they were given a gift in the form of being allowed to start a Class D allocation at 104.5. That represented an FCC rule being waived for them... Class D stations don't belong outside of the educational space. But, it came with a catch. Being a non-compliant grandfathered station, they were still stuck with "secondary status" which means any application for primary status would be able to bump them out of existance. The only thing that protected this station was the fact that the surronding 104.5 FM stations were owned by different owners, and none of them could really upgrade themselves without crashing into another commerical user who'd most definitely object.

        Now, when LPFM came out... there was a chance for KMIH to get themselves out of the doghouse. They could have simply filed the paperwork to convert their Class D license into an LPFM1. It turns out, they were fully compliant already and they wouldn't have had to change their technical operations at all to change status, but it'd gain them the chance to become a primary user of the space they were hanging onto so that nobody could knock them out of it. They likely didn't do that because they didn't see this kind of problem coming, or if anybody raised the posiblity they weren't able to get the school to pay the legal fees to get the paperwork done.

        So, when the surronding 104.5 FMs were able to create a plan that benefited all of them but left KMIH with no place to hide, KMIH's lease on life expired.

        When you've got a secondary allocation, you've got to beware of those things possibly happening... clearly this high school operation wasn't and that turned out to be their undoing.
        • Very well put, and just what I was thinking. They KNEW this could happen because of the nature of their license. They had a secondary allocation. If other stations can get primary allocations in their service area, they too had the chance but didn't take it. Secondary means secondary.

          Sure, it's a shame to lose a signal -- especially an educational one. But there's probably very little stopping them from moving to a nice 1,000 watt AM allocation with far better coverage. Oh, the little baby DJs don't
          • Check out their website: http://x104.fm [x104.fm] There is no way that Blazin' Seattle's New Hip-Hop and R&B is indicative of an educational program. Their DJs are not high-school kids, and I don't think it should be given any preferential treatment. John, respond if you will...

        • Re:Space on the dial? (Score:4, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2004 @11:58PM (#9294239)
          that is not quite true... class D has more protection than LPFM (we [KMIH] did look at the option of going that route)... we have been persuing class A status since about 1994 (look at our past filings).

          Additionaly, senator Cantwell is currently soponsering legislation to force the FCC to convert super powered class D stations (like KMIH) to class A. If you have any doubt about KMIH, just head to their website at http://x104.fm and find out what they do.

          John :)
          john@x104.fm

    • Re:Space on the dial? (Score:5, Informative)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:23PM (#9291652)
      Because that "free space" is most likely in the 88.1 to 91.9 FM educational band in which the commercial station can't move into, but the high school's station most certainly can.

      Small-signal educational stations have been put on notice that if they've got a Class D license in the commerical section of the FM band, they'd better get their act together and move into the educational band or at least admit they're small-timers ad step down to an LPFM license. This school did neither... and now the station-owners of the other 104.5 FM stations in the area have come up with a plan that pretends that the high school station doesn't exist. Guess what, since the high school never got relicensed as LPFM, they're a "secondary user" of their channel that could be squeezed out by anybody filing a primary use request... so for the purpose of this new filing by the commercial stations they don't exist.

    • Re:Space on the dial? (Score:5, Informative)

      by johnpaul191 ( 240105 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:27PM (#9291668) Homepage
      well i am sure the Class A filed to cover a large area, including the small area the Class D station covered. If it's Class D then it is under 100 watts. The new commercial station is probably a few thousand watts or more, so it's harder for them to fit in the FM puzzle.
      That's why *most* Class D stations that had support fromt he School, or whomever funds them, refiled for power increases and became Class A almost 25 years ago. The station i do work at, WKDU Philadelphia [wkdu.org], jumped to 110 Watts from 10 Watts back in 1981 to avoid being bulldozed like this. Initially back in the 70s the wording made it seem like any station under 100 Watts was toast so most little stations freaked out and applied to be 100+ watts. The situation wasn't as bad as it initially seemed, but in the end the stations that stayed Class D were told they pretty much had no squatters rights if a Class A station wanted to stomp on their broadcast area.
      I do not know the exact legal classification that makes a station Class A, but WKDU was Class A when we were 110 Watts (now 800), non-commercial and owned/operated by Drexel University. I guess it is not much more than jumping over 100 Watts? hell, we were not even stereo till about 1990.

  • content? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by lawngnome ( 573912 )
    Im unclear of the FCC's rules, but I was under the impression that a certain kind of station (rock music for example) needs to provide a reason their content should be allowed in the market and is not similar to other options...

    this may be a local thing tho...
    • Heh, must be a local thing. Here in milwaukee we have like 6 major commercial stations, 2 rock stations... 2 adult contemp/alterna whatever stations, and 2 hip-hop/top 40 stations. Radio used to be better, but now theres one decent station [wmse.org] left.

    • Re:content? (Score:2, Informative)

      by RedSteve ( 690399 )

      The FCC stays out of the content business. It doesn't care what you broadcast, as long as you pay their fees, identify yourself once an hour, and stay away from the seven dirty words.

  • The school missed its chance to protect the slot! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:07PM (#9291549)
    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...
    • The article made it sound like they were opposing this from the beginning. If they didn't notice their frequency was being taken until now, then I can perhaps understand it.
      I wonder if there are rules on the books that say the FCC has to notify stations when their license is about to change or if their frequency might be affected. It's not like you can find out about these proposals in the local newspaper.
      • This station has been lucky to be alive since 1978. In 1978, the minimum power requirement to be in the protected educational band from 88.1 to 91.9 got raised to 100 watts. KMIH was on 90.1 and far short of that...

        They were allowed to get by until the 1990s when the FCC ordered them to move to 104.5. But even that was a secondary allocation that has no standing to block primary requests like the one that just popped up.

        What they should have done was the moment that LPFM came out converted their station f

  • My Rights Online (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Kohath ( 38547 )
    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.

    • Re:My Rights Online (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jb.hl.com ( 782137 ) <joe@noSpAm.joe-baldwin.net> on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:16PM (#9291611) Homepage Journal
      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.

      Don't you get it?

      The point is that the FCC is letting large corporations control the airwaves to the detriment of the public (i.e schools). They are prioritising the big and wealthy over the little guy. It doesn't affect your rights online, but holy fuck does it affect your rights.

      Put it this way: say that a large corporation wanted your domain name, which coincides with the name for one of their new products. Also say that your web host willingly handed the domain over to them, without giving you a say in the matter. You'd be crying "OMGWTF THE HOSTS TOOK AWAY MY NAME AND GAVE IT TO PROCTER AND GAMBLE!!!111". I think you'd have a right to be pissed then. Same thing here.

      • Re:My Rights Online (Score:5, Interesting)

        by mc6809e ( 214243 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @05:54PM (#9292098)
        The point is that the FCC is letting large corporations control the airwaves to the detriment of the public (i.e schools).

        Apparently a good deal of public values what the corporations provide. Maybe you don't value it, but many people do.

        If people really valued this radio station so much, where is the money? I've found it's easy for people to claim such and such is the greatest thing, but when they are asked to pay for it, suddenly it's less important.

        The fact is most of the public likes what you and I would consider crap and that means most of the resources are going to go to providing them with their crap.

        That doesn't mean what the public wants is somehow objectively worse than what we want. We have different values. But, should we given resources, airwaves and otherwise, disproportionately?

        They are prioritising the big and wealthy over the little guy. It doesn't affect your rights online, but holy fuck does it affect your rights

        The problem is that "the little guy" mostly doesn't give the public the crap it wants and the wealthy do.

        If you want to be one of those wealthy people, you need to provide people with the crap they want, like Beanie Babies, or Public Storage, or fatty Hamburgers, or Britney Spears' T&A, or shiney Chrome rims for SUV's.

        The fact is that the animals mostly make the world go round and stations like ClearChannel are giving them what they want. Shouting "NO!" isn't going to change that.

      • So this is another 'big bizness bad' rant discussion and it's on YRO because that's Timmuh's hobby: ranting about big bad bizness.

        You still didn't explain how this relates to 'online' except in an extremely peripheral way.

  • Same thing happened in my area (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:08PM (#9291559)
    A college radio station was pre-empted because a major new york radio station wanted the frequency. The college refused to move and put up a fight against the FCC, which fined them for various "other" violations.

    The taxpayers ended up flipping the bill because of the greedy commercial radio station and the hard nosed college administrators. The FCC is a bunch of corrupt people buyable by whoever has the most money. it just goes to show that the US government is corrupt.

  • What! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:09PM (#9291561)
    You mean to tell me an agency of the United States government is putting corporate interests before the public's interests?

    I never thought I'd live to see the day!
    • You mean to tell me an agency of the United States government is putting corporate interests before the public's interests?

      I never thought I'd live to see the day!

      No kidding! Next thing you know, they'll be giving out tax breaks to the rich!

    • Re:What! (Score:3, Informative)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) *
      In this case, it just turns out that the corporate interests had the resources to dot all the I's and cross all the T's on their application... and take advantage of the fact that the public group missed the chance they had to turn in their Class D license for a LPFM1 license that would have blocked this move.

      Failing to do that when the LPFM classes were created basically left this station exposed. Any non-commerical interest could have taken their license away simply by proposing an LPFM1 station on their

  • The best for the public (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:10PM (#9291568)
    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.

  • Bitches (Score:3, Interesting)

    by t_allardyce ( 48447 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:10PM (#9291572) Journal
    WTF!? If they are moving the station then when it gets to the new location it will be a new station! Why would they need to keep the old frequency?? this is total bullshit and just prooves how fucking sold out the FCC is, not just to the self-righteous nutcases who think Janet Jackson should be sent to prision, but also to the selfish assholes who want to stop at nothing but total domination of the radio spectrum. Wouldnt be surprised if before long they want to re-assign air-traffic control and emergency services onto one frequency because britney spears is more important!
    • Maybe they haven't figured out that they can change the frequency they're transmitting on by twiddling dial #3 on the board...

  • This is hypocritical but.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:11PM (#9291580)
    I live in Seattle and I have heard this high school radio station. It's complete and utter crap in my opinion. They play all the heavily commercialized rap and R&B songs. We have two great radio stations in Seattle that pay little attention to commercialization of music:

    103.7 The Mountain plays all sorts of music, not just the singles everyone else plays. Furthermore, they don't overplay songs and they aren't afraid to take risks (They played artists like Jack Johnson before anyone else caught on).

    90.3 KEXP plays almost any kind of music that has not been commercialized by the RIAA. Sometimes they play things that are a little too weird for me, but sometimes I hear a GREAT song and look it up online (they log all their playlists since you won't recognize their music from TRL).

    I doubt the radio station that is trying to displace the hich school station is as good as the two I have mentioned, but seriously, the high school station is not good at all. Also of note, Mercer Island, where the high school is, is where Washington State's most privileged families live. Mercer Island is where a 16 year old girl drover her new Audi A6 drunk and killed a child. (Not to generalize.....)
    • 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.
      • but yet again, his testimony would temper the argument that the Big Bag Overcommercialized Clear Channel Crap Station is moving in on the Little Guy Playing Local Music In The Spirit of Brotherhood and Harmony, which i can see being made in the forums. He's just pointing out that Seattle isn't losing NPR or thoughtful selections on the local college station -- that perhaps the change of radio stations will not be a detriment to the community.
    • *ahem*

      I happened to live in the Seattle area for a few years. There's one high school station that plays really great stuff (if you like dance music) - that's C89.5 FM, operated by Nathan Hale High School.

      Now, just because YOU don't like "heavily commercialized rap and R&B songs" does not mean that other people do not.

      Just because you think it's crap, does that make it right to have their license stomped on?

      Not only that, but you sound amazingly bitter that you aren't from Mercer Island. Did you g

  • Actually this change... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Chordonblue ( 585047 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:12PM (#9291581) Journal
    ...might do some good! :P

    "...KMCQ's {the nasty corporate commercial station} Web site says the station plays adult contemporary music and uses local announcers. KMIH (The 'hi skool', yo} plays hip-hop and R&B."

    • Most High School radio stations don't operate under the same rules as the commercial stations. The are usually granted secondary status on the frequency they are assigned. Since they are secondary and do not have to follow all of the same procedures and rules set forth for commercial stations, if push comes to shove they will have to be the ones that either go off the air or move their frequency.

      It may sound unfair but the free market should get priority over a government run broadcast station.

  • So instead of the FCC shutting them down... (Score:5, Funny)

    by emcron ( 455054 ) * on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:13PM (#9291589)
    We'll take care of their site with a thorough slashdotting :-)

  • Wishful thinking (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bill_Royle ( 639563 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:13PM (#9291592)
    This high school doesn't stand a chance. Other than state lotteries and tribal casinos, frequency negotiations are about as corrupt as it gets.

    The FCC hasn't been a useful tool of airwave management for a long time, evidenced by their refusal to allow cell/wifi devices on planes. Now there's wifi capability on some planes, but only through the carrier... and do you think that those carriers have figured out some way to isolate that signal that regular industry hasn't? No, it's just that there is money involved, and noone has put forward an ample attack for consumers.

    Planning commissions are almost as bad, but at least there's an appearance of more public deliberation for those.

    Good luck to that HS, but the chances are slim. My bet is that they'll be left scratching their heads, saying "What's the frequency, Kenneth?"
    • evidenced by their refusal to allow cell/wifi devices on planes

      Huh?? That is not an FCC, nor even a government regulation. Although the airlines will often try to make it sound like an FAA regulation, the FAA's rule is that the airlines must make disable any devices that the airline believes may cause interferrence.

      When cell phones were new, and were 900 Mhz mini-microwaves with 3 watts of power and the effect on the nav system was an unknown, that was a reasonable precaution.

      20 years later and w

  • We're the governent. We're here to help. (Score:3, Informative)

    by katdillon ( 783560 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:14PM (#9291595)
    Right! Government once again using the broad law to help those who can pay for it. The little guy shouldn't have any rights? So much for government being the helpful force. Let's reduce it, reduce the FCC... we're moving to NH to start the process. The Free State Project proposes to reduce government to its constitutionally mandated limits. You can help! http://www.freestateproject.org

    Kat Dillon

  • same thing this year in Philly burbs... WHHS (Score:3, Informative)

    by johnpaul191 ( 240105 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:18PM (#9291619) Homepage
    it happened to WHHS Haverford HighSchool [whhs.org]... the oldest High School radio station in the United States.....

    They too are Class D and in the way of a Class A that wants to start up somewhere in South Jersey.... The FCC rules offer them nothing much since they never became Class A. They have to yield to other stations. The only chance is for them to find another frequency to move to (not a simple or cheap thing really).
  • If you're surprised, just respond with an empty ac post (or put crap in so the filter lets you).

  • This happened to my school as well. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:26PM (#9291665)
    Furman University in Greenville, SC was without a radio station for about a year and a half because Clear Channel bought a station and boosted its power enough to knock us out. What's annoying is that an exec for Clear Channel is on the board of trustees for Furman. Talk about right hand not knowing what the left is doing... They promised us new equipment to make up for it, but that never materialized. Meanwhile, we were stuck without our beloved WPLS for a significant amount of time....
  • I remember The Dalles from the game I used to play in grade school, The Oregon Trail. Some quick googling found this:
    http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Thedalles.html [isu.edu]

    Apparently The Dalles is where the Oregon Trail ends and the 100 mile Columbia River rafting to the Willamette Valley began.

    BTW, did anyone else here ever play The Oregon Trail? I practically grew up with it. Version 1 on the Apple II only required 48 KB of RAM but it was crap. Version 2 was way better but I thnk it required 96 or 128 KB and used

  • Good Riddance (Score:5, Informative)

    by batura ( 651273 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:33PM (#9291701)
    I used to listen to X104 a couple of years ago (actually, when I was in High School). It used to play really interesting music, such as independent techno and dance music.

    I tuned in recently, and I all I could hear was the same generic commerical Rap/"R&B" that every other ass clown radio station in Seattle plays.

    If anyone is interested, there is another HS radio station called C89fm [c895fm.com], run by Seattle Public Schools. It plays content similar to what x104 used to play and even has a webcast so I can listen at work.

    Its a great break from the average commerical crap radio in Seattle.

  • Captain Obvious (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anthony Boyd ( 242971 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:34PM (#9291703) Homepage
    Critics of the proposal contend that the move is an attempt to tap the much larger Seattle radio advertising market.

    Rich buyers: Hey, let's buy this station and move it to a profitable market!

    Critics: We're on to you! This is just an attempt to tap the much larger Seattle radio advertising market!

    Rich buyers (in deadpan tone): Gee. They discovered our secret.

  • Run-ins with FCC Woes (Score:5, Informative)

    by DarkHelmet ( 120004 ) * <.mark. .at. .seventhcycle.net.> on Sunday May 30, 2004 @04:34PM (#9291706) Homepage
    My friend ran a pirate radio station for about 8 months, and had it shut down by the FCC back in February.

    It's really regrettable, in the sense that the Mariposa, CA area had NO rock radio station in the area. The closest station was in Fresno, and didn't get reception well, if at all, in the area.

    The station itself had a range of approximately 3 miles in any direction, which was enough for the town of about 2000 to be entertained. The only thing that was even close on the frequency was a spanish station, whose reception was incredibly poor in the radius of 20 miles from the town. Considering up there is a mostly white demographic (like 95%), I can't imagine any objection.

    The thing is, creating a radio station, thanks to the FCC and government, forces the act into a business. This was something that my friend ran out of his house. He received no donations, just overwhelming community support, especially from the 700 or so high school students that had nothing to listen to on the air.

    The crap part, is since that it's such a small town, there's no amount of advertising that would make up for the FCC fees alone. Therefore, Mariposa, CA is stuck with a country music station.

    This story is just another one that ends up frustrating me in the end. Thank you, FCC. You properly ended up making free speech available and accessible to the upper class.

    *** END RANT ***

    • The crap part, is since that it's such a small town, there's no amount of advertising that would make up for the FCC fees alone. Therefore, Mariposa, CA is stuck with a country music station.

      This story is just another one that ends up frustrating me in the end. Thank you, FCC. You properly ended up making free speech available and accessible to the upper class.

      If the FCC didn't shut him down, ASCAP/BMI would have chased after him for mechanical royalty fees for the music he played.

      The right to free spee
      • If the FCC didn't shut him down, ASCAP/BMI would have chased after him for mechanical royalty fees for the music he played.

        The right to free speech doesn't mean everybody's entitled to a soap box to stand on, and the freedom of the press belongs to the people who own a printing press.

        That's a horrid analogy. I'll agree that ASCAP wwould have been within their (legal) rights to shut him down, but comparing that to a printing press is absurd.

        I own a "printing press" right here. It's a HP Office printe
        • If you own a soap box, it's your right to stand on it and say what you want. However, if you don't have a soap box, nobody's required to give you one and you can't just take somebody else's.

          We're allowed to post on Slashdot because OSDN has invited us all here as their guests. They didn't have to do that, they're just being nice to us.

          My point is that the "right to free speech" doesn't translate into a reason why pirate radio should be allowed to operate. If you want to provide rock radio to a community t
    • While my libertarian ideals deplores the FCC's handling of the radio spectrum, I do have to take issue with one thing...

      When 95% of Mariposa listens to country music, what's the problem with having a country music station?
    • the upper class folks in your neighborhood listen to country music? shit, dude, i'm sorry for you.

  • Submitter wrote "...The Dalles, Oregon (a little hick town east of Portland)." Geez. I don't recommend a career in journalism, or especially PR, for anyone who would post that in a national forum. On behalf of my friends who live in The Dalles, may I suggest something more like "...The Dalles, Oregon, a rural community of around 15,000 people 80 miles east of Portland?"

    • What huge city did the original poster come from? Since when is a city of 15,000 people a hick town? When someone says "hicksville" I tend to picture a town of 200 - 2000 people. The type with two gas stations, a bar or two, maybe a resturant, and nothing more.
  • The winner has the money.. the school has no money so they have lost before the battle even began.

    Education takes a back seat once again.
    • This is Mercer Island, man. You know, the island where Bill Gates lives? It's chock full of rich white folks. They aren't hurting for cash, I can tell you that.

      They have enough money that they can afford to have a toy radio station for their kids. If they can afford that then they certainly can afford to move their radio station to the educational allocation of the radio dial (assuming there's a place for them, there).

      There's always AM, like all the other High School stations...

  • The FCC and Mercer Island (the Rock) (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2004 @05:06PM (#9291845)
    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....

  • This would all be moot if everyone did what I said (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mike Buddha ( 10734 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @05:25PM (#9291957)
    As is the usual case, this would all be a moot argument if the whole world would set aside what it thinks it knows and let ME make all the important decisions.

    My declaration to remove all the current problems with so-called "interference" (listen up HAMs, you guys complain the most about "interference", at least on Slashdot): Software defined digital radio [gnu.org]

    Seriously though, one of the issues that has been brought up with a software radio is that "interference" isn't what it's portrayed to be. Radio waves don't collide with one another, the way that "intereference" implies. Interference is actually an artifact of the low quality analog recievers we use to listen to radio. Their selectivity leaves a whole heckuva lot to be desired. A radio with greater selectivity (the ability to distinguish two radio boadcasts with similar carrier frequencies, even those coming form the same source) can eliminate this dated notion of interference.

    Read This Salon article on the subject [salon.com] and be converted to the new way of thinking about "interference". Or not :)

    P.S. This article was the subject of a previous Slashdot article.
    • 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.
  • Sorry, but I thought 'Pump Up The Volume' was a great movie.

  • Educational stations gave birth to radio (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dpbsmith ( 263124 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @05:52PM (#9292090) Homepage
    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.

    • Educational interests started radio? You must have gone to different broadcasting schools than I did. It was the commercial interests (usually newspapers) who pioneered both radio and television. Educational broadcasting didn't blossom until decades later.

      For example: The earliest station I can remember reading about is now what is known as KCBS -- a commercial station formerly known as FN as far back as 1910.

      Other early stations include:
      WTG - commerical
      3XJ - non-commerical
      WGY - commercial
      WSAJ - commer
  • is their FCC skirmish. the name of the school paper is the "mercer high times."
  • Gees, you'd almost think that it hasn't long been established that the airwaves belong to the people not to dumb-ass corporate dweebs. As far as I'm concerned, the high school has more legal and moral claim to it than any business concerns.

  • To support the snotty little yuppie puppies at Mercer Island High or the FM media pigs?

    Having grown up in a rural Washington town, I can honestly say that I don't have much sympathy for the yup pups. OTOH, they were there first and we're talking about giving pig media a win. I guess I'd go with the pups.

  • What's really sad... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Law1620 ( 555675 ) on Sunday May 30, 2004 @08:27PM (#9293223) Homepage
    I live in Seattle and do listen to the hishschool station. KUBE 93.3 is the biggest hip-hop and R&B station in the Greater Seattle area. They cater to the Top 40 format so on any given day you will here the same eight songs every hour. 104.5 plays more of the underground and non-mainstream (read: GOOD) hip-hop. You barely every here commercials and hear alot of older stuff that never made in big with commercial success. It is really sad if they do bring down that station. I guess big business is where it's at.
    • Umm, I'm sorry, but x104 is good? I go to MI and am forced to listen to that station all the time in weight training. It drives me crazy. They replay the same playlist all the time (how many times do I need to hear Quarterbackin'? (zero)) and the announcers don't even know what time of day it is (saying good evening in the middle of school).

      That said, as much as I hate the radio station, it shouldn't be shut down in favor of another station moving in. Being a nerd, I have a number of colleagues who are rea
  • Class D FM stations were basically put out of business in 1980. Except in Alaska, the FCC doesn't allow new ones. Most of the class D stations converted to class A status (minimum power of 100 watts or equilavent coverage thereof) back in the mid 1908's. Some moved into the commercial band as secondary stations and one or two moved to a new FM frequency, 87.9 FM. These secondary stations can be displaced by any other station except another class D, a translator or an LPFM. And, yes more then a few were for

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