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| Pastor Clark Parrish |
Unless
you read the fine print of broadcast station transactions you might have
missed the pending transfer of FCC licenses from Edgewater Broadcasting to Radio
by Grace (RGB).
What makes this deal special is that Edgewater is giving the
stations to RGB for nothing – no cash, no trade of assets not even lunch.
Even
more unusual is the fact that Edgewater, controlled by Pastor Clark Parrish, had
a net profit of over $1.8 million in 2016 according to their most recent IRS
990 filing.
Not bad for a not-for-profit organization.
RGB is controlled by Bill Gehm, a pastor who leads Grace Church in
Amarillo, TX. Churches are not required by the IRS to make public their
financial information.
Welcome
to the unique world of religious noncommercial radio where trading licenses is often
a bigger deal than saving souls.
Edgewater
is donating its five full-power FM stations and 67 translators for no
composition because it wants to, as it told the FCC, “cease doing business.” Things
have changed since 2003 when Edgewater gained control of hundreds of FM
translators in a FCC auction of more than 1,200 frequencies.
The
company is well known to serious broadcasters and LPFM planners for gumming up
the process by acquiring licenses for stations and translators they never
intended to build.
Edgewater
has already sold or donated most of the 484 construction permits it secured in 2003.
The frequencies they kept (and now are giving away) air Freedom Radio
FM [link]. Freedom Radio FM feeds satellite-delivered programming to FM
translators in more than two-dozen states.
These
“radio stations” have no local presence (other than the top-of-the-hour legal
IDs) and the programming originates in Twin Falls, Idaho. Several other
religious broadcasters such as Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and American
Family Association (AFA) are using the same FCC loophole.
In
April 1988 the FCC issued an order making changes in its rules that allow
noncommercial educational FM translator stations assigned to reserved channels
and owned and operated by their primary stations' to receive signals for
rebroadcast via any technical means the licensee deems suitable. The original purpose
of the order was to expand noncommercial FM service to areas without local FM
stations. For additional information on the FCC Order, see of our report from
January 2016 [link].
Of course, the media landscape, and the value of FM translators, has completely changed since 1988.
Isn't time for the FCC to change this rule that speculators like Parrish used to make a bundle of manna.
NIELSEN AUDIO PPM
RATINGS: COMPARING SUMMER 2018 & SUMMER 2017
As
promised, we are now comparing noncom station ratings for full three-month
quarters. Today we are showing comparisons from Summer 2018 that “was in the
field” from June 21 to September 12, 2018, with data from Summer 2017. Today we
have results from the top three American radio markets.
It
is been an outstanding year for both WNYC AM and FM. The average-quarter-hour
share (AQH) and estimated weekly listeners are up for both frequencies.
WNYC-FM's
gain in AQH is a big deal in New York broadcasting, the nation’s largest market.
Our
biggest question about the NYC ratings is What is happening at Jazz music WBGO.
Their weekly listeners appear to be in a free fall. However their AQH isn’t
dropping as much. These numbers indicate that fewer people are sampling WBGO.
Almost
everyone is doing well in Los Angeles. KPCC’s one-year jump in both AQH and
weekly listeners in notable.
KCRW
is loosing estimated weekly listeners but the AQH is stable.
This means fewer people
were hearing KCRW in Summer 2018 but now they are listening more often and for
longer durations than Summer 2017.
We
wish we had better news about WBEZ in Chicago.
They lost over 100,000 estimated
weekly listeners in Summer 2018 compared with Summer 2017.
The AQH is also dropping.
Perhaps
someone can tell us the reason Christian Talk WMBI-FM.
Stations with this
format typically have very stable numbers.
It
is nice to see WBEZ’s Vocalo on the chart. In case you missed it, check out our
feature on the Urban Alternative format we published in September [link].
Ken I know your a "live and local" guy or "local" guy...since I know of stations that has its personalities prerecord their talk drops but still live in the community, but what your advocating for is nothing but a feel good rule that may or may not help locals get jobs.
ReplyDeleteI am not crazy about certain Christian Music broadcasters like EMF (K-Love and Air1) or Way FM (and to be honest I really don't care for Christian Music like I used to so even a KLTY, Fish, KSBJ or a Z88.3; commercial or not would be a turn off as well), but on the flip side you have Bible Broadcasting Network and others focused on Christian Talk which feature programs that are not local. Most NPR News/Talk stations depend on national programming anyway although some stations especially in major markets (NYC, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle etc) are able to invest in at least one local program for their public radio audience.
While the intent might have been to get signals into communities that lack the finances without outside help, it has proven to be successful in growing certain Christian music brands and then some.
What is happening here is no different than what public broadcasters especially in Europe have done for years. Sure BBC does provide local radio services, but still their Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3 etc etc that were built to be nationwide services.
Your call to ban sat translators is really trying to bring back a time and age of radio that you prefer and made you feel good.
I doubt the Public Radio crowd will want to advocate for this, cause this could nip a Colorado Public Radio or a Minnesota Public Radio that wants to expand and keep its coverage in smaller markets.
Look I hate the fact that a community can have a glutton of the same Christian Music on multiple radio stations
I am stuck in such a community but that audience is passionate about sharing the Gospel and feel that the Worship music industry can forward that cause coupled with its long time fans who keep eating it up...it was not always this way.
In fact Christian Music radio picked up were the Underground/Progressive radio left off, especially those radio stations that were more youth and rock focused rather than the stations going for the older demos either as Inspo (which is basically a dead CCM sub gene and was closer to the E/Z-Beautiful Music format) or the Christian AC format which is the long time money making demo.
Now stations like Way FM has grown up with its audience and broadcasts a Christian AC format. The musical diversity that was in the Christian Music radio spectrum has declined. But that is the consequences when a gene becomes an industry instead of the movement that was in the business of making good music, good messages and making money (in which in of its itself is not bad as long as people are not getting conned).
I would like to see a few Christian AC's in my town fall...but right now they are all making money and appeal to people that love what they do. So objection overruled. So I am stuck with these multiple Christian AC signals strong to weak.
I don't know that a ban on satellite feeds for translators is really the solution here. After all, internet feeds would work just as well for many of these translator stations. Nor would I suggest that "over the air" (OTA) reception being the only allowed method of content delivery as a solution either; it's too easy to break that rule with no consequences, as we frequently see today.
ReplyDeleteInstead, I think just simple distance requirements between the transmitter location of the primary and the transmitter location of the translator are all that's needed. I'm not sure what the distance would be, but there's probably a good number that would allow translators to function well while blocking "satellator networks". 75 miles? 100, maybe? Perhaps 150? Somewhere around there.
Make accommodations to that distance limit for Zone I vs Zone II since one allows 100kW signals and the other has only 50kW max. And I think you can make exceptions for bona fide statewide networks; I would guess there's only 30 or 40 of those in the entire USA at this point. Certainly fewer than 100...a very manageable number to make decisions on a case-by-case basis if someone qualifies.
And leave the rules in place for fill-in translators, too. I'm okay with giving a lot of benefits to a translator in that situation (where the service contour of the translator is wholly within the service contour of the primary).
But requiring that a translator only can relay a primary signal within X miles away dramatically simplifies enforcement for the FCC, while knocking down a lot of these ridiculous back-door "satellator networks".
And as long as we're redrawing the rules, let's get rid of the ridiculous ERP restrictions based on HAAT along certain azimuths. It's confusing and helps nobody. And also get rid of the ERP restrictions on HAAT, period. Make it so the reference ERP is 250 watts at 150m HAAT, limited by contours. If you're higher than 150m HAAT, de-rate the ERP accordingly (just like any other Class of FM service).