Re: 'Religious' broadcasters....

[Wayne Carter <wcarter@mva.net>]

>>
>My point was that it is a cultural thing (or so I thought). Certain
>denominations use radio for paid ministires; other don't--or use they it
>very little. To this, Mr Carter replied that there was another reason. On
>his station, he would not accept programming that did not "fit in" (my
>words) with what his audience turns to WJLT to hear. He says that this
>practice is typical of most Christian stations. In that case, I am wrong.
>Which denominations air ministries on those stations may not be a cultural
>thing. Rather, it may be determined by who controls the stations and what
>the station operators feel their audience wants to hear.
>

	This returns us to the discussion of choosing station format. I do
not know of any instances of shows ever being rejected on the basis of an
arbitrary decision by the GM or PD.
	Most often, shows that are not accepted are on the basis of poor
quality due to poor engineering or the OAP's poor style and/or delivery,
etc.
	Again, even religious broadcasters are broadcasters, and if we
don't air a quality (perception is everything ;-) broadcasts, we will not
survive as a broadcasting company.
	In my opinion, we can't lump broadcast decisons based on format and
quality into an all-encompassing "discrimination" heading, any more than I
could sue WAAF for not airing songs that I record in my basement.


>This gave rise to the discussion about whether operators of commercial
>religious stations that use the public airwaves can legally deny access to
>religious broadcasters who offer to buy time in good faith (no pun
>intended), but who do not "fit in" with the station operator's idea of who
>should appear on the station. Several of us say that such selectiveness must
>be illegal under this very limited set of circumstances (commercial station,
>etc).


	I would agree with you that if a decision is made based on "I ain't
gonna let those _fill in the blank_ air on MY station", the decision maker
has just opened the doors wide for a law suit. I have never seen that in my
history with Christian Broadcasting formats.
	More often, a show will wish to buy a given block, but it's quality
and content are poor, not broadcast worthy, and we will simply tell the
programmer exactly that, in a much nicer way, so as not to humiliate the
fellow/organization. Broadcasting a quality product, and having the ability
to meet the annual finanacial requirement, a focussed product will get air
time somewhere.
	Some stations will air anyone who has a buck regardless of quality,
and their end in this mix is usually sale/bankruptcy/etc. The listening
audience doesn't want to hear poor quality programming, and properly
serving a given area with a predetermined format consisting of high quality
broadcasts will show you success, faithful listenership, and good response
for your broadcasters and advertisers.

	Hope this helps...
>-------------------------------
>Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
>ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
>(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205




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Wayne Carter     wcarter@mva.net
     http://www.jlight.com/
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