Re: Phillips Academy Andover Open; WPAA-FM Is B-a-a-a-ck

["Aaron [Bishop] Read" <aread@speakeasy.net>]

>---- Original Message -----
>From: "Joseph Pappalardo" <joepappalardo2001@yahoo.com>
>To: "Peter Murray" <pete@partnercomm.com>;
><boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 12:59 PM
>Subject: Re: Phillips Academy Andover Open; WPAA-FM Is B-a-a-a-ck
>
>
> > From: "Peter Murray" <pete@partnercomm.com>
> >
> > > That doesn't apply to WPAA (they're not WPAA-FM, actually) - as they're a
> > > granfathered class A facility (25W/64m horizontally polarized only).
> >
> > They started as a CLass D, no?
> >
> > (Does that class exist anymore?)
> >
> > Class D's were given a dispensation to shut down when school is not in
> > session.
> >

All Class D FM's (Limited to 10W TPO but their ERP's and HAAT may vary 
wildly) are grandfathered.  The FCC has not accepted new Class D 
applications since 1978, except in Alaska.  In 1978, all Class D's that 
could upgrade to Class A status were required to do so, and those that 
couldn't were allowed to remain on the air, but their frequencies were 
changed at the FCC's discretion to make room for the other upgrading-to-A 
Class D's.   That's how we got WRBB on 104.9 and WBRS on 100.1, and how 
WMFO got on 91.5 (they were on 91.7 when they were a Class D)

During the madhouse that this process was, a lot of bizarre exceptions were 
made, including WBRS's getting 25W ERP (they had to sign an agreement with 
third-adjacent WZLX that nobody who worked in the Rabb Graduate School 
building was a WZLX listener...because within that building (which the WBRS 
tower is on) WBRS nukes WZLX, and WZLX would not allow the move unless they 
could be assured they wouldn't lose any listeners from it.  What a load of 
BS...but I've heard the story from people who worked at Brandeis when it 
happened, so I guess it's probably true.

I imagine something similar happened with WPAA...the minimum for a Class A 
license, then and now, is 100 watts at 30m HAAT.  A little math confirms 
that 25 watts at 64m HAAT is pretty close to the equivalent of a Class A 
minimum (a tiny bit stronger, actually).  WPAA was smart enough to realize 
that to stay a Class D was very risky as all Class D's are secondary 
service providers and subject to getting stomped by primary services (as 
both WBRS and WRBB have learned too late and are now regretting, with 
co-channels WWFX and WBOQ respectively)

Anyways, all non-commercial stations (not just Class D's) owned by 
educational institutions have automatic dispensation to shut down during 
school break periods.  Chapter and verse are below, but the last sentence 
is the pertinent one.

http://www.hallikainen.com/cgi-bin/section.pl?section=73.561
Sec. 73.561 Operating schedule; time sharing. (a) All noncommercial 
educational FM stations will be licensed for unlimited time operation 
except those stations operating under a time sharing arrangement. All 
noncommercial educational FM stations are required to operate at least 36 
hours per week, consisting of at least 5 hours of operation per day on at 
least 6 days of the week; however, stations licensed to educational 
institutions are not required to operate on Saturday or Sunday or to 
observe the minimum operating requirements during those days designated on 
the official school calendar as vacation or recess periods.

That may be the rule, but I think it's ridiculous that such a valuable 
commodity in Top-20 markets is legally allowed to be completely unused for 
88% of every week.

____________________________________________
Aaron "Bishop" Read     aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels.com Technical Consulting
www.friedbagels.com   AOL-IM: ReadAaron