WEEI Legal ID

[Martin Waters]

>Garrett Wollman wrote:
>The legal ID regulations as they apply to HD were drafted so poorly
>that nobody is exactly certain what they permit or don't.  So the FCC
>probably couldn't enforce that part of the rule even if they wanted
>and had the resources to do so.

    I've heard instances of AM stations saying Wxxx and Wxxx-HD-1 and FM stations saying Wxxx and Wxxx-HD.

    All this being said, the majority of stations that I've heard have adopted a format in which they say the call letters with each ID, i.e., "WTIC, WTIC-HD, Hartford," or, "WBZ, WBZ-HD, WBZ-FM-HD-3, Boston." I guess it gets more mumbo-jumboish when more than one set of calls and/or more than one COL are involved.

    Meanwhile, the ID rules apparently are so unenforced that one hears various "creative" ways to smooth out -- I guess that's the programming issue -- the legal ID. WCBS(AM) gives just the "WCBS, New York" ID at :59, then incorporates the "WCBS-HD" and the HD-3 ID into the local news intro after the CBS hourly (usually done at the :03 cutaway).