WAMC Legal ID

[Doug Drown]

Given all this, how is it that some TV stations no longer bother giving 
a TOH ID at the beginning of their 6:00 and 11:00 newscasts?  I 
noticed this with WBZ and WRGB this past week when I was vacationing 
down your way.   -Doug

On Sun, 2 Oct 2011 01:30:50 -0400, Garrett Wollman  wrote:
<<On Sat, 1 Oct 2011 14:13:08 -0400, "Mark Casey" <map@mapinternet.com> said:
>
> > WAMC (COL Albany-tx from Mt. Greylock, Adams, MA) and it's network 
> of many > stations that are all on the hourly ID, are ID'ing today as 
> WAMC HD, WAMQ > HD, WAMK HD etc., (not WAMC *and* HD) I herad not one 
> "FM" in the whole > mess, only the WAMC AM ID was different format. 
> The way the ID's were > presented it's as if they are only an ID for 
> the HD station and not for the > analog FM station. 
>
> There is no "HD station and ... analog FM station"; it's one and the
> same station.  However, if they were not anouncing WAMC-FM with the
> correct (six-letter) callsign, then they clearly were not following
> the rules. 
>
> Most of their stations have only four-letter callsigns, so they are
> not obliged to say "FM" for those stations.  They are obliged, for
> each station, to say *something* to indicate that it transmits in
> "digital", but they don't have to say "HD" and there's no requirement
> to put it between the callsign and the community of license.  (Indeed,
> it may actually be prohibited -- see what I mean about the rule being
> poorly drafted?)
>
> WBZ's current ID is simply wrong, although again, the Commission is
> not likely to call them on it.  By the rules as they are written, you
> are not permitted to "factor out" a common city of license. 
>
> -GAWollman
>
>