Contract "Employees" On Full-Power Major Market FM

[Laurence Glavin]

Several radio sites have reported on a threesome called "Rob, Arnie and Dawn" who were suspended by
Entercom-owned KRXQ-FM in Sacramento, Ca. They were criticized for making up a list of
five things that are bad about Boston the day after the Boston Marathon explosions, 
(Hey, there's a website called universalhub.com where we can make lists longer than that every day,
but we don't like outsiders doing it). Anyway, one detail that has emerged from this incident is
the fact that "Rob, Arnie and Dawn" are NOT employees of KRXQ, but air their show on that station
via a time-brokered agreement. Now, that's not unusual on the AM dial, especially on AMs way up on
the dial, like, oh, I dunno, 1230, 1300, 1330, 1470, 1510, 1550 and 1600 in the Boston area. But
KRXQ is a 50,000-watt facility (at 500 feet; apparently with one exception, FMs in Sacramento
don't have heritage superpower authorizations like other markets iin California) that's ranked third
in the 6+ PPMs released to the public, and it's owned by a conglomerate. Outlets like these
would be expected to EMPLOY morning-drive hosts and DJs and even have them sign contracts
to keep them from jumping to the competition. "Rob, Arnie and Dawn" are also described as
"self-syndicating" like many time-brokered hosts on AM radio as described above. So with regard to
the people doing sports talk on WUFC-AM 1510, it seems likely most may be purchasing the time
for their shows...ditto for MICHAEL G-R-A-A-H-A-M at WCRN-AM 830, also on 1120 and 1390.
(According to the WUFC website, Anthony Pepe appears to be part of "management" there and may
be an employee). Could the time be coming when hosts and DJs on FM are also time-brokered as well?