"Radio Horror Stories! You are Not Alone"

The constant changing landscape of the radio industry has created quite a buzz. Mostly, we hear about who is purchasing what group of stations in which markets. I have often asked, "Where did all the ‘real’ radio go?" Thanks to this column, I’m finding that a great deal of you are still out there!

Perhaps you’re eeking along in the desert, engineering for an absentee group ownership. Or, you are in a major market, watching ownership and management come and go, and participating in the pool that predicts how quickly a rookie account executive will last.

Radio for most has become a commodity to buy and trade. A great number of ‘new’ radio people are great managers, and have enough keeping them busy increasing revenues and market share. It’s a numbers game.

But, I’m finding out that there are a lot of General Managers who aren’t so confident with their knowledge of the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission. Especially the rules pertaining to the Public Inspection File and their community service responsibility.

The FCC provides you with the information at their website. It’s simple to log on to the Internet and find the information. The problem seems to be, that the constant ownership and employee turnover in the radio industry has generated a less than satisfactory job maintaining Public Files and knowledge of the laws to properly manage their license: their right to broadcast.

"A broadcast station’s public inspection file must be maintained in accordance with strict FCC requirements."

That is an excerpt from "Public Inspection File Requirements for Radio and Television Broadcast Stations" by Koteen & Naftalin L.L.P. in Washington D.C. It is the first sentence in the Introduction.

Later on in the next paragraph: " The penalties for failure to maintain the public inspection file properly are the same as for violating any other Commission rule or regulation. The Commission may fine licensees and may impose other sanctions for failure to comply with public file requirements."

This information is readily available on the Internet. Unfortunately, to use a recent example of how tough it is out there, I was at a station recently where the new manager had just come in from another state. He was to help the owners, (who are in process of picking up more stations and selling others) get the operation up to speed and generating some revenue.

They had just put on another station in a different community of license, and juggling between two markets. I had been called in because he’d wanted to make sure they were in FCC Compliance, and that the Public Files were up to date, and weren’t missing any crucial documents.

A good move if you asked me.

However, frustrated by the lack of revenue and need to train his rookie sales staff, the owner declined my services because he expects that when he hires a manager, he’ll have the expertise to know about all of this.

That is really scary!

Some of these managers have only two years radio experience, and came from the sales side. They don’t even know what a Public Inspection File is, much less where to find it! Or, like this manager that I was visiting, he’d been out of radio for a number of years, and was unaware of the Radio Advertising Bureau service on the Internet and how it can help him with the sales training process.

Since I have been writing this column, I have received many emails from radio professionals. Some who are shocked at their "horror stories" about non-compliance issues, and some who are genuinely concerned and have questions.

For your entertainment, I will share some of these with you. To protect the innocent, and ignorant, I will only paraphrase. Some of these examples are my own personal encounters, and others are stories that have been told to me.

This group is operating several radio stations out of one location. A common practice in 2000. The manager (who had two years experience in radio) was asked if his stations were all doing public affairs programming. His response was that he had music programmed on his FM stations, one AM was Sports, and the other AM programmed news and talk. The news/talk station took care of their minimum public service requirements for all the stations.

Question: Is my station still required to broadcast minimum weekly levels of some type of "Public Affairs"?

Answer: Yes and no.

Many years ago, the FCC deregulated the strict requirements for Public Affairs Programming. Strangely though, many broadcasters neglected to read the fine print to the ruling, and assumed that Public Affairs were done away with altogether.

Out went the idea of the Public File, and so did a great deal of the items that are required by law to be placed in the Public File.

Back in the days of strict regulation, a stations license was up for renewal every three years. Yes, every three years a station had to go through the renewal process. It takes weeks of paper work, including finding specific documents from the Public Files regarding Issues Programming, political advertising, community service, and others. At random, the FCC would request engineering logs from different days throughout the three-year history. Stations were scrutinized in order to renew their license.

Deregulation did NOT however, mean that a station no longer needs to keep a Public File, nor did it mean that stations didn’t have to serve the community of license with public affairs anymore.

I couldn’t have said it better if I wrote it myself.

As the years go by, the FCC has abandoned some of the stringent policies, allowing owners eight years to renew their broadcast license. In the meantime, the selling continues. I run in to stations that are in escrow with another group before the newest owners have even taken possession.

When the station comes up for renewal, nobody knows where any of these important documents are, and the Public Files haven’t been maintained for several years.

Its important to point out the FCC has changed their Field Offices to "Enforcement Bureau Offices". It even has its own page on the FCC Government website. The FCC is gearing up for enforcing their laws on broadcast stations. It’s no joke.

So, getting back to the story about the manager who didn’t know about the RAB website. Do you suppose he is familiar with the Enforcement Bureau website?

Here’s another example: There was an AM/FM Combo operating out of the same building, but they were licensed to two separate communities.

Question: Can my AM station take care of all my Public Service Requirements?

Answer: "Sure, if you want to put your FM’s license in jeopardy."

Your stations serve different demographics with their programming. How can you effectively serve your FM’s audience whose demo might be women 18-24, when your AM station primarily programs MOR for the adult 50+ market? You serve two very different audiences with very separate issues.

Another conversation is the one with the new manager who shows concern about the state of his public file. He’s not sure if all the documentation is there, but his primary focus is to hire his sales staff and get them trained. You see he must focus on generating income for the ownership. He said that he will deal with the Public File issues at his license renewal time. That is in 2005.

Was he going to ask some one to falsify documentation? Certify that all documents pertaining to government regulations were in order? Would he even be working for this station in 2005, when the time for renewal came up?

If you are asked to be the "Chief Operator" of a station or group of stations, you know about the public file and regulations broadcasters must adhere to. Would you be willing to sign your name to a document that states, "these facts are true", when you know, or even question, that the station is in complete FCC Compliance?

If you are being hired on as a manager, and don’t feel confident in your knowledge of the laws and regulations, and you know the owner wants you to mostly concentrate on revenue, ratings and market share; you’d be best served if you inquired about the status of their public file, their political file, the weekly station logs, the appointment of the Chief Operator, and what about the execution of the station’s EAS material.

Stir something up this week! Ask some questions about the Public File to your manager.

Like me, you will find that there are some horror stories out there. But you are not alone. I’ve been helping stations; from small markets to the major markets feel confident about their compliance with the FCC.

I am enjoying the emails that I am getting from all over the country. I would like to hear more from the readers. Whether you have horror stories of your own, or you are a new manager who is just quite not sure about this unseen and sometimes unheard of part of the radio industry. You are not alone.

In conclusion: All broadcast stations must maintain their public inspection files in full compliance with all applicable FCC Rules and policies. In addition, well organized public inspection files will allow swift and trouble free access by the FCC, new licensees, or the public, providing a valuable public relations benefit. The penalties for failure to maintain the public inspection file properly are the same as for violating any other Commission rule or regulation. The Commission may fine the licensees and may impose other sanctions for failure to comply with public file requirements.

Can you afford to take any risks?

Keep those emails coming, as I gather responses in "Radio Horror Stories- Part 2".