Why do religious stations fail in ENC?

[ToddJenkins]

WUBN Church Foreclosure from The Daily Times:
http://wilsontimes.com/legals/publicnotices/Mon,%20Mar%202,%202009/FO3E83~1.HTM

From The FCC WUBN 'Silent' Application:
"DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND IT'S CONTROL, WUBN-LP HAS LOST IT'S LICENSED ANTENNA LEASE SPACE( 33-44-8.00, 77-53-2.00 )AND WAS FORCED TO REMOVE IT'S ANTENNA AND EQUIPMENT FROM LEASED PROPERTY. THE MANAGEMENT OF WUBN-LP HAS APPLIED TO EMBARQ FOR NEW TOWER SPACE LOCATED ON AIRPORT BLVD. IN WILSON NC AT ( 35-45-34.3, 77-57-22.1 ).
UNTIL EMBARQ PROCESS THE APPLICATION, WUBN-LP WOULD LIKE SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY TO BROADCAST FROM IT'S STUDIO LOCATION ( 35-45-32.9, 77-57-11.9 ). WHEN EMBARQ APPROVES WUBN-LP'S APPLICATION FOR TOWER SPACE, WUBN-LP WILL FILE FORM 318, REQUESTING A PERMANENT CHANGE IN LOCATION OF IT'S LICENSED FACILITIES."

[ToddJenkins]

WUBN is back on 106.9 with 100watts at 40ft from a mast behind the studio on Airport Rd. I didn't see where this was approved by the FCC, but they may have been given the notice Friday afternoon after the FCC database updated.

The Embarq tower is on the ground, so I don't see that as a future option.

This is about as close to pirate radio as a licensed broadcaster can get!

[allenv]

Some very good posts here folks..we got some smart cookies on this board.I have nothing to add just enjoy reading some very intelligent points of view..

Allen

[Double J]

2. Double J, the FCC has no such rule. There are plenty of non-profits that run commercial stations. See the thread in North Florida for a recent discussion on one such animal: WRUF-FM/AM at the U. of Florida.

What I was referring to is that the FCC will see it (the church stations in Wilson) as a commercial business and not a non-profit as the "church" sees it. Granted stations on the FM band from 88.1-91.9 are given this area of the dial for non-profit, or educational stations. AM does not have such a designation. This is where I say that until the FCC changes the rules any station on the AM band is considered a commercial station and should be run as such.

[w00t]

FMs outside of 88-92 can be designated noncommercial.  Can that not be done on the AM dial?

[Double J]

FMs outside of 88-92 can be designated noncommercial.  Can that not be done on the AM dial?

Not that I am aware of. If so that would be a good thing especially for these type of stations.

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

FMs outside of 88-92 can be designated noncommercial.  Can that not be done on the AM dial?

Not that I am aware of. If so that would be a good thing especially for these type of stations.

Some of the heritage educational stations operated by universities carry a something of a NCE designation.  I don't know what significance that has at the FCC level.  I think they can be converted from NCE to commercial without a lot of hassle.  In today's world any FM granted a spot on the dial in the 92.1 to 107.9 spectrum as an NCE cannot be converted to commercial by the licensee or as a part of a license sale/transfer.  The channel if abandoned by the not-for-profit licensee then becomes available through the AUCTION process.


However,  some early college owned not-for-profit stations were not given NCE preference or station when they were granted and have been converted and sold.  (I'm thinking of WAJC, Butler University, in Indianapolis if my memory is not playing tricks on me.

AM NCEs I am thinking of would include WBAA at Purdue,  WILL in Champaign-Urbana, IL and WHA in Madison, WI.  In the area of religious programming AM's non-commercial would be the original WMBI at Moody in Chicago and KFUO owned by the Lutherans in St. Louis.

[EncSpy]

WAUG AM 750 in raleigh is being ran as a for-profit college radio station....

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

A web-search left me scratching my head for a minute.

WAUG is indeed an FCC Licensed A.M. radio station that is part of SAINT AUGUSTINE College.

But Google will also try to tell you that WAUG is an FM station at AUGUSTANA College in Dubuqe, IA...  when AUGUSTANA is in Rock Island, IL.

Seems as though AUGUSTANA does have a PBS station in Rock Island,  which has a translator in Dubuque, Ia.  Call letters are NOT WAUG!   But the students at AUGUSTANA do operate an audio stream which for some reaseon they choose to "brand" as WAUG-FM.... though it does not appear to have any transmitter....  well, not one the FCC knows about! 

Some days life will run you in circles if you are curious at heart.

[sam1]

The reason any station fails, is the people. From the management down to the janitor (engineer). Most people in radio today are not "radio people". They don't understand what has to be done to be successful. It's a simple as that. If any of the "Wilson" stations had  "passionate radio people" heading them, they would be successful.