On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 00:00:18 -0500, Mike wrote:

formality. Mexicans stations are treated as what they are, Mexican stations
that music comply with Mexican boradcast law and all other aspects of the
Mexican legal system.

I programmed XTRA for 5 years. The US contingent was committed to
following both the Mexican as well as FCC regulations. I actually had
Norman Vincent Peale use an obscenity when I told him we couldn't air
his show that had been sold by our US sales reps. No religion allowed.
No alcohol. Far more stringent than the US.

That's what I was talking about...the need to get that permit to
originate U.S.-based programming on a foreign signal, from the
viewpoint of the U.S. programming operator.

It's known as 325B. Very hard to get back then, especially when you
had San Diego stations petitioning the FCC and threatening ad
agencies. We sued the stations for $39 million. The result was a
public agreement that we had the right to operate in the San Diego
market.

And of course, the U.S.
operators of the station now known as Fox 6 in the San Diego market
had to go through some hassle back in the days when it was an ABC
affiliate.

That hassle was that Channel 39 (now KNSD, formerly KCST) wanted the
affiliation. ABC preferred the XETV VHF Channel 6 even in the city
with one of the first and largest cable systems in the country.

Last time I heard a Mexican-originated U.S. programmed signal, I do
believe it was 690...and I believe those PSAs take the form of tourism
promotions for the Mexican government, in English, of course.

You can thank Ed Noble (a personal friend of then President Jose Lopez
Portillo) for eliminating (for a while) the shortwave-delivered
Mexican Hour in favor of Tourism PSAs for the border stations.

Rich
Former Program Manager - XTRA