David Eduardo wrote:
"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
The other thing that REALLY turns me off is when they run out of
things to say/do and start saying "News Talk 1250, WTMA" over and over
and over ad nauseum. "News Talk 730, WSC" (WSCC is more ashamed of
its call letters. Being a Clear Channel station, they think they
should be able to use RCA's WSC station call, assigned to marine band
use.)

Except for the legal ID, the station can call itself anything it wants, as
long as what they want is not trade marked by someone else.

I beg to differ. If anyone called the FCC on that Central Pennsylvania station
that id'd itself as WHOT-FM all of the time except at the top of the hour,
would the FCC not spank the station? (I'm referring to a station that was
mentioned in the Airwaves Digest a few years ago. WHOT-FM is the legal
callsign of a station at 101.1 in Youngstown, Ohio, and has been for years.)

Over on Clear Channel's WSCC, ol' Dan says the call letters/frequency
nearly continuously, now. Of course, he says WSC, not their real call
until the hour when they have a quickie spot to satisfy the FCC.

So? They have named the station WSC to make it easy to remember. This is
like WWWE in Cleveland (now WTAM) using 3-WE as an identifier.

Bull. There is no way anyone will mistake "3WE" for someone's call letters.

Nor will anyone mistake "Power 106", "Hot 97", or "Z92.5" for another
station's calls. It's *not* the same thing.

No one but you cares.

It *is* misleading and shouldn't be allowed. I just don't care enough to
complain.

You are kidding, right? Except for the legal ID, a station can use any
identifier it wants.

So if I license a station and ID myself properly as, say, KIYS at the top
of the hour, and I'm at 102.7, but during the rest of the hour I call myself
102.7 KIIS, no one will care? There is, of course, a station on 102.7 with
those calls.

Wink 106 FM in Corning, New York, used to play that game a few years ago...
I'd hear it when I was driving through Corning on the way to Albany or Boston.
The jingles said "Wink 106, W-I-N-K". WINK-FM, if I'm not mistaken, is in
Tampa, or was a few years ago anyhow. Even at the top of the hour, the DJ
would ID the station correctly ("You're listening to WNKI, Corning/Elmira")
and right after that you would hear the rest of the jingle, which used the
wrong calls (WINK).

I never cared enough to file a complaint with the FCC, but it's still not
right. I'd be ****ed if I owned or worked for the stations whose calls were
being improperly used.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Geek In Charge * 888.480.4NET (4638) *

Steven J Sobol wrote in
:

I beg to differ. If anyone called the FCC on that Central Pennsylvania
station that id'd itself as WHOT-FM all of the time except at the top
of the hour, would the FCC not spank the station? (I'm referring to a
station that was mentioned in the Airwaves Digest a few years ago.
WHOT-FM is the legal callsign of a station at 101.1 in Youngstown,
Ohio, and has been for years.)

This was the old 103.9 WHTO Muncy, PA. Muncy, PA is east of
Williamsport, PA along I-180. All this would have been going on in the
early 90's as I was going to school in Lock Haven (west of Williamsport)
at the time and 103.9 was the best Top 40 station around (for the area).
I remember that they would use "103.9 WHOT" when the jock would talk on
the air, but at the top of the hour Legal ID, the fast-talking voiceover
guy would use the proper "WHTO Muncy, Williamsport". I also have an old
bumper sticker of theirs that reads "103.9 WHOT is Red Hot". By the mid
to late 90's 103.9 had moved to another frequency and moved their
location to somewhere southeast of Williamsport. I assume for better
coverage of the area.

I remember when I listened to the station and wanted to call them
looking for a phone number under WHOT and not seeing anything. I don't
know how I finally figured out it was WHTO, but what I do remember was I
was confused! Was it WHTO or WHOT? I didn't know for sure, but I did
know I was listening to 103.9 FM. I guess that counts for something.

A question related to all of this: In the Williamsport ratings, who
would get credit if someone wrote down in their diary that they were
listening to WHOT? WHOT at the time was not in Williamsport, it was
elsewhere - Youngstown, Ohio as Steven Sobol mentioned. On the same
vien would 103.9 WHOT or just 103.9 give credit to WHTO - the real 103.9
in Muncy (Williamsport)? Obviously, a radiophile who put down WHTO
would do the station best since they'd definitely get credit.

To me, a situation like this is where a radio station shoots itself in
the foot by using calls on the air that are completely different than
those that they are legally assigned. It confuses the average listener,
but it would seem to me that it really confuses the ratings book which
is what all radio stations live an die by.

Mike

On 22 Dec 2003 17:53:53 GMT, "M. Hale"
wrote:

A question related to all of this: In the Williamsport ratings, who
would get credit if someone wrote down in their diary that they were
listening to WHOT? WHOT at the time was not in Williamsport, it was
elsewhere - Youngstown, Ohio as Steven Sobol mentioned. On the same
vien would 103.9 WHOT or just 103.9 give credit to WHTO - the real 103.9
in Muncy (Williamsport)? Obviously, a radiophile who put down WHTO
would do the station best since they'd definitely get credit.

If WHTO had "WHOT" registered with Arbitron as their on-air slogan,
they'd get credit for any "WHOT" in the diaries. Probably full
credit, as the Youngstown station's signal comes nowhere near the
Williamsport market.

They'd also get credit if someone marked down "103.9", since they
automatically get credit for on-frequency mentions. So, if they
registered "WHOT" and someone marked down "103.9 WHOT", there's no
doubt who they're hearing.

Mike

"M. Hale" wrote in message
...
..

A question related to all of this: In the Williamsport ratings, who
would get credit if someone wrote down in their diary that they were
listening to WHOT?

The station probably registered WHOT as a slogan, along with the Hot
moniker. Since there is no other similar call in the MSA (Metro Survey Area
or Metropolitan statistical Area), the one with the fake calls used as a
slogan will get credit as long as Arbitron was notified.

WHOT at the time was not in Williamsport, it was
elsewhere - Youngstown, Ohio as Steven Sobol mentioned. On the same
vien would 103.9 WHOT or just 103.9 give credit to WHTO - the real 103.9
in Muncy (Williamsport)? Obviously, a radiophile who put down WHTO
would do the station best since they'd definitely get credit.

Again, if the staiton registered "WHOT - Hot" they would get credit. In
general, most diary entries are by frequency, so the point is almost moot.

To me, a situation like this is where a radio station shoots itself in
the foot by using calls on the air that are completely different than
those that they are legally assigned. It confuses the average listener,
but it would seem to me that it really confuses the ratings book which
is what all radio stations live an die by.

Since no one else uses the calls in the market area, I don't think the
listener would be confused at all.

"Steven J Sobol" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:
"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
The other thing that REALLY turns me off is when they run out of
things to say/do and start saying "News Talk 1250, WTMA" over and over
and over ad nauseum. "News Talk 730, WSC" (WSCC is more ashamed of
its call letters. Being a Clear Channel station, they think they
should be able to use RCA's WSC station call, assigned to marine band
use.)

Except for the legal ID, the station can call itself anything it wants,
as
long as what they want is not trade marked by someone else.

I beg to differ. If anyone called the FCC on that Central Pennsylvania
station
that id'd itself as WHOT-FM all of the time except at the top of the hour,
would the FCC not spank the station? (I'm referring to a station that was
mentioned in the Airwaves Digest a few years ago. WHOT-FM is the legal
callsign of a station at 101.1 in Youngstown, Ohio, and has been for
years.)

That is an interesting point, and one to ask in Florida, where a bunch of
Clear Channel talkiers are all called "WFLA" except at the top of the hour.
They are not networked, either. they only ID with real calls on top of hour.

Or in Puerto Rico, where the news net of WKAQ (AM) has been called "WKAQ
Radio Reloj" for 4 decades on a network of about 5 or 6 stations, some 24/7,
and none IDing with true calls except onthe hour.

I don't think a formal complaint has been made, although I know some DXers
have written complaints of an informal type.

Over on Clear Channel's WSCC, ol' Dan says the call letters/frequency
nearly continuously, now. Of course, he says WSC, not their real call
until the hour when they have a quickie spot to satisfy the FCC.

So? They have named the station WSC to make it easy to remember. This is
like WWWE in Cleveland (now WTAM) using 3-WE as an identifier.

Bull. There is no way anyone will mistake "3WE" for someone's call
letters.

Nor will anyone mistake "Power 106", "Hot 97", or "Z92.5" for another
station's calls. It's *not* the same thing.

No one but you cares.

It *is* misleading and shouldn't be allowed. I just don't care enough to
complain.

Since this has been going on for 4 decades with no action by the FCC, I
guess they don't fcare, either.

You are kidding, right? Except for the legal ID, a station can use any
identifier it wants.

So if I license a station and ID myself properly as, say, KIYS at the top
of the hour, and I'm at 102.7, but during the rest of the hour I call
myself
102.7 KIIS, no one will care? There is, of course, a station on 102.7 with
those calls.

Anyone at 102.7 can call themselves 102.7 Kiss, but only if they license the
Kiss name from the mark holder.

Wink 106 FM in Corning, New York, used to play that game a few years
ago...
I'd hear it when I was driving through Corning on the way to Albany or
Boston.
The jingles said "Wink 106, W-I-N-K". WINK-FM, if I'm not mistaken, is in
Tampa, or was a few years ago anyhow. Even at the top of the hour, the DJ
would ID the station correctly ("You're listening to WNKI,
Corning/Elmira")
and right after that you would hear the rest of the jingle, which used the
wrong calls (WINK).

I'll bet it would be hard for anyone to say that the station, whose name is
Wink, could not spell wink so diary keepers would know how to write it down.

I never cared enough to file a complaint with the FCC, but it's still not
right. I'd be ****ed if I owned or worked for the stations whose calls
were
being improperly used.

As long as the signals don't overlap, it probably makes no difference to
them unless they have an interest in preserving a national service mark.

On 22 Dec 2003 14:50:30 GMT, Steven J Sobol
wrote:

David Eduardo wrote:
"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
The other thing that REALLY turns me off is when they run out of
things to say/do and start saying "News Talk 1250, WTMA" over and over
and over ad nauseum. "News Talk 730, WSC" (WSCC is more ashamed of
its call letters. Being a Clear Channel station, they think they
should be able to use RCA's WSC station call, assigned to marine band
use.)

Except for the legal ID, the station can call itself anything it wants, as
long as what they want is not trade marked by someone else.

I beg to differ. If anyone called the FCC on that Central Pennsylvania station
that id'd itself as WHOT-FM all of the time except at the top of the hour,
would the FCC not spank the station? (I'm referring to a station that was
mentioned in the Airwaves Digest a few years ago. WHOT-FM is the legal
callsign of a station at 101.1 in Youngstown, Ohio, and has been for years.)

I'm going to start calling myself WCSC on 75 meters......it must be
ok.....(c;


Larry W4CSC

NNNN

In article , Larry W4CSC wrote:

I'm going to start calling myself WCSC on 75 meters......it must be
ok.....(c;

Why not? You got the licence, Larry. It's perfectly legal...and if
you were talking with other ham radio operators, they'd recognize you
instantly. :-)

--
Sven Weil
New York City, U.S.A.

"Steven J Sobol" wrote in message
...

Wink 106 FM in Corning, New York, used to play that game a few years
ago...
I'd hear it when I was driving through Corning on the way to Albany or
Boston.
The jingles said "Wink 106, W-I-N-K". WINK-FM, if I'm not mistaken, is in
Tampa, or was a few years ago anyhow. Even at the top of the hour, the DJ
would ID the station correctly ("You're listening to WNKI,
Corning/Elmira")
and right after that you would hear the rest of the jingle, which used the
wrong calls (WINK).

I never cared enough to file a complaint with the FCC, but it's still not
right. I'd be ****ed if I owned or worked for the stations whose calls
were
being improperly used.

I've been out of the business for awhile, but isn't there a rule prohibiting
a station from misleading or pretending to be another station? This
wouldn't apply to the WSC case that started this thread, but the 102.7 KIIS
scenerio would.

Paul Jensen
Florida's Emerald Coast