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