Mike McKenna wrote: > Having a back-up power system is NOT an FCC requirement. They have a > radio tower and a studio -- so they deserve a gold star -- not a > fine.
A gold star? Hardly. If you're setting out to serve the public, emergency conditions like this are precisely when that service is most needed. Whether or not a generator is an FCC requirement, and it's not, there's still a higher expectation that a class A signal like KXEL will be prepared for the likelihood that at some point, it will lose utility power. It's also just good business sense; the revenue KXEL is surely losing by not being on the air for a week must have far outweighed what a generator would have cost by now. At least KXEL isn't an EAS LP-1 or LP-2 station for its region - though one of its sister FMs, KFMW 107.9, is, and I think it lost power as well. Any radio station that wants to portray itself as a supplier of vital information to its community should make room in the budget for a backup supply of power to keep it on the air when its services are most needed. You think the people of north central Iowa won't remember that KXEL was missing in action this week? s _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
