[BC] Responsibility for the Engineering "MESS"

[Phil Alexander]

On 6 Oct 2005 at 4:02, Mike Gideon wrote:

> I think Rob was talking about messed up facilities, because the operators 
> couldn't afford to build them or maintain them

Mike,

I understood him to mean exactly that. However, if the strict enforcement
of rules in place in the '50's and '60's had continued, all operators would
have found the money to build and maintain to compliance. IMHO the problems
started when the Commish detoured to non-engineering areas of broadcasting.

Had the FCC stuck to engineering and required FCC licensed technical
personnel in the stations, the problems of milking the station dry
might not have developed.

It is possible to blame the one week wonder (memory) schools for the demise
of FCC licensing, however the FAA confronted exactly the same problem WRT
pilot licensing and found a satisfactory solution that the FCC might easily
have followed.

My point was that IF the FCC had followed their original standards of 
allocation, and IF they had retained and improved the licensing of 
"operators" the overbuilding of marginal facilities and general decay of
under capitalized/mis-managed properties would have been far less than
we saw in the '80's - '90's and even today. Thus, IMHO, both the FCC and
the abdication of engineering leadership by the NAB contributed greatly
to the demise of engineering in many stations.


Phil Alexander, CSRE, AMD
Broadcast Engineering Services and Technology 
(a Div. of Advanced Parts Corporation) 
Ph. (317) 335-2065   FAX (317) 335-9037





-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.14/128 - Release Date: 10/10/05