[EAS] [BC] What's the point of LP-1s anymore?

[Botterell, Arthur@CalOES]

Well, that's the rub, Larry.  Each spring the broadcasters march on the Hill wearing their "First Informer" baseball caps.  But the rest of the time, it's all "you can't make us do that!"  (And for the most part the locals don't even get a visit at lobbying season.)  So what should we expect?

As I mentioned before, community service used to be the rent that management paid for having spectrum licensed in the public interest, convenience, et cetera.  But that's gone the way of the buffalo.

It's a shame that public-spirited engineers have to fiddle and connive in order to do the right thing, but life seems to be like that these days.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: EAS [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Larry Wood

When I worked for Clear Channel in San Francisco up until the year 2000, it was made clear to us that no engineering money could be spent making the facility hardened for earthquake or any other disaster. Any money requested based on providing a public service during time of need would be denied. At least they were honest about their priorities. It was also a signal to the engineers as to how to word requests for better facilities. All the engineers wanted the stations to stay on the air no matter what. Today all the iHeart stations in SF are in much better shape than they were 20 years ago thanks to the engineers. And all the engineers have a backup plan in their minds as to how they would keep going in an emergency. Hopefully the management will let them get on with it if needed.

By the way... Is it time to bring up "First Informer" laws? We requested San Francisco Press Passes for the engineers at KQED-FM. We are the LP-2. The City of San Francisco said NO. Getting the studios and transmitters going again after an earthquake, or other disaster, seems like a No Brainer to me.

Cheers,

Larry Wood, CPBE
KQED-FM