There are some exceptions, but in general if you own a radio station license, you have an obligation to keep the station in continuous operation.<\/p>\n
Back in the “Good old days”, the FCC took this very seriously.\u00a0\u00a0 If you were off the air for 30 days and the FCC didn’t accept your explanation of why, your license was at risk for cancellation.<\/p>\n
Now, it’s not unusual for a station to be silent for years, and nobody cares.\u00a0\u00a0 People on the same and nearby frequencies aren’t going to report you, since being off the air makes their signal better.\u00a0\u00a0 If the station has no listeners, they won’t be complaining to the FCC.<\/p>\n
But the process is still that you expect to be off the air for more than a few days, you have to ask to FCC for permission, but there appears to be no consequences if the FCC doesn’t like your reason.<\/p>\n
So here is the application from KMAK-FM , a 72 watt Class A FM station in Orange Cove, CA, located near Fresno, but it doesn’t really reach Fresno\u00a0 [Map]<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 Last indication was maybe the station had been playing Mexican music.<\/p>\n Back on June 8th, this application<\/a> was filed with the explanation that “COMPUTER SYSTEM HAS TO BE WORKED ON AND I HAVE TO LEARN THE PROGRAM. AND THE COMPUTER HAS TO BE BACKED UP.”<\/p>\n The station has been owned by the same person since the Construction Permit was issued in 1988.<\/p>\n The FCC just got around this week to dismissing the request.\u00a0 Perhaps the backup finished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are some exceptions, but in general if you own a radio station license, you have an obligation to keep the station in continuous operation. Back in the “Good old days”, the FCC took this very seriously.\u00a0\u00a0 If you were … Continue reading