[WXBH-Discuss] Update: We are negotiating time-share agreement withFern Creek

[Bradford Cummings]

My two cents...

It would be most beneficial to have Fern Creek go from 7 AM to 7 PM. If they
want to broadcast football/basketball games, perhaps there can be a
compromise that we get more time during the off season. Example: from
September to March we agree to be preempted by sporting events in exchange
for a 5 PM to 7 AM time slot every day April to August. Obviously I do not
know the nuances of this issue, but this is the most logical solution from a
newcomer.

-----Original Message-----
From: wxbh-discuss-bounces at wxbh.org [mailto:wxbh-discuss-bounces at wxbh.org]
On Behalf Of John Hicks
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 10:18 PM
To: WXBH Radio Discussion List
Subject: [WXBH-Discuss] Update: We are negotiating time-share agreement
withFern Creek

Sorry it's been so long between posts. Until this week, Mark and I had 
been concentrating on trying to get everything together at our new 
antenna site.

Then, per our announced plan, we approached Fern Creek one last time 
regarding working together. They indicated some interest and we are 
scheduled to meet again and discuss a time-share agreement.

If we do the agreement, instead of the two stations trading off every 
four years, we'll trade off every day (i.e. we'll divide the broadcast 
day between the two stations).

We would each get full 8-year renewable licenses, not the four-year 
non-renewable licenses.

A REFRESHER:

As you know, the FCC intentionally granted duplicate
construction permits to the Brick House and the Fern Creek HS Alumni
Association. Unless the two groups entered into some sort of cooperative
venture, whoever got on the air first would get a four year license and,
after that, their station would go off the air and the second permit
holder would go on the air.

Apparently the FCC intended the threat of going off the air after four
years to be an incentive to encourage both parties to enter into a
cooperative agreement. This could take the form of a merger into one
entity or an agreement to divide up the programming schedule between the
competing groups.

We were encouraged by the folks at the Prometheus Radio Project to
approach Fern Creek to see if they were interested in working together.
Our initial attempt in May didn't go well for a combination of reasons.
We decided to continue with our efforts but to approach Fern Creek one 
more time before going on the air.

This past Monday it was clear that the race was coming down to the
finish line. Mark and I had erected our antenna and assembled our
equipment over the weekend and were confident it was ready to go, but we
were waiting for our new antenna location to be approved by the FCC.
Fern Creek had their antenna up but had not yet applied for its call
letters.

Then Mark and I noticed that the Alumni Association was scheduled to 
have its monthly meeting that night. We felt this would be a great 
opportunity for us to present a proposal to the group as a whole with a 
reasonable expectation that it would reach the appropriate powers that be.

I am happy to say that we were received courteously and with a good deal 
of interest (although not entirely without skepticism).  We are 
scheduled to meet with a task force from the association on Tuesday to 
try to come to an agreement.


WHAT THIS MEANS:

If we can reach an agreement, we will both be able to
go on the air immediately with full 8-year renewable licenses, but would
alternate our programming between the two stations according to a
defined schedule. The great benefit is that we both gain continuity so
we can build our respective stations over time and not have the product
of our efforts disappear after four years.

A time-share agreement can also optionally include a provision to share
broadcast facilities.  Doing this would mean our signal would be heard
in Fern Creek instead of Middletown. The advantage is that people in our
coverage area could rely on having a station on the air at 92.7 all the
time. They would eventually learn that "the students have it" during
part of the day and then "the adults have it".

We have not been able to do any preliminary negotiating with Fern Creek
so it is difficult to predict how things will go.  I am guessing that
they hope to involve high school students in their programming and would
therefore want to have a schedule that is centered on the school day 
(maybe 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.?) or perhaps include early evenings to allow 
them to broadcast ball games. (Maybe 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.?)

What do you all think would be a reasonable schedule to accept?

I don't know if they will want to consider sharing facilities. I would
think it would be preferable to have both stations in Fern Creek.
(Admittedly I am a little prejudiced. I taught at FCHS one year and
published a little newspaper in Fern Creek for almost ten years.)  I
believe over time the two stations could learn to work together and
there could be a lot of synergy that would benefit both stations. (It
also would give the ole BRYCC a presence back on Bardstown Road and an
opportunity to work with students, part of its charter! :)

We are still planning on streaming and could still have the multiple
remote studios we had talked about. (I'm assuming we won't have a studio
in the school because of all the security problems involved in having
staff and guests come and go.)


I realize this is a lot to lay on you at once. Please feel free to reply
with any questions or observations on this whole matter.

And we thank you for your attention,

--John



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