“This is much ado about nothing.”
Spokesman, Clear Channel radio company
Imagine this. You’re a church-going kind of person living in the Bible Belt. You tune in the radio Sunday morning to get some gospel, and just when the preacher gets going good, you hear the crackle of static and an advertisement for breast augmentation breaks in. That’s what’s happening in Dripping Springs, Texas (population 1,875), and radio listeners are not amused.
It all started when KDRP, the town’s nonprofit radio station, hooked up with Educational Media Foundation (EMF), the nation’s largest Christian programming provider, to broadcast Sunday services. EMF, in turn, leased space on its antenna to KVET, a sports-talk radio station that sometimes runs ads of an adult nature. Because KVET’s signal is stronger than KDRP’s, it’s been ruling the airwaves.
The station manager at KDRP is up in arms. He knows people are upset and worries they will think the small town radio station has changed its format. EMF, for its part, is concerned and is trying to work out a solution. Clear Channel, the nationwide broadcaster that owns KVET, doesn’t know what the fuss is all about. It says it received the approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast, and that’s that.
Not so fast, say the folks in Dripping Springs. They’ve filed a complaint with the FCC. So now the dispute will wind its way through the federal agency’s labyrinth of regulations and rulings. Stay tuned. It looks like it’s going to be a long battle.
No comments:
Post a Comment