by 'MARQUIL' aka Mark Wilson
Reprinted from Hill Country Observer and EmpireWire.com
(Click on image to enlarge.)

Chartock Folds! Withdraws Competing FCC Application Against NCPR.

In the end, WAMC's 'Little Big Man' folded like a cheap umbrella on a rainswept Albany street.
No doubt as a result of the storm of negative publicity that swept in from Lake Placid.
That, and the risk of alienating too many prospective listeners (and underwriters) were WAMC to end-up with even a small translator in that part of the Adirondacks.
And after all that tall talk of just a few news cycles ago.
This ought to be a big lesson for all those other locales where WAMC is trying to encroach in a predatory way on established public radio entities.
It pays to fight back.
All this proposed expansion by WAMC into territories already serviced by other public radio entities doesn't come cheap.
The Pirates are thus left wondering just how much all this expansion is costing?
The expense for making a single application to FCC for a full-power FM license involves not only engineering, but also administrative and legal expertise.
For the Lake Placid application, as with each of the other full-power applications, an engineering study was required to create a service contour map outlining primary and secondary signal coverage areas.
At Lake Placid, that study proposed a 6,000 watt transmitter and tower.
Apart from Lake Placid, there are now seven other communities where WAMC is seeking to expand with full-power licenses which, according to a report in Boston Business Journal, include: "..... Brewster; Cooperstown; .... Norwich and Stamford in New York; Vergennes, Vt.; Manchester, Conn., and West Swanzey, N.H.. There are rivals for all but the Stamford and West Swanzey frequencies."
Two of those competing rivals are Vermont Public Radio and St. Lawrence University.
Bottom line: What's the total cost to WAMC's listeners and underwriters for all these proposed expansions, including the aborted Lake Placid application?
Why is it even necessary to expand into communities already serviced by public radio?
One other question: Is the expense of all this proposed expansion the impetus behind raising target goals for WAMC's thrice-annual fund-raisers to $800,000 per week-long beg-a-thon?

WAMC, NCPR, Cash Flow, and Power

Call me crazy, but do you really think FCC would grant WAMC's (or Northeast Gospel Broadcasting's) competing full-power application over North Country Public Radio's full-power application?
I doubt it.
Not least because it would cause irreparable harm to the legacy broadcaster -- NCPR -- which already inhabits the frequency (albeit with a translator).
This doesn't mean NCPR won't have to go through all the motions, the paperwork, the presentations, a possible hearing, and of course, a bankroll in legal fees.
It will.
It does mean, though, that when it's all over, all things being equal, NCPR will likely end-up with the full-power license while WAMC and NGB will likely drop their respective applications in exchange for something of equivalent value.
There may even be need to call upon Congressman John McHugh (Republican) to have a long talk with Congressmen Maurice Hinchey and Michael McNulty (both Democrats -- Hinchey is also a WAMC Trustee).
Remember, this is all just business and politics -- the quest for listeners' ears, their wallets, the underwriters that cater to those wallets, and votes.
This has nothing to do with public radio, and everything to do with cash flow and power.

Imperialist Radio: A Hostile Takeover of North Country Public Radio by WAMC?

Recommended reading:
Imperialist Radio: A Hostile Takeover of NCPR?
by Adirondack Almanack Editor
WAMC declares war on fellow public radio station.
by Brian, editor
Musings of a (Fairly) Young Contrarian

Blog Editor's Note:
Author Adirondack Almanack Editor in his list of what listeners can do, recommends this:
"Begin advocating for the removal of Alan Chartock as head of WAMC. He's been unaccountable for far too long."
It's good finally to know others are now saying what the WAMC PIRATES have been advocating FOR YEARS!!!