MA high school wins FCC licensing battle against California-based Christian broadcaster

[ProSense]

Maynard High radio station wins battle, and gets bigger

By Melissa Beecher, Globe Correspondent | October 14, 2007

MAYNARD - After a heated two-year battle, it is finally official: Maynard High School's radio station, WAVM 91.7 FM, has defeated a challenge to its license from a California-based Christian broadcaster. Not only will it remain on the air, it will also receive a boost in frequency from 10 to 500 watts. The decision by the Federal Communications Commission means residents in Sudbury, Waltham, and Lincoln will also be able to hear local students on their airwaves.

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In October 2005, the happy scene would have been difficult to imagine. The FCC had just announced that WAVM's license was being stripped and tentatively awarded to Living Proof, which would broadcast out of Lunenburg and expand its coverage to Boston.

The news devastated Maynard, a community of 10,500, where the high school station has been a source of pride for more than 30 years.

Alumni, parents, and politicians quickly came to the aid of WAVM and flooded the FCC with petitions, letters, and calls demanding that the agency reconsider its decision. Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy penned letters of support, as did journalists and broadcasters from across the country who got their starts at the Maynard station.

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[Ian David]

1. Score one for the good guys! Finally! n/t

[msongs]

2. it's god's will - too much religious propaganda already on radio nt

[EST]

3. When a powerful group, especially a regulatory group,

makes such a series of woefully stupid, anti-social decisions as has the FCC, there should be consequences, strong ones.

Perhaps not quite as lasting as China's, concerning the head of its FDA analog, but politically striking.

[AX10]

4. Triumph over Evil!

:kick: & R

[havocmom]

5. Good news, indeed!

Thanks for posting.

[rox63]

6. Very glad to hear this

I've been watching this battle for a while, and this is a fantastic outcome.

[hootinholler]

7. Brain dead journalism

Watts measure power, not frequency. A boost in frequency is nonsense.

Good on the HS station! Glad to see a tradition continued. One might say empowered with a 490W kick.

-Hoot

[tomreedtoon]

8. Used to be students were on the air ALL THE TIME.

That was back before Reagan told broadcasters "You don't have to do public interest shows or serve the public interest at all. Hey, run half-hour commercials as programs if you want to...and remember who gave you all this stuff."

And it's been continuing with every President since.

Now teens have to build their own damn low power station to be heard, instead of appearing on a TV show in their community.

A REAL victory would be reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine, broadcast licenses based on service done for the community, and a breakup of broadcast monopolies.

[dkofos]

9. Finally, some good news.

[junkiebrewster]

10. I'm a former college DJ

These religious groups actually monitor college stations looking for slip ups in FCC policy. Then they attempt to acquire the license, such as in this case.

Bastids, the lot of them.

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. They'll about double their range

From this:





To this:



http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=WAVM&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C

(Note that reception outside the red band is iffy. If the story is accurate, there's bound to be some crosstalk between WAVM and the fundie station to the northwest of Maynard, so don't expect the fundies to give up.)

[eppur_se_muova]

12. K&R for Maynard. nt