Sad Sign on Door at KUSF on May 17, 2011 (Photo: J. Waits)

Just four months after University of San Francisco (USF) pulled the plug on KUSF’s terrestrial broadcast, the former KUSF studio in Phelan Hall has been dismantled.

When I stopped by the station on May 17, DJs were still broadcasting from the now online-only KUSF.org. I was told that May 18th would be the final day of online-only broadcasts from the Phelan Hall studio. As movers worked to haul away boxes full of vinyl records, CDs, and decades worth of station equipment (college radio operations at USF had been housed in Phelan Hall since KUSF’s beginnings as a carrier current station in 1963), KUSF General Manager Steve Runyon and KUSF Fundraising Coordinator Miranda Morris spoke about the future of the online-only station.

According to Runyon, the station was being forced to move to smaller quarters in another building on the USF campus. He expected that KUSF.org would be off the air for at least a month, as they would have to entirely rebuild a new studio in their new building. He added that, “KUSF online is still feeding audio to keep our Live 365 streaming  active. We expect to again have studio availability in mid to late  summer.” The new studio will be located on the 4th floor of Cowell Hall. According to Runyon, “It  still has to be designed and built with extremely limited resources. It  is presently an academic seminar room.”

DJ doing one of the final KUSF.org shows from the Phelan Studio (Photo: J. Waits)

Since the new location has less storage space, they were in the process of purging files and paperwork when I visited.

Runyon said that they needed to cull down miscellaneous paperwork in order to fit into 3 filing cabinets, compared with the 15 cabinets they used in Phelan Hall. He acknowledged that this wasn’t the first time that the station has had to dispense with archival material. In the past various classical recordings and audio tape archives have been trashed when the university needed the space. He added that in the new location there will be less room for music storage, so much of it will need to be stored off campus. The hope is that they will gradually be able to digitize their large vinyl collection. According to Runyon, KUSF will be moving to “various rooms in Cowell and Kalmanovitz Halls.” He added that the “future location of KUSF’s record/CD collection is undecided at present.”

Boxing up KUSF (Photo: J. Waits)

Ever since January 18, when USF announced that it would be selling KUSF’s 90.3 FM license and transmitter to Classical Public Radio Network (CPRN), the KUSF studio and online-only broadcast have been a shadow of their former selves. Most DJs fled the station and have been working under the mantle of Save KUSF (with many DJing at KUSF in Exile, hosted by WFMU) in order to fight the station sale.

Only a handful of DJs stuck around the old KUSF, so its online-only station has only had a few DJs since January 18. By May 17, only about 4 or 5 DJs were on the air at KUSF.org and the station was doing live shows for only about 10 hours a day, with the rest of the broadcast coming from an iPod. Runyon said, “we don’t have a listening audience, basically.” He added that, “there’s no morale left whatsoever among students or staff.”

It was sad to see the station in ruins and also obvious to me that it must be heartbreaking for Runyon to see the demise of KUSF. He launched the station back in 1977 and he’s proud of all of the achievements over the years. He pointed out that KUSF attracted many students to University of San Francisco and speculated that the university would lose donations from alumni disappointed about the station sale.

KUSF's Steve Runyon and Miranda Morris (Photo: J. Waits)

As I toured KUSF on May 17, the mood was melancholy and I couldn’t help but remember my first visit 2 years ago and a subsequent trip there last summer when the studio was full of life and the surrounding rooms were full of records, CDs, framed gold records, and historical artifacts. It was a depressing scene and a shot of reality about USF’s disinterest in KUSF’s future.

Nearly two weeks ago, as former KUSF volunteers started to realize the fate of the old studio, another letter was sent to the FCC regarding Friends of KUSF’s “Petition to Deny” the assignment of the KUSF license to CPRN. In support of the Petition to Deny, this latest letter dated May 26 provides a supplemental declaration. The declaration from KUSF’s former Personnel Co-Director Claudia Mueller argues that on May 22, 2011, “The entire studio space of KUSF 90.3 FM in Phelan Hall…that includes former production studio C, broadcasting studio B and live studio A have been completely dismantled. No studio equipment that enables any form of broadcasting is left in the premises of KUSF 90.3 FM.”

This statement from Mueller is meant to support the argument in the Petition to Deny that USF has ceded control of its license prematurely and is in violation of FCC rules regarding its ability to originate programming from its main studio. In fact, several recent FCC actions confirm the strong stance that the FCC has taken as far as studio control goes. In the University of San Francisco’s Opposition to the Petition to Deny, lawyers argued that, “Programming on KUSF is originating from the [sic]  CPRN’s  studios and is subject to the University’s control. The Commission’s Rules do not require programming to originate from a station’s main studio. The main studio must have the ability to originate programming. KUSF retains full ability to broadcast from its main studio on the University campus.”

Packing up old KUSF equipment (Photo: J. Waits)

With the dismantling of the KUSF studio at USF in mid-May, it’s pretty clear that KUSF is in violation of the FCC’s rules about maintaining a main studio. So far there’s no word from the FCC on this, but Save KUSF and Friends of KUSF are hoping for a hearing to review all of these potentially problematic moves by USF. According to a press release from Save KUSF this week, “Peter Franck one of the attorneys for Friends of KUSF commented: ‘This action by the University is one more action which demonstrates that the parties to this whole transaction act as if the FCC was nothing but a rubber stamp. In fact approving this license transfer would violate the FCC’s duty to act in the Public Interest, as we will point out further if the FCC grants our petition to set the whole matter for a public hearing.’”

It will be interesting to hear how both USF and the FCC respond.

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Complete Radio Survivor coverage about the proposed sale of KUSF can be found here. I also wrote about my reaction to the KUSF shut down and to the Save KUSF Multi-Station Live Broadcast on Spinning Indie.  My article chronicling my KUSF field trip 2 years ago is housed there too. For more on the bigger picture of college radio station sell-offs, see my December 2009 piece “Cash-strapped Schools Turn Their Backs on College Radio“. And, for a quick overview of the situation at KUSF, see my article, “The Story Behind the KUSF Shutdown” on PopMatters.

Is Your Station's Underwriting in Order?

As everyone in non-commercial radio in the United States knows, there’s often a fine line between underwriting messages to indicate sponsored programming and commercial announcements.

College, community and other non-commercial radio stations are not allowed to air commercials, but they can play underwriting announcements which simply acknowledge the support received by an outside entity. It’s extremely important that underwriting adheres to guidelines set forth by the FCC and that it doesn’t veer into commercial territory.

On June 15, non-commercial, educational radio station KUFW-FM in Woodlake, California, was levied a fine (PDF) of $12,500 for repeatedly broadcasting 4 different commercial announcements in 2006. These commercials were played more than 2000 times over the air.

The FCC’s Notice of Apparent Liability to Forfeiture letter to KUFW outlines what defines a prohibited advertisement:

“Advertisements are defined by the Act as program material broadcast ‘in exchange for any remuneration’ and intended to ‘promote any service, facility, or product’ of for-profit entities. The pertinent statute specifically provides that noncommercial educational stations may not broadcast advertisements.”

Additionally, the letter explains how underwriting differs from advertising, providing examples of how an announcement can veer into illegal territory:

“Although contributors of funds to such stations may receive on-air acknowledgements, the Commission has held that such acknowledgements may be made for identification purposes only, and should not promote the contributors’ products, services, or businesses. Specifically, such announcements may not contain comparative or qualitative descriptions, price information, calls to action, or inducements to buy, sell, rent or lease.”

Owned by The National Farm Workers Service Center, KUFW is part of the Radio Campesina Network of radio stations. The network of 9 radio stations provides music and Spanish-language programming to reach ” an underserved, largely immigrant population.”

The FCC found fault with KUFW for airing commercials for Mario’s Auto Sales, Big Brand Tire, and Muebleria La Tabatia. Language in the underwriting announcements served to promote products, used comparative and qualitative language, and inducements to buy products. Here are some examples from the ads that led to the fine:

“…we find that the Mario’s Auto Sales announcement impermissibly promotes the underwriter and its product through the use of favorable and qualitative expressions such as ‘beautiful Harley Davidson light trucks,’ ‘we have it here,’ and ‘where we are proud to be Mexicans.’ This announcement also contains inducements, such as ‘whatever vehicle with no down payment.’

The two announcements for Big Brand Tire impermissibly seek to distinguish the underwriter’s products. The first announcement claims that the company’s rims ‘will make you stand out’ and ‘make your vehicle unique.’ It also uses comparative phrasing such as, ‘We have the most recent selection when it comes to rims from A to Z’ and ‘we don’t give you a cat for a rabbit here.’ The announcement also includes an inducement for free tire alignments and free flat tire repairs to encourage patronage…”

It’s extremely important that all non-commercial stations review the scripts for underwriting announcements, as the FCC strongly states in their letter to KUFW that future infractions by other stations may be dealt with even more severely:

“…we caution the Licensee and all noncommercial educational licensees that, in future cases, violations of the type encountered here may result in even harsher sanctions than we propose in this case. Licensees have an ongoing duty to understand and carefully abide by the limitations in the Act and in our rules concerning advertising on noncommercial stations.”

To help protect your station from verging into illegal commercial territory, I’d encourage you to take a close look at the FCC’s notice to KUFW (PDF). At the end of the letter are complete examples of the underwriting scripts that got the station into trouble. Additionally, there was a similar case in 2009 in which KXPW-LP (Power Radio Corporation) was also issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture after they aired prohibited commercial announcements. To see their illegal scripts, take a look at the FCC notice to KXPW (PDF).

Mind Those FCC Files, People

If you’re running a college radio station it’s a good idea to beef up your understanding of FCC rules and deadlines. Recently Colby Community College radio station KTCC was schooled in the lesson that ignorance is no excuse when it comes to FCC license renewal.

Because they missed several deadlines for the renewal of their station’s license they have been accused of “failing to timely file a license renewal application and engaging in unauthorized operation of the Station.”

Here’s a tip for other stations:  radio station license renewal applications are due FOUR MONTHS PRIOR to the expiration date on one’s FCC license.

Although the FCC levied a fine of $7,000 against the station back in 2007, KTCC sent letters appealing that decision on the grounds of both financial hardship and a misunderstanding of license renewal rules. Just this week the FCC responded that these excuses were not sufficient to reduce or eliminate the fine. According to the “Forfeiture Order” dated April 5, 2010 (PDF):

“As the Commission has held, however, violations resulting from inadvertent error or failure to become familiar with the FCC’s requirements are willful violations. In the context of a forfeiture action, ‘willful’ does not require a finding that the rule violation was intentional. Rather, the term ‘willful’ means that the violator knew that it was taking (or, in this case, not taking) the action in question, irrespective of any intent to violate the Rules.”

In this particular case, the radio station advisor (and radio broadcasting instructor!) Corey Sorenson argued that he was late in renewing the FCC license because he misunderstood the instructions and had inherited the job from a previous advisor who had kept insufficient records. According to the FCC’s Forfeiture Order:

“In his letter, Mr. Sorenson requests that the forfeiture be reconsidered in light of the situation he faced when he began his employment at the college. He states that he ‘was not given any training on what needed to be done with regard to FCC filing, as no one at the college knew what the processes or requirements were.’  Mr. Sorenson also states that he began the renewal process in January 2005 but ‘ran into some problems because there were no records for [Licensee’s] CORES password from the previous instructor.’  He adds that he ‘filled out the licensee renewal’ but ‘had misread the instructions and mistakenly thought [he] was finished.’”

This situation is unfortunate, but it illustrates the often tumultuous world of college radio, in which there may not be consistent staff members and advisors from year to year. Even if stations are in a state of disarray, someone needs to be responsible for FCC-related files and deadlines.

KTCC wasn’t alone in this recent round of forfeiture orders. High school station WLMH (at Little Miami High School in Ohio) was also fined $1500 for renewing late and some other non-student stations received fines as well. In the past we’ve seen this story played with Gaston College’s $8000 fine for public file violations and, most recently, University of Wisconsin-Parkside station WIPZ getting shut down for broadcasting without a license.

Do you know where your station's public file is?

One of the things that every radio DJ learns during training is the importance of a station’s “public file.”

Every FCC-licensed broadcast station in the United States is required to maintain a public inspection file, containing a number of items including documents pertaining to a station’s license and ownership.

The file should also house FCC complaints, a political file (with details on requests for purchase of airtime by political candidates, etc.), letters and emails from the public (only required of commercial stations), the manual “The Public and Broadcasting,” an issues/programs list related to public service programming, a list of donors, and a number of other items required by the FCC.

If a member of the public enters a radio or TV station requesting to see a station’s public file, they are supposed to be granted access to those documents. Part of the rationale for this is to ensure that stations are serving the public interest.

Unfortunately, some stations (and station staffs) are unclear on the rules regarding public files; so have been hit with hefty fines when they did not comply with public requests.

In the most recent incident, Gaston College radio station WSGE in Dallas, North Carolina was levied a fine of $8,000 by the FCC for “willfully and repeatedly violating Section 73.3527 of the Commission’s rules relating to a noncommercial licensee’s obligation to properly maintain and make available a public inspection file.”

According to the FCC’s forfeiture order (dated January 29, 2010), a member of the public was refused access to the radio station’s public file during regular business hours and was told to make an appointment with the station’s attorney. Upon return to the station, he was eventually given access to the file and complained to the FCC that certain items were either missing or incomplete.

What’s interesting (and alarming) about this case is the station’s allegation that the individual who came to the station requesting access to the file was from a religious institution with a vested interest in trying to get the Gaston College station kicked off the air. According to the FCC’s Forfeiture Order:

“Gaston College characterized the Complainant’s behavior during the first visit as ‘hostile,’ and asked the Bureau to view the Complaint in the context of its past dealings with the Complainant’s employer, Columbia Bible College.

In this regard, Gaston College contended that Columbia Bible College has been engaged in a ‘pattern of harassment and intimidation’ by pursuing FCC proceedings against Gaston College, and that Columbia Bible College’s actions, through the Complainant, are motivated by its prior unsuccessful efforts to acquire the Station. Gaston College alleged that Columbia Bible College is attempting to misuse the Commission’s processes to force the licensee to sell the Station.”

This is enough to send chills up the spine of every college radio station staffer and is a good reminder for stations to get their files in order and instruct all station staff on procedures in regard to requests from the public to view the public file.

At the same time, it’s disturbing to think that there are groups out there who are focused on filing complaints with the FCC in order to get stations kicked off the air.