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WSBB vs WSBB

95.5's legal ID is "WSBB-FM Doraville"

Cox had to be granted permission to use the same call letters. Some stations pay for the right to do so.

Since the other station came first, it doesn't legally have to call itself "WSBB-AM" ... their legal ID should be "WSBB New Smyrna Beach"
 
MCMagicCracker said:
95.5's legal ID is "WSBB-FM Doraville"

Cox had to be granted permission to use the same call letters. Some stations pay for the right to do so.

Since the other station came first, it doesn't legally have to call itself "WSBB-AM" ... their legal ID should be "WSBB New Smyrna Beach"
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Which is why I find it odd that Cox sold off WFOX after moving the calls off of 97.1. I could see a Fox O&O wanting those calls.
 
I guess Cox wanted to hold onto WFOX for possible radio use in the future and the opportunity to place them on a Cox owned Fox affiliate made it worth keeping. I expected that Cox wanted more than Fox was willing to pay or Fox was happy with WNYW in New York. Cox use to own KFOX in El Paso the Fox affiliate there before selling it to Sinclair.
 
Rick Rose 2.0 said:
I guess Cox wanted to hold onto WFOX for possible radio use in the future and the opportunity to place them on a Cox owned Fox affiliate made it worth keeping. I expected that Cox wanted more than Fox was willing to pay or Fox was happy with WNYW in New York. Cox use to own KFOX in El Paso the Fox affiliate there before selling it to Sinclair.
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As a former NYC resident, The WNYW calls have been part of channel 5 since Fox began in '86. They have always been very bold and well known call letters for their flagship station. I don't see them ever changing it. :)
 
I can only guess that TV call letters are just about as important as Radio Call letters have become. Except for FCC mandated ID’s you would think channel 5 is “Fox 5”, 46 is CBS46, WSBTV is Channel 2, and WXIA was “eaten alive”. Branding is more important financially than call letters. I could see a Fox O & O picking up the call but not an affiliate. So IMHO there is a “limited” market for the calls on TV.
 
secondchoice said:
I can only guess that TV call letters are just about as important as Radio Call letters have become. Except for FCC mandated ID’s you would think channel 5 is “Fox 5”, 46 is CBS46, WSBTV is Channel 2, and WXIA was “eaten alive”. Branding is more important financially than call letters. I could see a Fox O & O picking up the call but not an affiliate. So IMHO there is a “limited” market for the calls on TV.
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Both WSB and WAGA have legacy call letters that nobody in their right mind would get rid of, even if WAGA is a Fox O&O. Even WXIA has been around for over 40 years.
 
When he was on WGST and WXIA's news leaned toward the sensational, the Kimmer referred to WXIA as "11 dead or alive."
 
The only two stations that really need to change their call letters in Atlanta would be WGCL CBS 46. It was "Georgia Clear" after they changed the calls from WGNX. Weren't they owned by Clear Channel at that time? WUPA "CW69." These calls were from when they first converted to the now defunct UPN network back in the 90s. These calls have only been around 20 years and they don't make sense anymore.
 
RadioDoogie said:
The only two stations that really need to change their call letters in Atlanta would be WGCL CBS 46. It was "Georgia Clear" after they changed the calls from WGNX. Weren't they owned by Clear Channel at that time?
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Nope, they were owned by Pat Robertson (WANX, Atlanta iN Christ), then Tribune (World's Greatest Newspaper X, like WGN), who sold it to Meredith, who changed it to WGCL (to go with their "Clear News" and dump the obvious Tribune branding). Never Clear Channel. Although Meredith is who bought WGST off of Georgia Tech, and sold it to a company that later became part of Jacor and then CC.

Meredith still owns WGCL and also bought WPCH-TV (the former WTBS) from Time Warner after LMAing it for a while, after TW quit putting most of the TBS cable feed on WTBS, and MLB made TW quit airing so many Braves games on a national basis.
 
Getting back to my original question....I understand, both can be permitted to have same call letters since one is AM, the other FM...but I would have thought the FCC would oppose, since both different ownerships. I could see, same call letters, same owner, but is this not confusing for the public sector?

Especially since now a days, lot of people stream radio broadcast. Which is how I discovered WSBB-AM out of Florida, and I live here in Atlanta. I was streaming for Nostalgia radio, and WSBB AM came up. I thought of WSB/Atlanta. It was not until local ads played for Daytona Beach and then, via Radio-Locator, I found it to be a totally different station.

What would be the difference if I owned a TV station with the call letters of WGST?
Different owners..different mediums. One is radio, one TV

Seems to me, it would not be permitted
 
The FCC has never, to my knowledge, had a rule prohibiting separate ownership of two stations with the same "base" call letters, as long as they were not serving the same market.

The "same market" rule no longer exists, either. I think it was repealed in the Reagan era, but it might have lingered into the 90s. Thus we have WSM (owned by Gaylord Entertainment) and WSM-FM (owned by Cumulus) both in Nashville.

In theory, it would be possible for Meredith to change the call sign of WGCL to WGST-TV. However, WGST-AM might choose petition the FCC to stop them, on the grounds of market confusion.
 
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Meredith would have to get permission from iHeart to change to WGST-TV; it wouldn't happen otherwise; no "petitioning" neccesary. The FCC does not mitigate call letter disputes any longer (similar sounding call letters for example) but in this case "WGST-TV" would be denied.
 
HippieGuy said:
Getting back to my original question....I understand, both can be permitted to have same call letters since one is AM, the other FM...but I would have thought the FCC would oppose, since both different ownerships. I could see, same call letters, same owner, but is this not confusing for the public sector?

Especially since now a days, lot of people stream radio broadcast. Which is how I discovered WSBB-AM out of Florida, and I live here in Atlanta. I was streaming for Nostalgia radio, and WSBB AM came up. I thought of WSB/Atlanta. It was not until local ads played for Daytona Beach and then, via Radio-Locator, I found it to be a totally different station.

What would be the difference if I owned a TV station with the call letters of WGST?
Different owners..different mediums. One is radio, one TV

Seems to me, it would not be permitted
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The FCC used to prohibit stations in separate markets and different ownership from using the same call letters when one was AM and the other FM. That changed a number of years ago.

I think the WSBB-FM call letters should be moved to 98.5 and the WSB-FM calls to 95.5. Then the separate ID for 95.5 wouldn't be necessary, and B98.5 listeners for the most part wouldn't notice. Perhaps Cox wants to leave WSB-FM at 98.5 because those calls have been there for so many years.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
The FCC used to prohibit stations in separate markets and different ownership from using the same call letters when one was AM and the other FM. That changed a number of years ago.

I think the WSBB-FM call letters should be moved to 98.5 and the WSB-FM calls to 95.5. Then the separate ID for 95.5 wouldn't be necessary, and B98.5 listeners for the most part wouldn't notice. Perhaps Cox wants to leave WSB-FM at 98.5 because those calls have been there for so many years.
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I know there is/was some kind of rule regarding three-letter callsigns that prevented a change of ownership (which is why WOR in NYC became WWOR), but apparently that rule is long gone (otherwise Gaylord's sale of WSM-FM to Cumulus would have triggered that rule). Does a similar rule govern moving a callsign from one co-owned station to another?

If they did move WSB-FM to 95.5, it would still require a modified ID because 95.5's CoL is Doraville and not Atlanta like 98.5's. They could go the old "WGST AM and FM, Atlanta/Canton" route of questionable legality and do "WSB AM and FM, Atlanta/Doraville", or do the "proper" "WSB Atlanta WSB-FM Doraville" ID. They wouldn't be able to work it in to their TOH bumper (...AM 750 and FM 95.5 WSB Atlanta's News Traffic and Weather Station...)

Even if 98.5 and 95.5 swapped CoLs, wouldn't the proper ID (not the Jacor/Clear Channel version for WGST) be "WSB Atlanta WSB-FM Atlanta")? As I recall you can't say ANYTHING between the complete callsign (which includes the "-FM" if applicable) and the CoL.
 
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jabba17 said:
I know there is/was some kind of rule regarding three-letter callsigns that prevented a change of ownership (which is why WOR in NYC became WWOR), but apparently that rule is long gone (otherwise Gaylord's sale of WSM-FM to Cumulus would have triggered that rule). Does a similar rule govern moving a callsign from one co-owned station to another?

If they did move WSB-FM to 95.5, it would still require a modified ID because 95.5's CoL is Doraville and not Atlanta like 98.5's. They could go the old "WGST AM and FM, Atlanta/Canton" route of questionable legality and do "WSB AM and FM, Atlanta/Doraville", or do the "proper" "WSB Atlanta WSB-FM Doraville" ID. They wouldn't be able to work it in to their TOH bumper (...AM 750 and FM 95.5 WSB Atlanta's News Traffic and Weather Station...)

Even if 98.5 and 95.5 swapped CoLs, wouldn't the proper ID (not the Jacor/Clear Channel version for WGST) be "WSB Atlanta WSB-FM Atlanta")? As I recall you can't say ANYTHING between the complete callsign (which includes the "-FM" if applicable) and the CoL.
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Yes, unless Cox got the COL for 95.5 changed to Atlanta after they moved into town, they would still have to ID as WSB-FM Doraville; or as you mentioned, WSB & WSB-FM-Atlanta/Doraville. WSBB-FM on 98.5 would ID as WSBB-FM Atlanta.

But, 98.5 and 95.5 would not trade COL's, just call letters.
 
Assuming 95.5 gets it’s in town antenna, IMHO they should swap COL’s and call letters with 98.5. Could they be “WSB, WSB FM Atlanta”? I forgot what they used when WSB was on 98.5’s HD2. I still doubt they will keep the current news talk on 750 very long when 95.5 gets in town.*

I personally believe if you make an attempt the FCC will cut you some slack. The Commission could fine a lot of folks are improperly doing HD ID’s. I thought I heard 92.9 use “WZGC Atlanta, WZGC HD1”.

* If in town happens, IMHO it will not be long until the accountants at Cox will look at 750’s power bill and “value” and question it’s simulcasting 95.5. It would be difficult for the current number pushing sales folks to sell 55+ but as big as Atlanta is there should be a few bucks in the demo. You would have to get some “street” sales folks out of small markets who sell without ratings.
 
In Greenville SC, WSPA-TV is totally unrelated to WSPA-FM. I'm sure at one point they were, but they are no longer and both have kept the call letters. (WSPA-FM might actually not be saying "FM" on the air, since there is no longer a WSPA-AM)
 
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