Posts Tagged ‘YourErie.com’

Erie mainstream media shines spotlight on pirate radio operator

Now that the FCC has identified Marshall Jones as operating a radio station without a license, he is telling his story to Erie’s mainstream media.

Last night on WJET/WFXP, John Treanor reported a package on Jones where they showed that he continues to operate the station with a computer, some microphones and a transmitter connected to a small mast at the top of a building in Erie’s Little Italy neighborhood. Despite the possiblity of major penalties, Treanor reports that Jones is determined to continue with 90.1 The Movement:

But Jones, a former Super Soul Saturday DJ, tells us he can’t stop – if he’s not on air, a whole genre would disappear in the city.

“The question always remained, why don’t we have this 24 hours a day, what do we have to do to do it and basically I went ahead and said let’s see what happens, you know what I mean,” says Jones…

…Jones is staying on air as long as he can before getting fined – his dream is to make the movement legal.

“I have to I have to go forward and see what it is that has to be done to make this happen,” Jones says.

This morning (Thursday), David Bruce continues his reporting on the pirate radio stations in the Times-News, complete with pictures of Jones’s operation. Bruce describes the chain of events leading to the sign-on:

A club disc jockey and former announcer at Gannon University’s WERG-FM, Jones said that he started broadcasting in October because there wasn’t enough urban music being played in Erie.
“Blacks, whites, Hispanics all had a major concern about the type of music played in Erie 24/7,” Jones said. “It was my mission to get this station up and running.”
Jones said that he started broadcasting at the low-frequency limits, then increased power.
“The response from people was so strong that I just turned it up,” Jones said. “Then someone ratted me out to the FCC.”
One problem was that Jones’ signal was intruding on the signals of other, licensed, radio stations, said A.J. Miceli, who oversees WERG as Gannon University’s chairman of theater, communications and fine arts.
What’s a little frightening to me is that the FCC doesn’t need any more incentive to fine these guys; once they find a unlicensed station and cite it, the breaking of Federal law has already occurred. If you happen to have  a kindly Enforcement Agent who will write you a warning first, it’s wise to take that as a blessing and not push the issue. We’ll keep watching this unfold.

Deep Background for December 13-19, 2009

This is it! The big night for the generosity of the people of Erie, Pennsylvania to be showcased for two hours on national television is here!

Erie’s Clara Ward and her new home will be shown in a two-hour special edition of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition tonight (Sunday) at 8:00 on ABC. Locally, WJET will air a “Making of Extreme Makeover” one-hour show preceding the network at 7:00 PM.

We’ve waited almost six months for this moment…and it’s here. Lets talk about it. Leave a comment in the box below this post, or e-mail joel@nataliemedia.com or tweet @pressandtower.

Embrace the “Move That Bus!!” chaos!

New FCC Chair Genachowski joins VP Biden in Erie Wednesday

Julius Genachowski, FCC Chair

YourErie.com and WSEE’s Jacqueline Policastro are reporting that the new FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, will join Vice President Joe Biden in Erie on Wednesday.

Biden, Genachowski, along with Cabinet members Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will reportedly appear at Seneca High School at 12 noon Wednesday, discussing a national rural broadband initiative that is part of the economic stimulus package.

Tickets to attend the event at Seneca will be available at the Seneca High School library beginning at 4 PM Tuesday on a first-come, first-serve basis.

WQLN lays off five, cuts salaries

Dwight Miller has been warning us for months that if something didn’t change in the state budget for the upcoming year, it was going to be a painful summer for public broadcasting in NWPA.

WQLN-TV

The pain is here.

In advance of the elimination of state funding for public broadcasting coming in two weeks, WQLN Public Media made deep cuts to its personnel and operating budget Tuesday. According to broadcast and published reports, five employees have been let go, including program director Gordon Stroufe, and Director of Engineering Ed Upton.

Other cost-cutting moves include:

  • 5% salary cuts for all management, with Miller taking a 10% cut
  • Two-week unpaid furloughs fro all employees
  • Hiring and wage freeze
  • No unnecessary travel, conference attendance, and staff training
  • The “Marketplace” financial program on WQLN-FM will be dropped

Miller told JET-TV that they tried to cushion the blow on the viewer:

Our goal is for viewers not to see an impact on the services we provide to them. We were very strategic in choosing positions to try to minimize the impact that the public will see. But eventually it will have an impact in the long run.

WQLN normally receives $800,000 from the Commonwealth, and neither version of the state budget currently being considered in Harrisburg would continue that funding. There is hope that a portion of the funding could be restored in the final budget bill. If that were not to happen, more layoffs could be likely.

No Fox 66 for most of ‘Idol’ finale

SINCE WE ARE TALKING OFF-AIR STATIONS: Just a reminder that WQLN-TV & FM will be off the air for about six hours today beginning at 8:00 AM while they install a transfer switch for their emergency generator system. WQLN is the lead station for the area’s Emergency Alert System.

YourErie.com is reporting that the digital transmitter for WFXP finally came back online just minutes before the winner was announced for the 2009 American Idol season, the nation’s perennial ratings leader. If over-the-air and distant cable viewers were keeping an eye on when the station came back online, they would have seen the announcement of Kris Allen as the new American Idol.

Here’s the release from YourErie.com, posted at 10:11 Wednesday evening:

The transmitter for WFXP Fox 66 went down just before 8 pm Wednesday, May 20th. The transmitter was back up and running just before 10 pm. The problem was an electrical issue that was through no fault of station employees or management and caused through forces beyond our control. We do appreciate your patience as Fox 66 engineers worked endlessly to identify the problem with the transmitter.

Time Warner Cable customers were able to continually receive the Fox 66 signal due to a fiber link that directly connects the station signal with Time Warner.

Viewers who receive the signal through other ways were without service.

In order to rebroadcast the season finale of American Idol, WFXP would have to receive permission from Fox Network.

If permission is granted and WFXP rebroadcasts the show, you will be notified ahead of time on YourErie.com, WJET Action News 24, and on WFXP Fox 66.

You can just feel the stress the management and engineers were navigating as they were down during the most important hours (except for the Super Bowl) of their broadcast year.

Editors’ note: much thanks to Dan Rapela, watching our back from Metro D.C., for the tweet alert while I was switching between the Cavs/Magic on TNT and Idol on Fox.