I was just looking at the Fiscal Year ’08 table of FCC regulatory fees for AM radio stations. At first I didn’t believe it, but Daytimers in small markets are getting screwed!
Class B stations, with real full-time service are hit with a $500 annual fee in the smallest markets, but daytimers (which have equivalent daytime facilities to class B stations, but only operate during sunlight hours) have to pay an extra $25 for the privilege of shutting off at night. Stations in these little markets are public services, and the FCC ought to pay them to operate.
In markets of 75,000 – 150,000 people, where an AM station might be able to make a nickel or two, the FCC in its great wisdom also charges daytimers an extra $25 to go off at night.
By my reconning, a daytime radio station should be charged between 3/4 and 1/2 of the equivalent class B station, simply because it is a limited authorization. I wonder whether the FCC fee setters use the Oujii or dart board method of setting fees. Oh!, the splendor of FCC logic ….