Without ratings, it is difficult to impossible to sell commercials. As a result, profit-minded U.S. SW stations make their living by selling airtime to whoever wants it. Typically, this tends to be religious or political groups.
The religious programmers run the gamut from mainstream to fringe, while political programmers range from Cuban dissidents to right-wing militia groups. In some cases these programmers work live in the station's studios. However, it's more typical for them to send in prerecorded programs on cassette, CD or MiniDisc, or to send in their shows by phone or, increasingly, over the Internet.
The cost? "We charge anywhere from $25 to $65 an hour, depending on the time of day and the number of hours purchased," said Allan Weiner, WBCQ owner and general manager. Based in Monticello, Maine, the station uses three converted commercial/military transmitters, some home-built antennas and a 1950s-vintage mobile home converted into a studio building.
At WRMI in Miami, Jeff White sells airtime for $1 a minute. Meanwhile, WWCR in Nashville, Tenn., charges anywhere from $15 for 4.5 minutes to $160 for 59.5 minutes, depending on whether you're buying on a one-day, weekly or Monday-through-Friday basis. With four 100 kW transmitters - a single 50 kW transmitter is considered to be the bare minimum by the FCC - WWCR has more reach and a more sophisticated transmission/production plant than WCBQ or WRMI.
Thus, given the FCC's restriction on domestic broadcasting, the issues of propagation, audio quality and static associated with amplitude-modulated shortwave and the lack of a measurable audience, the commercial SW market is not one for the faint-hearted.
Add the general public's lack of awareness of the medium - "People ask me all the time how they can pick up Radio Miami International on their AM/FM receivers," White said with a shrug - and one can see it's a tough business.
"The handful of truly commercial stations may generate anywhere from less than $200,000 a year to perhaps a few million," he added. "These are not Clear Channel-type operations."
Paying the bills
These broadcasters are willing to put up with poor production quality and content; this comes with the turf of selling airtime blocks. They can tolerate downright weird shows.
"I remember one show where the guy was doing a chant to the angels," White said. "He just kept chanting the same thing over and over again for 15 minutes."
In fact, U.S. SW broadcasters are willing to put up with almost anything from their clients, as long as they pay their bills.
"It is still a free country and they have a right to say a lot of things," said WWCR General Manager George McClintock.
"We pretty much let anyone say what they want," said Weiner. "Our listeners demand that we be as open and free speech as possible. They crave it. They demand it."
Besides, "The FCC doesn't really monitor the content on U.S. shortwave," White said. "I don't think they see that as their mission or concern. They are more worried about whether a station's technical parameters are correct."
That said, U.S. shortwave broadcasters often suffer grief from their clients' programming. Even radio's renegades have their limits.
For instance, WWCR learned that neo-Nazi Ernst Zundel was using his airtime to deny the Holocaust. "We threw the program off," said McClintock. Zundel had been broadcasting in German, and WWCR's operators didn't understand what he was saying.
Even so, many Americans associate U.S. shortwave with far-right broadcasts. This is ironic, given that most of what McClintock calls "militia money" stopped flowing to shortwave broadcasters when the dreaded year 2000 finally arrived. Apparently the New World Order's "non-collapse," in McClintock's words, severely hurt the militias' ability to solicit donations from listeners.
All in all, U.S. SW broadcasters operate in a strange, Twilight Zone kind of world, but one that they relish. Passport's Magne believes that U.S. shortwave broadcasters enjoy it so much that they don't want the FCC to loosen its archaic restrictions on domestic shortwave.
"The truth is that they like it the way it is," he said. "If the rules were changed, it could open the floodgates to more competition."
An unfair accusation? Not according to WRMI's White.
"We discussed changing the rules at the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters' convention a few years ago," he said. "In fact, the FCC asked for our help in doing so. However, after some discussion, a lot of people came to Magne's conclusion: that we're all better off just leaving things as they are. After all, under the current regime, the FCC pretty much leaves us alone. If the rules were changed, then they might get serious about enforcing them."
"If it works for you, leave it alone," said McClintock. Granted, the FCC shortwave rules are "as loose as a goose," he said. But "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
