Lite 91.5~ WLTF Federal Communications Commission April 28, 2008 Page 2

1606 W. King Street Martinsburg, WV 25401 ph 304-263-8868 fax 304-263-8906 April 28, 2008

VIA ELECTRONIC FILING

Marlene H. Dortch, Esquire Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554

Re: Comments ofPrettyman Broadcasting Company WEPM(AM), Martinsburg, West Virginia WLFT(FM), Martinsburg, West Virginia WlCL(FM), Williamsport, Maryland Report on Broadcast Localism and Notice ofProposed Rulemaking (MB Docket No. 04-233)

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

In 1957, I was finally doing what I had always dreamed of- working at a radio station. It

was a small "mom and pop" operation (actually, husband and wife operation) on the Eastern

Shore in Seaford, Delaware. Although I wanted to be on-air, I started out typing the program

log. I quickly learned what an "NCSA" was (Non-Commercial Spot Armouncement, equivalent

to today's PSA) and why they were important to our local communities. The owners later let me

broadcast the news, especially the noon farm report. I never entirely understood grain and hog

prices, but I knew this information was important to the local farmers in rural Sussex County,

Delaware, who listened to the station.

lite 91.5~ WLTF Federal Communications Commission April 28, 2008 Page 2

Over fifty years later, as the owner ofPrettyman Broadcasting Company, which owns and operates three radio stations in the Martinsburg, West Virginia-Hagerstown, Maryland markets, I have not forgotten my local roots or the importance oflocal progranuning and local involvement for broadcasters. The fact is that in a multi-channel, multimedia world, now more than ever, providing local content that engages and informs listeners is absolutely vital to our survival. To remain viable, local broadcasters must, and do, provide great local programming to their communities. To provide this programming they listen to, and are involved in, their local communities. This is good stewardship, good business, and standard operating procedure at our stations.

And we are not unique in this regard. Broadcasters all over the country get up every morning trying to figure out how to inject more local content into their programming, not less.

Many ofthe radio stations around the country are not licensed to huge corporations. The majority ofindividuals involved in the industry are local owners like myself who already do all that they can, and are constantly trying to do more, to get involved in their local communities and address local issues through their programming. I strongly urge you to refrain from adopting needless new regulations that would harm our ability to provide excellent local programming.

Local Involvement andCommunity Input: I, and most broadcasters, I believe, agree with the FCC that it is important for us to discuss issues ofimportance with leaders and other members ofour communities. To accomplish this most effectively, I believe that the manner of consultation must be left to the discretion ofbroadcasters. At our three stations, we regularly talk to local mayors, city managers, county commissioners, and leaders oflocal community organizations as part ofour local programming. WEPM(AM) in Martinsburg, West Virginia Federal Communications Commission April 28, 2008 Page 3 carries a one-hour locally produced talk show every weekday morning from 9:00 to 10:00 am called Panhandle Live. Regular guests on this show include the Mayor and City Manager of

Martinsburg and the County Commissioners ofBerkeley and Jefferson counties, West Virginia.

Other guests on this show in the last year have included West Virginia state senators and delegates and representatives from local hospitals, universities, and chambers ofcommerce.

These leaders come on this program and discuss the most important issues with station staff and with listeners.

With the increasing popularity ofthe internet, our stations also encourage input into their programming from members ofthe public through their websites. WLTF(FM), Martinsburg, and

WEPM(AM) both operate sites that include links through which listeners can send e-mails directly to the stations. Through efforts like these the staff at our stations and I get to know our communities best and learn the issues that are most important to them. Ifthe Commission forces us to hold regularly scheduled meetings with a fixed group ofalready-busy local leaders, it will divert resources from our existing efforts to interact with our communities and disrupt those efforts which have proven so effective.

LocalProgramming: Our success as broadcasters is keyed to our providing programming that engages, informs, and entertains our communities. My experience has shown that broadcasters ofall types and sizes, in all kinds ofmarkets thrive on and seek out great local content. That is certainly true at the three stations I own. Panhandle Live on WEPM(AM), which every weekend during morning drive provides in-depth discussion oflocal issues and events, is far from the only local programming we provide. WICL(FM), Williamsport,

Maryland, broadcasts a weekly Washington County Commissioner's Report, during which the Federal Communications Commission April 28, 2008 Page 4

Commissioner ofWashington County discusses the major issues effecting that area. In the past year, these issues have included water quality concerns, the opening ofa new local hospital, and rezoning to deal with growth in the area.

Our stations provide an exceptional amount oflocal news, as well. WEPM(AM) broadcasts 135 local news reports each week, and WICL(FM) and WLTF(FM) each broadcast local news reports at least six times a day on weekdays, with WLTF(FM) adding another three local news reports on Saturdays. WEPM(AM) in particular has been recognized for its exceptional news coverage on numerous occasions, receiving, among other awards, the West

Virginia Association Press Broadcasters Association's "Best Regularly Scheduled Newscast" award in 2006, as well as the West Virginia Broadcasters Association's Best Newscast award for unranked markets in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, the WVBA named WEPM(AM) as its "Legendary

Station ofthe Year." All three stations also provide weather reports on a daily basis.

In addition to news, public affairs, and weather, listeners tell us that they are also very interested in local sports and other community events. Our stations provide great coverage of those as well. All three stations provide multiple daily updates on local sports scores and schedules. WEPM(AM) broadcasts live game reports from local sporting events at all levels -- from West Virginia University football to high school football, basketball, and softball, all the way down to little league baseball. WICL(FM) has also begun broadcasting WVU football games.

WLTF(FM) broadcasts live coverage ofother community and charity events. During

2007, WLTF(FM) broadcast live from community events including a 36-hour live remote broadcast to help the local United Way kick offits Christmas in July campaign, and a live Federal Communications Commission April 28, 2008 Page 5 broadcast ofthe Special Olympics Walk in Hagerstown, Maryland. The broadcast ofthe Special

Olympics Walk featured live interviews with the local Special Olympics Director, volunteers,

Special Olympics participants, and other members ofthe public. Our stations all broadcast community calendars every day updating listeners on local events.

Our stations also provide network and syndicated programming to listeners. As it has before, the Commission must continue to recognize that these programs, despite not being produced locally, still respond to the needs and interests oflocallisteners. National programming has always fulfilled an important role in providing service to radio listeners.

Indeed, many ofmy best memories from the "Golden Age ofRadio" are oflistening to national programs such as Jack Benny, The Lone Ranger, and Bob Hope.

For the Commission to impose any further regulation on the type, form or content of stations' programming would be unwise and entirely unnecessary. Experience has taught me that the various markets and audiences that radio stations serve naturally dictate differing approaches to local service. The diverse needs and interests ofthose markets simply do not lend themselves to one-size-fits all approaches such as those suggested by the Commission. Make no mistake, however, that all stations, whatever their market, format, or audience, strive to deliver local service. Failure to do so puts the very survival ofour medium in jeopardy. Broadcasters certainly do not need any more "incentive" in the form ofnew regulations.

Main Studio andUnattended Operation: Mandating that radio and television stations locate their main studios back in their communities oflicense and requiring full-time staffing are impractical ideas that will do nothing but hurt stations' ability to serve their communities. I strongly urge the Commission to refrain from adopting such regulations, which would with no Federal Communications Commission April 28, 2008 Page 6

justification return the broadcasting industry to operating under the rules ofa long-past era that

were rightly rejected years ago as unnecessary.

Forcing stations to dismantle consolidated studios and relocate certain studios back to the

stations' communities oflicense is not practical or desirable. Many stations simply could not

survive ifforced to operate in this manner as stand-alone facilities. My experiences with

WICL(FM) in Williamsport demonstrate the benefits ofthe existing main studio location rule,

and the wisdom ofthe Commission's original decisions in 1987 and 1998 to relax that rule. Ten

years ago, my company owned and operated WEPM(AM) and WLTF(FM) from a single studio

in Martinsburg. At that time, another broadcaster held the license for WICL(FM) and was

attempting, and failing, to survive as a stand-alone operation in nearby Williamsport, Maryland.

We recognized that the Commission's main studio rule offered us an opportunity to save the

station, and we purchased it. At considerable expense, we constructed and equipped a studio for

the station inside the existing studio building that we already operated in Martinsburg.

Although we operate the station from the studios in Martinsburg, this has not in any way

diminished our dedication to serving the residents ofWilliamsport, which is about 20 miles

away. We continue to report on Williamsport news, and every week broadcast a fifteen minute report by the County Commissioner ofWashington County, Maryland. Ifthe Commission forces us to relocate the main studio to Williamsport, listeners would no longer receive this

service because we would likely have to sell or take the station dark. It is simply a financial impossibility for us to operate WICL(FM) as a stand alone operation, with all ofthe expenses required to maintain a separate studio. I urge the Commission to allow us to continue to serve the Williamsport community as we do today. Federal Communications Commission April 28,2008 Page 7

Adoption ofany rules mandating full-time staffing oftelevision or radio stations likewise would be unjustified and counterproductive. The radio industry now is far different that it was fifty years ago, when full-time staffing was necessary because stations had to constantly monitor tube-type equipment and take transmitter readings. Today's broadcast technology is far more reliable and allows for remote monitoring and adjustment, as the FCC recognized in 1995.

Station engineers and designated chief operators can ensure that a station is operating properly from any location. Today's technology also allows station personnel to go on the air from anywhere via telephone or the internet. In addition, station staff can activate a station's EAS equipment remotely and can, ifnecessary, interrupt regularly scheduled broadcasts from a remote location to deliver listeners critical emergency and other information.

There is absolutely no reason for the Commission to require that staff be located at a station's main studio facility at all times. Ifa station has designated a specific contact person for local emergency personnel to reach, it is immaterial whether that person receives a phone call at the station and interrupts broadcasts at the studio or receives that calion a cell phone and provides the exact same program service from a remote location. Full-time attended operation requirements would dramatically increase staffing costs, likely at the expense ofprogramming, and produce no benefit to the public. I urge the Commission not to adopt any such regulations. ** ** ** Prettyman Broadcasting, and all small broadcasters like us, I believe, provide exceptional local service to their communities. To do anything else simply makes no sense in today's increasingly competitive information and entertainment world. It is absolutely vital to our survival that we involve ourselves in our communities to determine what those communities Federal Communications Commission April 28, 2008 Page 8 want to hear and then deliver content that matches those tastes. The Commission's proposed re- regulation ofour industry is entirely unnecessary and would cripple our ability to deliver exactly the type oflocal service the Commission wants us to provide. Particularly for smaller broadcasters like us, the administrative, staffing, and other costs ofcomplying with the proposed rules would force us to reduce local service or possibly cease operations at one or more stations entirely. I do not believe that this is what the Commission wants, and I urge you to refrain from adopting the proposed rules.