THE VERMONT ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS

500A DALTON DRIVE COLCHESTER, VT 05446 (802) 655-5764 [email protected] WWW.VAB.ORG The VAB Voice

“YOUR VOTE YOUR VOICE” WINS VERMONT AWARD

Television station WPTZ was a recipient last month of a March, 2009 special award from Vermont Secretary of State Deb FEW GLITCHES AS VERMONT GOES ALL-DIGITAL Markowitz. The station was honored with a National Asso- At midnight on February ciation of Secretaries of State Medallion Award for the “Your 17, 2009, analog TV Also, many Vermonters Vote Your Voice” series. The broadcasting came to an are still waiting for their station was cited for end in Vermont. DTV $40 coupons. The “educating citizens about their Two stations, WCAX-TV government ran out of civic obligations.” Other win- and WPTZ-TV, will con- the coupons but will be ners included former State tinue to offer an analog clearing the backlog Sen. Don Collins of Franklin news and DTV informa- soon now that the stimu- County and Montpelier fer the boxes in Canada, schoolteacher Kristie Bush. tion service until April 19 lus package has been as part of the FCC’s 60- where the digital transi- tion will take place in a VT FM FREQUENCY TO BE day “expanded nightlight” signed into law. As of AUCTIONED IN SEPTEMBER few years. service. VPT will offer a Feb. 5, there were 1450 similar analog service Also, many viewers over-the-air-only house- The FCC has released a pub- through March 20. needed advice on how to holds in the Burlington/ lic notice seeking procedural set up the boxes and Plattsburgh market still comments on plans to auction At 5 a.m. on Feb. 18, a their antennas. waiting for coupons. off 122 FM frequencies this local call center started coming September. One of receiving questions from All told, more than the frequencies is in Vermont: the local viewing area. 60,000 coupons were a Class A FM at Channel 233 In its three full days of ordered in Vermont, and (94.5 mhz) designated for operations, the call cen- more than 30,000 cou- Albany, VT in the Northeast ter handled approxi- pons were actually used. Kingdom. Short form applic- mately 2000 inquiries. tions from potential bidders The call center was a are likely to be accepted start- Many of the callers were joint venture of Vermont ing this May. The commis- wondering why they Some viewers, sadly, Public Television, WCAX sion has posted the starting could no longer receive were no longer able to and WPTZ/WNNE. bid for the frequency at Channel 3. A host of vol- get a channel they could WVNY and WFFF de- $30,000 . before in analog mode. unteers at the call center cided to handle their helped those callers re- For those viewers, rec- calls in-house. CORRECTION scan their DTV converter ommendations were Special thanks go to Ann In the February “VAB Voice,” boxes to find WCAX on a made on trying different Curran of VPT for getting in an article on recent cut- new frequency (UHF 22 types of antennas and all the stations to work backs in the broadcasting instead of UHF 53). different positions for the together in the overall industry, we erroneously re- Many calls came from antennas they already transition effort. Her per- ported that Fran Stoddard of Quebec, where analog have. VPT had been laid off. VPT sistence, patience and reports Fran and her talk viewers were wondering A few realized they creativity were major fac- show, “Profiles,” is only on where they could get would need cable or sat- tors in making the transi- temporary hiatus and new converter boxes. Luck- ellite access to continue tion run as smoothly as it programs are in the works. ily, a number of stores getting their favorite pro- did. We regret the error. and online sites now of grams. The VAB VOICE

PAUL HARVEY 19181918————20092009 DAVID REHR TO ATTEND 2009 VAB CONVENTION

McCarthy in the 1950’s and NAB President and CEO “Hello Americans, this is Paul Harvey! Stand by for supported Richard Nixon in David K. Rehr will be the the 1960’s. In 1970, how- News!” featured luncheon speaker at ever, Harvey famously this year’s VAB convention, SENATE BLOCKS RETURN With those words, radio scolded Nixon over the OF FAIRNESS DOCTRINE scheduled for May 7 at the commentator Paul Harvey bombing of Cambodia. commanded the attention of Capitol Plaza in Montpelier. The U.S. Senate last week millions of listeners every In the 1970’s he began his popular “Rest of the Story” voted 87-11 to prohibit the weekday, becoming the most listened-to reporter in feature, which typically in- FCC from resurrecting the cluded surprising facts about so-called Fairness Doctrine. the history of radio. famous people. The identity The Fairness Doctrine was Harvey passed away Feb. 28 of the famous person, of shelved 22 years ago by the at the age of 90. In 2000, he course, was not revealed commission on concerns had signed a ten-year, 100 until the end of the five- the doctrine “actually inhib- million dollar contract with minute feature. Among the ABC, now part of Citadel. more famous stories was his its the presentation of con- troversial issues of public tale of a young boy who re- importance to the detri- ceived a gift of money from FDR...would you believe Fidel ment of the public.” Castro? Rehr was named to the NAB

Originally designed in 1947 Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, top job in 2005. Prior to his to promote a balance of Paul Harvey Aurandt was appointment, he had served only three years old when his opinions on a limited num- as President of the National father, a police officer, was ber of radio and TV sta- shot and killed on the job. Beer Wholesalers Associa- tions, the doctrine’s quest Later in life, Paul Harvey be- tion and as Executive Direc- for diversity of opinion was came a leading fundraiser for tor of House Affairs for the superseded by the explo- families of slain law enforce- National Federation of Inde- sive growth in the number ment officers. pendent Business. He has of media outlets, including For more than 51 years, In 1933, he was an unpaid consistently been ranked as cable and internet pro- Harvey’s daily news and gofer for a Tulsa radio sta- one of Washington’s top gramming. comment reports informed tion. He was working at a lobbyists and has been a tire- and entertained millions (an station in St. Louis when he less and successful defender met a local teacher who Nonetheless, some politi- estimated 25 million listen- of over-the-air TV and radio cians have recently been would read social notices on ers per week at his peak). stations. the air. Paul and Lynne Coo- yearning for the old days of His delivery was stentorian per, known as “Angel,” were government-proscribed and folksy at the same time. The Commercial of the Year married in 1940. programming. Sen. Tom He said he wrote his news Awards will also be pre- Harkin (D-IA) recently told stories with his Aunt Betty After a short stint in the sented during the luncheon. a reporter the failure of in mind. If the story was army, he worked as a re- Morning and afternoon semi- porter at a local station in progressive talk radio to too confusing or dull for nars will feature Chris Lytle, Chicago, WENR-AM. The find an audience was rea- her, he’d toss the story alto- station was located in the Valerie Geller and Jefffrey son enough to bring back gether. Chicago Merchandise Mart. Hedquist. The convention the doctrine. His “Paul Harvey News and Eventually, Harvey became will run from 8:30—5:30. Comment” segments were friends with the owner of the Our Hall of Fame dinner will The amendment to prohibit broadcast from Chicago and building, who helped him get aired on ABC network affili- be held later this year, on the Fairness Doctrine was the job with the ABC Radio November 7, at the Inn at ate stations throughout Ver- Network. Who was that offered by Sen. Jim DeMint Essex. mont. As elsewhere, the person? Why, it was Joseph (R-SC) and was attached to segments traditionally gar- an unrelated bill on voting P. Kennedy, father of JFK. Keep an eye on your mailbox nered high ratings. And now you know the rest rights in the District of Co- and our website (vab.org) for He was a heartland conser- of the story! convention program and lumbia. vative who supported Joe - Jim Condon registration information!