[BC] RE: NPR violation of 73.1206?

[Lamar Owen]

On Saturday 26 November 2005 09:01, Douglas B. Pritchett wrote:
> Someone asked:
> >> What happens when during a live show the caller is calling in to get
> >> on the
> >> air?

> It's handled a few ways. First, for stations that air "swap shop" shows
> those are exempt because the purpose of the show is known to callers
> that there calls might be broadcast. 

That is assuming the caller is listening to the radio.

I once called in to one of the stations I used to CE at (after I was no longer 
an employee, but a mere consultant), on their main line, got the right caller 
number and found myself on the air (and I wasn't listening to the air signal, 
as I was out of range, so had no clue they were running a callin).  The 
question was asked (it was a trivia callin contest), I answered correctly, 
and won the prize.  

After the air person (the station assistant manager) took it off the air, he 
asked who I was and my address.  I told him to add it to my paycheck for that 
month. :-)  We both got a good laugh out of it (he had, after all, paged me 
not fifteen minutes before, and I was returning his call), and I got to keep 
the prize (dinner for two at a local steakhouse; it was around Valentine's 
day).  

Now, the contest rules excluded station employees (it specifically said 
'Employees of Wxxx and their families' could not win, but, as I was not an 
employee, I was allowed.  Had they said 'Staff and management of Wxxx and 
their families' I would not have been allowed... :-)

So it is dangerous to assume that, just because it's announced over the air 
that there is a callin contest, the caller on the line consents to being 
thrust on the air.
-- 
Lamar Owen
Director of Information Technology
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
1 PARI Drive
Rosman, NC  28772
(828)862-5554
www.pari.edu