[BC] Class A stations "burning" power

[PeterH5322]

>In this day and age where transmitter power is so easily adjustable, 
>I wonder why "that station" continues to pay for electricity and then 
>convert it into useless heat.

The rules state 50 kW for Class As, unless grandfathered.

There are other considerations, such as bragging rights.

And, which often play into which station can bid on particular 
programming.

There are two stations in Detroit, for example, and one in Boston, for 
another example, which were built up to a full 50 kW as the Ts and Cs of 
their programming contracts demanded that they operate at 50 kW, the 
highest power allowed anywhere in the U.S. states and territories.

Now, given these realities, why would KOA want to save a few bucks on 
power, and expend many thousands of dollars on legal expenses, and 
encounter numerous international notification issues, for the sole 
benefit of changing its power from 50 kW to 38 kW, and then be 
more-or-less permanently grandfathered as less than a full Class A 
station?