WRBJ/Jackson to Host ZoneCasting Demonstration

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, March 19, 2021 | 10:43am CT

Roberts Radio Broadcasting LLC announced today that it will be filing a request to the FCC for its Jackson, Mississippi radio station, WRBJ-FM, to conduct a demonstration of the ZoneCastin FM booster system developed by GeoBroadcast Solutions, in order to improve the station's signal strength and reach, and demonstrate the ability to add localized weather and traffic, news, advertising, and targeted emergency alerts to its listeners during short parts of a broadcast hour.

WRBJ is a standalone FM urban format station owned by Steven C. Roberts, founder and president of The Roberts Broadcasting Companies, Board Member of The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB). WRBJ reaches the African-American community, with many small businesses that cannot currently afford to pay for an entire metro signal but desire to hyper-target zones within the station's signal coverage. This will be the fifth Experimental Permit requested to demonstrate the technology and the third Experimental Permit request using the same booster configuration. The requested demo will build and operate up to five new on-channel FM boosters, and to originate limited programming on these boosters for 90 days.

Because 47 C.F.R. § 74.1231(i) prohibits FM boosters from originating programming, RRB also requests a waiver of this rule for the duration of the experimental authorization for purposes of conducting the demonstrate. RRB intends to use the experimental authorization to conduct and evaluate the simultaneous broadcast of unique non-commercial programming targeted to discrete audiences located within the boosters' limited-service areas. Specifically, RRB intends to target the broadcasts to appeal to specific diverse audiences encompassed within the boosters' service areas without creating harmful interference to any broadcaster. RRB will utilize the services and ZoneCasting technology of GeoBroadcast Solutions LLC ("GeoBroadcast") to conduct this demonstration, under the direction and control of RRB.

In a reply to comments filed on Friday, March 12 with the FCC, Steven Roberts wrote in strong support of the notice of proposed rulemaking (Docket No. 20-401, RM-11854) regarding the capability of FM radio stations to geo-target content using boosters.

"As a station owner and minority broadcaster in a market filled with stations owned by media conglomerates, my business is at a constant disadvantage," wrote Roberts. "I am always looking for ways to strengthen my station. I hope and believe this FCC is also interested in doing what it can to support minority- and women-owned businesses. If it truly is, then it should support this proposed rule."

Roberts took time in his comments to challenge the NAB's characterization of opposition to the rule change by minority broadcast owners, and said that he, "totally disagreed" with the association's claim that there were "unintended consequences" for minority broadcasters -raising the specter of larger stations encroaching on our service areas, and advertisers refusing to buy advertisements in minority areas."

With his rich, decades-long history of creating broadcast programming and minority employment in underrepresented urban communities throughout the United States, Roberts slammed the NAB in his two-page reply to comments. "I find NAB's naked speculation disturbing. In my opinion, the proposed rule change would give minority broadcasters a way to compete, a way to offer better service to their specific communities, a way to promote localism and advance the public interest."