The scheduling of "station identification" is part of managing a station's output.
Licensed radio stations are required to give call letters and location on the hour, but Part 15 stations have no I.D. requirement, for which reason my station does not air audible I.Ds.
But our audio also streams on the internet, and I've added something new as a form of station identification.
Online servers send out title/artist text which shows up on some players and gets listed on some directories.
To exploit this titling feature, which is a form of texting, I have added a 5-second silent audio track which contains the Title Line: KDX WORLDROUND RADIO and the Artist Line: Central North America. It is a silent text I.D.
TV stations have done much the same with visual IDs with no announcer.
I have a poster just up the street on the community mailbox and station I'Ds like "you're tuned to 90.7 commercial free oldies" etc. in the mix all the time.
Doing it legally as best as I can so nothing to hide.
I've been thinking of going to 89.9 and calling it oldies 89(sounds better). That would mean having to record a whole new batch of audible I'Ds so haven't done it yet.
Also as mentioned in an earlier post I once sent a little message about station in mail to the houses in the coverage area.
Mark
The "nothing to hide" claim is lame.
Hiding things is not criminal.
The 32nd Amendment gives us "The Right to Hide."
I hide all kinds of things, such as money and passwords.
With Part 15 radio there is no obligation to identify a station, and so the notion of "staying legal" is misplaced.
How hidden can a station be if it's on the dial?
Dial spelled backwords is laid.
Join the ALPB.
Well, if people don't know you're there no one will listen. No one just surfs the dial and comes across your small station. And, if they do come across it or see's the flyer then I want it to sound like a "real" station with a DJ and ID's.
Where I used to go to the cottage weekends I had a listener who had the radio on day and night and would never had known had I not told her.
Mark
Mark, don't get annoyed by me. I'm a digger and like to go deep down into the thoughts and ideas we take for granted.
The listener, of the kind we hope to attract with a small radio station, is a figment.
That listener cannot be accurately predicted.
If he or she tunes in and happens to like something at the moment, they will not evaluate what they hear by whether there are IDs on the hour. They probably don't know about such a thing.
They will only listen until they are bored or distracted.
They probably won't pay any attention to where the station was on the radio dial.
Listener psychology.
Further.
"Regular", that is, licensed stations, have very vague identification. Most of the hour they tend to be "The X" or "Meat 76". AT the hour they rush a legal ID "WPOG Oshkosh", intended for the FCC and not the audience.
Imitating such "real" stations might be lacking in originality.
ADDENDUM: After signing off I have logged back on with an additional way of viewing the subject...
IF part 15 stations are an improvement over licensed radio, why would we imitate licensed radio?
I once went to a party in Dade City back in my high power days (1watt) on FM. While there I found a guy who told me his dad listened to the Hour of Slack on FM. He was just tuning around when he found it. So it can happen.
The Hour of Slack no doubt attracted your listener because it is more interesting than anything on licensed radio.
But you could have spoiled the experience by not having an ID on the hour.
Having a Watt to hide.
I've always wanted to tuck Morse Code Station IDs into the audio.