The Following Article is Reprinted from the April 9, 1973 issue of BROADCASTING MAGAZINE

Some time around Memorial Day, a new radio station will begin operation in the summer resort of Ocean City, MD. It will present a contemporary format aimed at the youth that each summer swell the city's population far above the 2,000 permanent inhabitants.

The station, WOCR (AM), will feature up-tempo, disk-jockey talk, a limited amount of local news and a public-affairs programming, and a commercial-time allocation competitive with the area's existing media. There will, however, be a significant difference between it and other stations in the area. WOCR will not broadcast in the conventional sense. Nor will it be subject to the regulations of the FCC. And when Ocean City's summertime population returns to its homes in Washington and Baltimore, WOCR's staff will be part of the exodus, leaving the station dormant until the warm weather returns

WOCR will operate on the low-power carrier current that for decades has been employed to provide short-range aural services to military bases, apartment houses and, most notably, college campuses. Essentially, the process works through the induction of a transmitted signal into the AC electrical system of a limited geographic area. The RF energy is carried along the electrical lines and can be picked up by an AM receiver tuned to a set frequency that is plugged into the system. The "bonus" for the carrier-current operator comes through leakage of the RF energy through electrical wires, making possible reception of the signal by AM radios (including transistor models) situated near the affected electrical wires. It is this leakage, according to WOCR's organizers, that will make the operation viable in Ocean City.

WOCR will operate on 650 khz, a clear channel, which, in compliance with FCC guidelines covering operations of this sort, will permit leakage to a point about 230 feet fro the power source. That distance approximates the width of the beach at Ocean City, which will be WOCR's primary target area.

To relay its signal along the length of the beach front, WOCR will employ a series of 11 compact 25-w transmitters which will be placed on existing utility poles. The signal will be fed via phone lines to the transmitters from a central studio location.

WOCR is the brainchild of Dan Mayer, a 23 year old student of communications at the University of Maryland, who says he came upon the idea while researching a course project in which he was required to design a "paper" radio station. Together with two fellow Maryland students, Jerry Cesak and Greg McMurry, Mr. M<ayer formed Maximedia Inc., the corporate entity that will operate WOCR. For the past several months, the three have been commuting regularly between Ocean City and College Park, site of the University, meeting with local businessmen, conducting engineering surveys. They have received the endorsement of Ocean City's city council and a number among the more enthusiastic supporters Harry Kelly, the city's mayor.

Messrs. Mayer, Cesak and McMurry are not strangers to broadcasting. Mr Mayer is currently a part-time announcer at WINX (AM) Rockville, MD, and Mr Cesak formally worked in the same capacity at WASH (FM) Washington, Both men have been associated with WMUC the carrier current station on the Maryland campus. Mr. McMurry has don production work at the University's Radio-TV workshop.

Mr. Mayer will act as WOCR's General Manager, Mr. Cesak is Program Director and Mr. McMurry, Business Manager. They plan a staff of six and to transmit from 9 AM to midnight each day during the summer.