Industry News

Life is feeling a bit less beautiful for a permit licensee in California who had its construction license revoked after building at an unauthorized site and operating without FCC approval.

It was back in 2015 that Foundation for a Beautiful Life obtained a permit to construct a new a low-power FM station in Cupertino, Calif., with an antenna mounted on an existing electric distribution tower operated by the local gas and electric company. The bureau gave FBL until May 19, 2018, to complete construction on KQEK(LP). One day before the deadline, FBL certified that the facility had been constructed as authorized.

[Read: Felony Conviction Leads FCC to Consider Revoking Station License]

But several individuals submitted petitions stating that no LPFM communications equipment had been installed at the site. It turned out that the constructed facilities were actually located at a private residence in Saratoga, Calif., about 3.5 miles from the approved site. In addition, the facilities varied from the specifics approved in the permit, which called for using an existing 30-meter tower at a tower height above average terrain (HAAT) of 93 meters and with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 0.01 Watts. Instead it turned out that FBL installed a new 6.1-meter pole at the Saratoga site with a HAAT of 358.3 meters and an ERP of 0.001197 Watts.

FBL said that the discrepancy resulted from a miscommunication with its engineers. It then filed a modification application that sought to formally move the location to the Saratoga site. The Media Bureau denied this request, however, due to noncompliance with a second-adjacent channel distance separation rule.

FBL sought reconsideration of that decision; again the bureau demurred by dismissing both the license application and the modification petition. FBL compared its situation to another station, KM Radio of St. Johns, in which the commission waived rules specifying permit expiration, issued a monetary penalty and allowed the applicant to correct a construction error.

In the KM Radio case, however, a simple surveying error resulted in construction of a facility that was only about 900 feet away. That’s not the case with FBL, the bureau said, since FBL built its facilities 3.5 miles away — and with a different tower height and operating power than were approved by the bureau.

“The bureau found the [FBL case] to be more like cases in which permittees did not merely miscalculate but, rather, took affirmative steps to construct facilities not specified in an existing permit,” the commission said in its order. “Those cases had resulted in automatic permit forfeiture in accordance with governing commission rules, statute and case law.”

Even though FBL said that its programming would provide a critically needed resource for the Asian-American community, the permit was automatically forfeited on May 19, 2018, because the authorized facilities had not been built as specified. “The potential diversity benefits of FBL’s intended programming for Chinese-American listeners did not warrant a different outcome because all applicants, including those with diverse audiences, must comply equally with our rules.”

[Read: FCC Paperwork Confusion May Cost R.I. Broadcaster]

FBL continued to file reconsideration petitions and supplements, including a request for special temporary authority (STA) to broadcast pandemic-related information in Mandarin. One of those supplements revealed that the station went ahead and broadcast from the Saratoga site before receiving permission from the Media Bureau. FBL also asked the bureau to apply newly revised rules LPFM technical standards to its case and shared letters from the local community expressing support for the station’s operations.

But the commission sees broadcasting without authority as a significant error and the bureau ordered FBL off air on April 16, 2020, with a cease order and several reminders: the request for the STA is defective and FBL did not have the right to broadcast; FBL would have to show that it operated without authority on any future LPFM applications (effectively disqualifying FBL from LPFM service); and for the next 10 years, any principal of FBL would need to inform the bureau that it had been handed a cease order.

The station was taken off the air on April 20, 2020, while FBL continued to argue its case, asking the bureau to delay the cease order and contending that the order didn’t actually require FBL to stop broadcasting.

That’s when the Media Bureau sent the case to the commission for review. The commission responded by dismissing FBL’s supplements and denied its applications for review.

The commission said the Media Bureau was right to pull FBL’s license application after learning it constructed facilities at an unauthorized site. The commission also said that it would not apply newly revised LPFM rules to this case (since the commission stated in that rulemaking that the new rules would not apply to cases in which the agency had already issued a decision). The commission chastised FBL for operating before it had authority and dismissed FBL’s request that the commission delay implementation of the cease order. “FBL was operating as a pirate,” the commission said.

While the commission acknowledged FBL’s claims that the station would bring critical programming to the Chinese-American community and that pandemic-specific broadcasts would provide Mandarin speakers with important health information, “[these claims] do not outweigh our statutory responsibility in preventing unauthorized broadcasts,” the FCC said.

As a result, the commission dismissed and denied all applications for review, all supplements and the motion to stay — effectively cancelling FBL’s permit application and deleting the call sign of KQEK.

The post Call Sign Deleted, Permit Revoked After LPFM Construction Snafu appeared first on Radio World.

Finally. After months of questioning from across Washington, D.C., the White House on Tuesday formally nominated Jessica Rosenworcel to serve as the first woman to officially serve as Chair of the FCC. At the same time, President Biden selected Gigi Sohn to serve as a Democratic Commissioner.

While Sohn’s nomination will certainly trigger Republican opposition, Democrats in the District of Columbia were pleased to learn of Sohn’s selection.

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President Joe Biden has announced his intention to renominate acting Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel as a member and chair of the agency, and to add Gigi Sohn as the third commissioner.

Sohn’s appointment is a breakthrough nomination as the first LGBTIQ+ member of that agency.

“From fighting to protect an open internet, to ensuring broadband access for students caught in the Homework Gap through the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund, to making sure that households struggling to afford internet service stay connected through the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, she has been a champion for connectivity for all,” the White House said of Rosenworcel. “She is a leader in spectrum policy, developing new ways to support wireless services from Wi-Fi to video and the Internet of Things. She has fought to combat illegal robocalls and enhance consumer protections in our telecommunications policies.”

Sohn was hailed as a defender of “fundamental competition and innovation policies that have made broadband Internet access more ubiquitous, competitive, affordable, open, and protective of user privacy.”

The White House also pointed out that if she is confirmed, as she is expected to be “the first openly LGBTIQ+ commissioner in the history of the FCC.”

From 2013 to 2016, Sohn was counselor to former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, where she evangelized for network neutrality rules based on Title II of the Telecommunications Act, classifying them as telecommunications services subject to regulation.

Before joining the FCC, Sohn was co-founder and CEO of Public Knowledge. She was also executive director of the Media Access Project.

“Chair Jessica Rosenworcel and commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Gigi Sohn will create an FCC ‘dream team’ that can implement a progressive telecommunications policy agenda for the coming decades,” said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior counselor, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and a former colleague of Sohn’s at Media Access Project. “As Gigi’s colleague for a decade, I may be accused of being biased, but that proximity also gives me confidence that the team of Chair Rosenworcel and Commissioners Starks and Sohn are likely to make major advances in promoting widespread and affordable wireless and wireline broadband deployment, media diversity and an open internet … Jessica has carefully and successfully met the challenge of managing a divided FCC over the last nine months [and] Gigi will be able jump right into the job, and the Senate should confirm her right away,” he said.

The post Biden Renominates Jessica Rosenworcel to FCC, Gigi Sohn Also Gets Nod appeared first on Radio World.

Since September 2020, he’s been a Senior Advisor at the Mozilla Foundation, the entity that brought internet users the Firefox web browser.

His past experience includes roles as Director of Digital Economy for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and from 2005-2012 was an Americas Director of Public Policy for Google.

If Congress says yes, he’ll become the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington last worked.

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Among the more colorful entrepreneurs in broadcast media is Frank Copsidas, an individual well-known across New England who is now leading the recently launched LPTV Broadcasters Association. 

Copsidas has bought and sold many LPTVs. Now, he’s spinning a property licensed to a town of less than 2,000 in the Deep South. The buyer? Gray Television.

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Is a bumpy road ahead for broadcasters across the rest of the Biden Administration, now that Jessica Rosenworcel is set to officially become Chairwoman of the FCC and Gigi Sohn, a “net neutrality” champion, is the White House’s nominee to become the fifth Commissioner?

There’s already chatter Inside the Beltway about what could come for the Rosenworcel Commission — or, perhaps, what won’t come. Ahead of his exclusive Forecast 2022 appearance, BIA Advisory Services Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Dr. Mark Fratrik shares his views on whether or not “regulatory burdens” seen under the Wheeler Commission could come back. Deregulation? Don’t count on it, he says in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Dr. Mark Fratrik, BIA” on Spreaker.

Antenna and RF systems manufacturer Dielectric has announced the appointment of Daniel Bizet to international sales manager.

Bizet was most recently with Broadcast Electronics as a Latin America sales manager.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

His focus at Dielectric will reflect his past life and work experience by centering on Latin and South American sales. Bizet spent much of his life in Venezuela.

Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Bizet Joins Dielectric appeared first on Radio World.

Not long ago, the term “survival” was a distant thought. Now it’s difficult not to think about it several times daily. We must continually consider how we survive this terrible pandemic both physically and financially. We must plan carefully now for the future.

Being local is no longer an option for terrestrial radio. The choice is to be local or to risk irrelevance. As listening habits continue to shift toward more time spent with Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, podcasts and other choices, being a radio station without localization is a long-term losing proposition.

Where’s the local opportunity?

[Read: Take Time to Renew Relationships]

The most obvious is in news, talk and information. It may be difficult for programmers under 40 years old to remember local news on anything other than an actual full-time local news station, since consolidation has unsparingly wiped out local news on music stations.

For the most part, these had been inexpensive news operations; often the “news department” was one dedicated staff member and a few part-timers.

When they were eliminated, local newspapers initially filled the void. But then so many newspapers folded that it left hundreds of towns — especially those without TV stations — with little to no local news.

However, some local news websites, often based on formerly printed publications, survived; and we have seen radio stations partner with or buy these local news websites and then promote and sell advertising in combo.

This is a great plan if you’re able to replicate it.

There is an opportunity in many cities to bring local news back to radio, especially during drivetimes. There is no reason why your :60– to :90–second local newscasts can’t be recorded slightly in advance of use to maximize your sole reporter’s time.

Another strong option continues to be the talk/news hybrid with local hosts. If you don’t think the talent is out there, I refer you once again to the relatively new “Clubhouse” app, where thousands of hosts are honing much of the same skill set required for local talk radio.

When a radio station pursues a news, talk or information agenda, it is a gathering place for community. This leads to loyalty, which is any station’s key to success. Another understated benefit is that when people listen to spoken-word programming — even when it is part of a music station — it is not usually heard as mere background; rather, it engages actively, a huge benefit to local advertisers who are counting on people to hear their messaging.

Who is consistently the top-billing radio station in America? It’s WTOP, the all-news station in our nation’s capital. Other success stories include Trenton’s NJ101.5 in the talk/news format since 1990, when Walt Sabo not only innovated localization, but also convinced ownership that it belonged on FM.

And for those who think this can’t work in a small- to medium-size town, check out KXRA in Alexandria, Minn., with a county population of 36,529. The “Voice of Alexandria” has local news and sports, a daily updated event calendar, an on-air “Swap Shop” and a strong, locally focused website. And it’s all supported by enthusiastic hometown advertisers.

To be clear, this is not about positioning statements. If you say “we’re local radio” but don’t actually deliver the goods, you will not win fans. This proposition is for courageous programmers and owners who realize that it’s past time for radio to return to its roots in localization.

The post Bring Back Local News appeared first on Radio World.

BALTIMORE — Sinclair Broadcast Group has awarded scholarships to seven university students as a part of its annual Diversity Scholarship program.

Having provided more than $100,000 in tuition assistance during the last six years, the scholarship program aims to invest in the future of the broadcast industry.

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There’s a new Market Manager overseeing a 50kw Class A AM in Chicago, a station that was once the legendary WCFL.

At the same time, the station’s current owner, Good Karma Brands, has selected a Market Manager to lead its Madison, Wisc., operations.

Now leading WMVP “ESPN 1000” in Chicago, starting Nov. 1, is Keith Williams. As Market Manager, Williams will be responsible for overseeing the station’s sales, marketing and content strategy and execution.

Williams is a 22-year veteran of the company and has spent time managing ESPN Cleveland and ESPN Madison, as well as the company’s Mid-Atlantic digital markets.

Speaking of Madison, that’s where Tom Olson will become Market Manager on Nov. 1, replacing Williams. Olson has held a variety of roles throughout his career at Good Karma Brands, including managing the company’s business development team, and most recently as the Director of Sales & Marketing at ESPN Madison.

Olson began his career with Good Karma Brands in 2011 as an intern.