NorthEast Radio Watch 2/4: The FCC Caves

[Scott D Fybush <fybush@world.std.com>]

*It's rare that we lead NERW with national news instead of a local
item, but the FCC stunned us just moments after last week's issue went
to press with an unbelievable about-face that's left us with little
doubt about what LPFM will really sound like, if it isn't stopped dead
in its tracks by the pending NAB lawsuit.  

You'll recall that last week's NERW editorial hailed the FCC's ruling
in the WQEX/Pittsburgh case as a milestone development with potential
to stop the unbridled spread of "noncommercial" religious FM and
translator networks around the country, to the detriment of would-be
LPFM applicants, whose new stations have to protect existing
translators.

Well, it wasn't much of a milestone.  Almost from the moment the
ruling was issued, the religious broadcasters began beating the drums
loudly against the FCC.  We saw a "news" item on Pat Robertson's CBN
News that more or less claimed that the FCC was trying to wipe out
religious radio and TV (which of course it wasn't; the ruling
never would have affected any commercial religious broadcasters and
didn't even explicitly apply to radio at all).  Then the politicians
came on the scene, flooding the FCC with concerned letters and phone
calls -- and, in the words of Commissioner Gloria Tristani (our new
hero here at NERW Central), "this supposedly independent agency has
capitulated to an organized campaign of distortion and demagoguery."

What the FCC did was to vote to vacate the "guidance" provided by the
WQEX decision, eliminating any ability in the future to cite the
concerns expressed in WQEX as a consideration in other noncomm
matters.  Still not clear?  Check out the concurring statement from
Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth: "(T)here should be no doubt that
the Mass Media Bureau is unauthorized to engage in any formal or
informal practice of directly reviewing the substance of stations'
programming...in order to obtain licensing approval."  

In short, it's up to the broadcaster to act responsibly.  In a sane
world, we'd be standing up in cheering -- but this is the world of
broadcast deregulation at the turn of the century, and anything goes.

As an example, we offer the "Family Worship Center," licensee of WJFM
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  In the week after the FCC gave the green
light to LPFM, knowing that existing translators will receive
protection from LPFMs while future ones won't, WJFM filed for, by our
count, 130 translators in just about every corner of the country.
WJFM may get this week's coveted Spectrum Hog award, but it's hardly
alone.  KAWZ Twin Falls, already the nation's biggest translator
primary, applied for 14 more; Educational Media Foundation (the K-Love
folks) applied for 9; and Broadcasting for the Challenged and the
Calvary Satellite Network decided to shoot for new primaries instead,
with BFC filing for four new stations and CSN for seven (several of
which would be in New England...read on below for the details).  

The point here is this: The FCC has rolled over and pretty much
admitted it's not only willing to let the big religious broadcasters
get away with a massive grab of the limited noncomm spectrum, but it's
also shown by its actions that it will cave readily to any pressure
from the religious broadcasters' cronies on the Hill.  Don't expect
anything different from LPFM -- *if* it survives the NAB (see
"Spectrum Hogs," above) and *if* there are any frequencies left after
the onslaught of translator applications over the next few weeks.  

You can check out the FCC's decision at
<http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Orders/2000/fcc00025.txt>,
and you can see a sampling of the past week's translator apps at
<http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2000/db0202/pnmm0008.txt>
if you have the stomach.  And before we get on with the rest of the
week's news, a reminder -- again -- that NERW is not opposed to
religious broadcasting in general, just to the idea that ANY
broadcaster is entitled to the huge chunks of spectrum being carved
out by the biggest translator abusers.  

Off the soapbox we go...and on to:

*MASSACHUSETTS, where things are settling in at Boston's newest
talker, WMEX (1060 Natick).  Already home to many former WRKO (680)
hosts, WMEX added one more this week: Tom Irwin, aka "Tai," joined the
station as a fill-in host.  And while WRKO might be worried about
WMEX, it apparently has nothing to fear from the new FM talk entry; it
seems WTKK (96.9) didn't break a 1 share 12+ in the latest Boston
ratings, while WRKO was strong and news/talk WBZ led the book.

Down the hall at Alex Langer's other Boston-market station, WJLT (650
Ashland) received some good news from the FCC: it's been approved to
go to 2000 watts daytime, directional from the five towers of the WBPS
(890 Dedham) array in Ashland. Langer says the move will give WJLT a
very usable signal in downtown Boston, something it doesn't have with
its present 250 watts from the WKOX/WMEX sticks in Framingham.  

Speaking of WKOX, we have word of yet another power-increase plan from
Framingham's AM 1200.  It seems WKOX wants to move to the current WUNR
(1600 Brookline) site on Saw Mill Brook Parkway in Newton, blasting a
full 50 kilowatts (by day, anyway) down the road into Boston.  We're
still waiting for the actual FCC filing on this; we'll keep you
posted.

The lawyers at WUMB, WZBC, and WBUR could be busy for a while: Those
applications from Educational Media Foundation for new religious FMs
included three in the Bay State: 91.7 in Lexington, 90.5 in Scituate,
and 91.7 in Gardner.  The Lexington one should be quashed by WUMB with
no problem; the other two may be a bit more difficult (in fact, 91.7
was used in Gardner over at the community college for a while, albeit
before WUMB put 91.9 WBPR on the air in Worcester).  We'll keep you
posted...

The Cape and Islands will have to wait a few more weeks for the debut
of the new public radio station down there; WNAN (91.1 Nantucket)'s
sign-on has been pushed back to March from the original January 31
target.