CC's Attempt To Change The Table Of Allotments - 3 Years Later!

[TheBigTymer]

I saw a post below that reminded me about this:

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In 2002, Clear Channel put up a proposal to move 104.1 (then KFXN, now KSTE) closer to Baton Rouge on a smaller tower. They'd change the city of license to Gonzales, and market it as a Baton Rouge station only.

Of course, they wouldn't abandon a signal in New Orleans, of course! They'd move 103.7 WUSW all the way from Hattiesburg! The station would stay at 103.7, but the COL would be Westwego.

The argument was that both Gonzales and Westwego would have their first aural services, and Houma and Hattiesburg were properly served already, so any loss of these signals wouldn't be a problem.

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Guaranty Broadcasting filed a motion to reject this move. In fact, they offered a counterproposal of their own. They'd change the city of license for 100.7 (then WTGE, now WYPY) to Gonzales, thus establishing the first aural service for Gonzales (which would negate Clear Channel's argument).

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This all pretty much laid dormant for a couple of years, and rumors were that this move wouldn't take place. However, more filings were filed with the FCC on this earlier this year.

The first was from Clear Channel. In fact, they somewhat agreed with Guaranty! They said that Gonzales COULD have two stations. However, they (CC) said that they would get first preference because they filed first. Guaranty has a response on the FCC files for this proceeding, but someone at the FCC messed up and linked the wrong file.

In fact, CC had an unlikely ally file a filing: Larry Blakeney, who owns a cluster in Hattiesburg. Blakeney basically begged the FCC to approve CC's move, saying that they had an unfair competitive advantage in Hattiesburg.

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There's been nothing said since, so what happens next? This could get interesting.<P ID="signature">______________

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.thebigtymer.com>The BigTymer </a>
</P>

 

[WBWorld]

What is happening right now is that the two parties have
until September 19 to negotiate a settlement. It's part
of the FCC window going on right now to dispose of these
things. This situation has been discussed many times on
this board as the allocation effects several other stations
in the state and currently is holding up several proposed
moves. We'll see if C.C. can throw enough cash at Guaranty
to make them go away or if they stand their ground. If they
don't settle, it will continue be sit there until the FCC
rules on it. The new proposed rule changes will actually
make that type of move easier. Once adopted you'll see a
lot more moves.