Re: R I G H T!
Well here we go........my first post in a long time. This is a big hot button for me. The fact is, the FCC is FINALLY beginning to inch forward on just the tip of the stack of Auction 84 applicaitions. The KBBW (Waco-Marlin to just Waco) grant is an example of just how ridiculously slow this process is. All KBBW asked for was to drop Marlin from its dual city of license. This will allow it to make some daytime improvements (and perhaps even some night changes as well). No fuss, no deeply entangling technical issues...and N O T H I N G from the FCC for more than TWO years! Shameful! Meanwhile, there are nearly TWO THOUSAND applications still sitting with nothing happening. It's no wonder that they say, "at the FCC, a year is as a day." At this rate, it will be another five to seven YEARS before all these applications are disposed of. That's right, the year 2011 or even 2012 to act on applications filed in January, 2004. There might be a slower, more expensive, less efficient way of doing things but I can't imagine what it would be.
The current auction plan is resulting in reports that the Commission's staff is getting a MONTH further behind in processing applications for each WEEK that goes by. This may seem unbelievable but given the history that has been established since the auction process went into place more than six years ago, it's probably accurate. FCC Docket: 05-210 which proposes to make "City of License" requests a MINOR change as opposed to a MAJOR change (which will include FM rulemakings that now take up to two years or more) will help if it is adopted but that rulemaking has been pending since last June and no one knows when it will be acted upon.
You mentioned a couple of other interesting local applications. First, Roy Henderson's KNUZ moving from Bellville to Katy. That application is D E A D and will not happen. Here's why:
On March 21st, in a letter signed by Mass Media Bureau Chief Peter Doyle, the FCC dismissed a similar application for station WLDR licensed to Kingsley, Michigan [Ironically, owned by Roy Henderson as well] (population: 1,469) which proposed to change the station's city of license to Garfield Township, Michigan (population: 13,840). WLDR AM is the only station licensed to Kinglsey. Garfield Township is part of the Traverse City, MI metro (ARB Market #209 with a pop of 194,000). The letter stated that Henderson's proposal for WLDR did not pass Section 307(b) muster in that it would deny Kingsley its already licensed First (and only) Service. The letter stated in part: "While Garfield Township is unquestionably the larger community, and would be preferred if this were a comparison between proposals for new service, this in and of itself does not justify the change of community of license that would deprive the community of Kinglsey of a radio service...."
The "Bigger City" justification was used in a large number of proposed moves in this auction and this letter serves notice on virtually all of those applications which still await action (see above) that they will be dismissed........which includes Henderson's proposed move from Bellville (population: 3,378) to Katy (population: 8,005). Besides, Henderson still has many wolves at the door visa vie KNUZ. There were a number of Petitions to Deny his license renewal last year (which is still pending) from folks in Bellville who feel they haven't been very well served by their local radio station (go figure......the station has been off the air more than it has been on the air for as long as Henderson as owned it).
The application you mentioned on KHCB from Galveston to League City is interesting in that if granted, it will be one of only a handfull of DIRECTIONAL Class "C" (the old Class IV) stations in the country. The old Class IV's are 1230kHz, 1240kHz, 1340kHz, 1400kHz, 1450kHz, and 1490kHz. KHCB of course, is on 1400kHz and is the old KILE of decades ago. This station had a rich history and was the original station for several Houston radio personalities including the likes of Pat Fant of KTRH/KLOL (and lately, Cumulus) fame. This is perhaps the most interesting proposed AM move since 1560khz and 900kHz both arrived 1997. It will be interesting to see if this Directional Antenna is granted.
Incidentally, neither the KRCM move from Beaumont to Shenandoah nor the KHCB move from Galveston to League City are implicated in the same 307(b) problems as KNUZ because they each propose to move stations from cities with multiple stations licensed to them (Beaumont: 12 stations before, 11 after and Galveston: 3 before and 2 after) to cities that currently have no "local" service.
And finally..................will everybody PLEASE.....finally forget the application for 1210kHz in Bay City? That application was filed as part of the break up of the clear channels (NOT Clear Channel the company) way back in 1982. It conflicted with an application on the same frequency down in the Valley at San Juan. The San Juan application won out and eventually became KUBR AM. For reasons unknown to me to this day, the 1210kHz application at Bay City became stuck in the FCC's database and stayed there for nearly two decades. I just checked the FCC's Audio Division AM database and it is no longer there.
Ironically, there is an AM application that is active in Bay City. It specifies the facilities of the old KFCC on 1270kHz. Remember, KFCC was the station that had its license yanked after the licensee got into a catfight with the Commission over relicensing the station to Missouri City. Big FCC won the fight, little KFCC is gone. Never a good idea to take a knife to a gunfight.
This application is also very interesting in that it conflicts with a MINOR CHANGE application by 1280kHz, KWHI in Brenham prior to the Auction 84 deadline to increase power to 10,000 watts and install a directional antenna system that would put a 5 mV/m contour over most of Houston. These minor change applications were supposed to be protected by Auction 84 applicants but there is a twist here that would make for one more interesting chapter in the 1270 @ Bay City saga. The applicant for the "new" station on 1270kHz in Bay City has filed a Petition to Deny the KWHI application and stands on a unanimous vote of the full Commission in the KFCC case to preserve the 1270kHz allocation to Bay City. The Bay City applicant says Auction 84 was the first opportunity for anyone to apply for the old KFCC facilities. He says KWHI should have known of the preservation of the 1270kHz allocation at Bay City and should have protected it with their application. As a result, he claims he is first in line to use the spectrum ahead of KWHI. Might work. Looks like KWHI may be the loser here.
There..............I've vented...........I feel much better.
