Question for license loss

[ftballfan]

If a radio station gets its license cancelled and it happens to be the only station licensed to a community, does another station have to change its COL to ensure first local service? If not, should another station have to change its COL?

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

To the best of my knowledge, no. The license gets revoked, but the frequency is then left open as a possible assignment space for a new application, which doesn't necessarily have to be in that same COL. Of course, the new station's spacing requirements would have to be the same unless the new owners worked out an arrangement with the other stations in the region that would be affected and the FCC approves, but otherwise, the new station has no obligation to provide first local service to the previous station's COL.

 

[ftballfan]

There are a few potential examples of this in Michigan:
92.3 WBNZ Frankfort
99.3 WOUF Beulah
106.3 WMXG Stephenson

Neither of these three FM stations have been on the air on a consistent basis in over a year (a few years in the case of WMXG). All three are the only station licensed to those respective communities. I’m surprised the FCC hasn’t yanked these stations’ licenses yet.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

Interestingly, it would seem that this issue only came up with the Commission within the last five months or so. Apparently they had been allowing stations to broadcast only a few days each year so long as they were actually programming that time on the air in order to avoid license revocation, but they're now getting strict about it. So who knows? You might see those stations get a not-so-nice letter from Washington in the near future.