R.D.P. said:
King said this was done without his permission and he did not give approval.
47 CFR 74.1284 - emphasis added:
(b) The licensee of an FM translator shall not rebroadcast the programs of any FM broadcast station or other FM translator without obtaining prior consent of the primary station whose programs are proposed to be retransmitted. The Commission shall be notified of the call letters of each station rebroadcast and the licensee of the FM translator shall certify that written consent has been received from the licensee of the station whose programs are retransmitted.
The consent does not have to be filed with the FCC (although it can be as Exhibit 4 of the License to Cover application) but one of the specific questions that the translator owner signs off on is:
Programming. The applicant is the licensee of the primary station or the applicant certifies that written authority has been obtained from the licensee of the primary station whose programming is to be retransmitted.
Mr King's signature (electronic) appears on the application you linked to earlier in the thread that listed WHPH as the station being translated.
This seems to be a one man thread ... and a little hard to follow. Here is what has been made public at the FCC (working backwards):
On 12/4/2007 (expiring 12/4/2010) the FCC accepted and approved a minor change to a licensed facility for W232AN 94.3 Selma, AL. This application, signed by Rev King, was for a 205w at 12m station rebroadcasting WHPH, Jemison, AL.
On 5/4/2007 the FCC accepted a letter of consummation for the sale of W232AN from The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.
On 11/15/2006 the FCC approved the assignment of license for W232AN from The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago to Grace Baptist Temple (Selma AL). On that application it was stated that the assignee (new owner) would retransmit WMBV, Dixon's Mills, AL. The purchase price was $10,000.
On 12/9/2004 (expiring 12/9/2007) the FCC approved a minor change to a licensed facility for W232AN 94.3 Selma, AL. This application, signed by a representative of The Moody Bible Institute, was for a 250w at 28m station rebroadcasting WMBV, Dixon's Mills, AL.
On 2/21/1997 the FCC approved the license renewal for W232AN.
On 1/4/1993 the FCC approved the initial license for W232AN.
On 7/13/1992 the FCC approved the initial construction permit for W232AN.
The initial station was 41w at 52m with a directional antenna.
There is no record of the station being silent (if it has been silent it should have been filed as such with the FCC). So at this point:
W232AN should be on the air with it's original licensed location, directional antenna and power.
The 12/9/2004 CP could have been left to expire without losing the station. It remains at the old location.
The 12/4/2007 CP replaces the 12/9/2004 CP ... and expires in three years.
Unless there is some pressing need to get off the current tower there is no pressing need to build at the new location. There is no pressure from the FCC as long as W232AN stays on the air. If W232AN chooses to leave the air (for good cause) they can remain off for up to a year if need be.
Note: I'm not your FCC council. Don't take this as legal advice of ANY kind! It's not wrong, but if the FCC took issue with any action based on this post I'm not going to be responsible!
