posted without comment
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On May 3 WCRSlp, Columbus's Ohio's only community radio station received some bad news from the FCC. Peter Doyle, the chair of the FCC's Audio Division issued a ruling requiring WCRS to reduce its hours of broadcast from 13/day to only 5/day. Whereas we had been airing Democracy Now in both drive-time slots now we are limited to just the hours of 3-8 pm. This has forced us to drop a number of Pacifica-syndicated programs including Uprising, Sprouts, Talk Nation, Informativo Pacifica, Building Bridges, and From the Vault, as well as putting a number of local program proposals on indefinite hold. Our relationships with our small number of underwriters (all locally owned , ethical businesses) and local grant-giving organizations will be strained, and our loss of listenership and revenue will be difficult to measure.
I'm asking for your assistance in the form of an e-mail response to the ruling using the FCC's public comments submission form (see link at the end f this messae - it will take you to a simple on-line feedback form.
Here's a brief bit of background;
WCRS is locked in to a "time-share" agreement with another LPFM that shares our frequency of 102.1 FM. When we first went on the air WCRS had 5 hours a day and the other station had only 2. The remaining hours were divided among three of the LPFM applicants, yet those hours remained silent as the other 3 applicants dropped out for various reasons, leaving just WCRS and the one other station. Negotiations between WCRS and the other station stalled for over a year as WCRS' diplomatic overtures, when answered at all, were met with threats and absurd demands by the other station. Eventually two of the non-participating licensees agreed to transfer (or "assign") their hours to WCRS. We applied with the FCC for this transfer following the FCC rules precisely, and the FCC quickly awarded the additional hours to WCRS. The other station did not protest during the 30 day public notice period which followed, but filed a complaint over 9 months later in retaliation during an impasse in our on-going negotiations.
The unexpected ruling from the FCC holds that the time share agreement between the original 5 participants prevents any of the 5 from "assigning their interests" to another party without the unanimous consent of the other 4, yet the FCC was aware of that agreement at the time they approved the transfer. The ruling turns the FCC in to an arbiter of civil contracts, which we feel, is beyond the intended scope of its authority. The ruling also reinforces a time share agreement in which 3 of the 5 original parties no longer have any interest or standing It also returns 8 hours of the broadcast day to silence, depriving the local community of a diverse array of valuable programming not offered by any other outlet in the signal area..
Please help us by writing to the FCC between May 7 and June 6 within the public comment window expressing your objections to this ruling.
Send your e-mail to the following addresses and to me at
[email protected]
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Be sure to include your name and address in full, and the file numbers DA 10-763 and 1800B3-MM and the call letters and facility number; WCRS facility # 132329
I'll do the work of sending each of your letters as a public comment. Sending them as e-mails is helpful, but we also want to have them entered in to the official record.
Please copy your letter and paste it in a separate e-mail to me so we can gage the response.
Thanks
Evan Davis, WCRS co-founder, veteran Pacifica volunteer
Here, for example, is what I wrote;
Dear Mr. Doyle et al, FCC Audio Division;
I am writing to object to your ruling issued May 3 affecting LPFM station WCRS in Columbus, Ohio ( facility # 132329).
In the 3 years since WCRS first began broadcasting, it has consistently offered unique and informative programming featuring views and information that are not found anywhere else on the airwaves in Central Ohio. WCRS has offered programming in 4 languages, serving immigrant populations in Columbus that have no other broadcast representation , and it has offered a broader variety of music and arts programming than any other station in the Columbus market. As such WCRS has been an invaluable resource, yet your ruling not only reduces the station, but returns 8 hours of the broadcast day to silence, thus doing our community a disservice.
WCRS gained the 8 hours in question after two other LPFM licensees chose to assign their hours to WCRS in recognition of the community service that WCRS was already providing. Proper applications were made in accordance with the FCC's rules and procedures and the FCC awarded the transfer to WCRS accordingly. The FCC was aware of the text of the "time share agreement" between the 5 original parties at the time it awarded the transfer , and the other surviving station, WCRX did not protest the transfer at the time despite having received notification through publication as required by the FCC. Nevertheless 3 of the 5 original parties collectively agreed to pursue the rassignment after the only other party with standing, WCRX refused to bargain in good faith. That decision, by a majority of the parties to the agreement to bypass the agreement clearly raises questions about the viability and enforceability of that agreement.
The time share agreement is a civil contract and, as such, it is not up to the FCC to enforce it. As a federal agency charged with regulating access to the public airwaves the FCC principle mandate is to safeguard the public interests in this area of jurisdiction. Those interests are better served through the kind of diverse, multicultural, educational programming offered by WCRS than by radio silence. Given the absence of any apparent interest on the part of the other station, WCRX , in utilizing the hours in questuion at the time WCRS applied for the transfer, and given WCRS' proven ability to broadcast during those hours with useful and engaging programs your May 3 ruling seems arbitray and hostile to th4e public interst.
For the reasons stated above I am urging that you reconsider the May 3 ruling.
Evan Davis
Columbus, Ohio
May 13 at 9:59pm
