Liberal vs conservative talk radio, is it worth fighting over? Michael Crute and Frank McCoy think so. According to NorthPine.com, the feud started when McCoy, owner of translator W277CV Waukegan, and Crute, owner of progressive talker WRRD(AM), a daytimer on 1510 Waukesha, jointly filed a construction permit to move the signal into Milwaukee on WTMJ(TV)’s tower.
W277CV had been originally licensed for a small coverage area along the state line. The move would enable the translator at 103.3 MHz to broadcast with 250 watts nondirectional at 244 meters above average terrain, putting a substantial signal into the Milwaukee market. Then, McCoy signed a contract with Scripps to rebroadcast conservative Milwaukee talker WTMJ 620 using the same translator.
Crute quickly objected, claiming his pre-existing agreement with McCoy to rebroadcast his signal on the translator. Crute further claimed that since a “Mattoon Waiver” had been used to get the original construction permit, the specified input signal, in this case, WRRD, could not be changed for four years.
In his recent Facebook post, Crute notes this is also a battle between ideologies, “Clearly, this is a battle worth waging for WRRD, for broadcast viability, but also for progressive, independent, and nonconservative voices.”
According to NorthPine.com, FCC records indicate the application to switch to WTMJ was dismissed last Friday at McCoy’s request.
