A construction permit for a new LPFM station has been granted to a church in Taunton, Mass., after the FCC dismissed a petition against its application.
House of Worship applied to broadcast on 96.5 FM during the 2023 filing window. It is also known by its Spanish translation, Casa de Adoración.
The church was part of a mutually exclusive group in the filing window that also included Foxboro Cable Access, a nonprofit that operates three cable TV channels on Comcast and Verizon in the town of Foxborough – the home of Gillette Stadium.
The FCC applied its usual tiebreaking procedures to select an applicant, and House of Worship emerged as the tentative choice.
Petition cites localism requirement
Foxboro Cable Access subsequently filed a petition to deny the church’s application. Foxboro argued that the nonprofit did not demonstrate a valid community presence, stating that the church’s supporting documents focused on its relationships in Taunton and its placement in the Providence-Warwick-Pawtucket market, rather than the area near its proposed antenna site.
The church proposed an antenna site just west of Raynham Center, Mass., in Bristol County.
Foxboro claimed that it was not readily ascertainable from the church’s exhibit whether its board members or headquarters were within a 10-mile radius of the proposed antenna site, as required by FCC rules.
The cable access group argued that, as a result, House of Worship’s claim for the community presence point was no stronger than its own.
It then argued that it should prevail based on longevity — having been established in 1982, compared to 2007 for the church.
The FCC didn’t buy Foxboro’s argument.
The commission noted that House of Worship is incorporated in Massachusetts and listed the addresses of its four board members as valid documentation.
(Read the commission’s ruling on LPFM MX Group 49.)
While the commission acknowledged that House of Worship focused on Taunton rather than the exact site of the proposed antenna, it said this did not disqualify the church, since that is where the church’s headquarters is located and where three of its four board members reside.
Raynham, the commission noted, is only four miles from Taunton.
The commission wrote that “some flexibility in the type of documentation” an applicant may provide is permitted, and it found such flexibility warranted here.
“Unlike (the church), Foxboro failed to submit a timely filed exhibit supporting its claim of one point for established community presence and, as a result, the commission was correct not to award Foxboro a point for this criterion,” the Media Bureau added.
Taunton construction permit granted
As a result, it is House of Worship that receives the LPFM CP for Taunton.
Its 96.5 application is to broadcast with 100 watts ERP. The church also filed for a second-adjacent waiver with respect to Boston’s 96.9 WBQT(FM).
House of Worship said it intends to use the LPFM for Christian-related programs, teachings, music and news.
