The FCC has announced updated tentative selectees after analyzing three mutually exclusive (MX) groups for noncom educational FM construction permits filed in 2021.
Selectees in Group 93, 95 and 200 were first announced in November 2021 with a 30-day filing period opened for petitions to deny these applicants.
Both a petition and an objection were filed against the Group 93 selectee; and an application for review challenging the best technical proposal tiebreaker was submitted in Group 200. As a result, the Media Bureau needed to reanalyze the selectees in the two groups. Meanwhile, it reanalyzed the Group 95 selectee following the initial selectee’s withdrawal.
Petitions and objections are critical to fairly selecting applicants in MX groups. The commission says it relies on applicants’ documents for initial selections and does not conduct further verification, noting “the bureau and the commission rely on the petition to deny process to verify the accuracy of the points claimed and certifications.”
MX Group 93 — Wisconsin
The Media Bureau used the third tie-breaker in the MX point system for the first time ever to tentatively select Optima Enrichment, Inc. in Group 93, which consisted of four applications in Wisconsin. The third tie-breaker examines prior NCE FM applications. To qualify, an applicant must show it applied for a CP in a previous filing window and had its filing processed but dismissed in favor of an applicant possessing more points in a tie. The applicant must also have been a legal entity since the prior filing window and not hold any other NCE CP or license.
Waterloo Christian Radio Corp., which lost to Optima Enrichment in the tie-breaker, filed a petition to deny Optima’s application. It argued Optima did not timely support its claim regarding its previous CP filing. REC Networks also filed an informal objection, noting Optima should be ineligible for the third tie-breaker because it was granted two CPs in the 2007 NCE filing window. One of the CPs was assigned voluntarily and the other was cancelled.
Optima Enrichment responded in opposition, stating it timely certified the third tie-breaker criterion. However, the commission determined that, while the group certified its qualification, it did not timely submit supporting documentation, which automatically disqualified the group from the category. Even with timely submission, the commission noted, Optima would not have qualified for the tie-breaker as its 2007 NCE FM application for Delafield, Wis., was dismissed based on a fair distribution of service analysis, not in a superior points or tie-breaker standing.
The commission also reviewed another contention from Waterloo Christian. It sought to reevaluate the technical analysis portion of the MX point assessment because of attributable interests of the winner of the category, Community Public Radio Inc.
If Community Public Radio’s application was dismissed, this could have given Waterloo Christian two points, making it the tentative selectee. But the commission denied the claim.
The result in Group 93? Optima Enrichment and Waterloo Christian end up in a tie. This means they are co-tentative selectees of the group and, within 90 days, must create a voluntary time-sharing agreement.
This means the groups would share 91.5 FM, each operating Class B1 FM signals. Optima Enrichment’s facility would be located in Delafield, while Waterloo Christian’s signal would be in Ixonia, Wis. The communities are about 30 miles west of Milwaukee. If they cannot reach an agreement within 90 days, the groups would be subject to mandatory time-sharing.
MX Group 95 – Indiana and Kentucky
This group originally included seven applications in the Ohio River Valley of Indiana and Kentucky. After a successful 2022 petition to deny, World Federation of Pastors and Ministers of the Full Gospel Inc. was the tentative selectee. However, the group withdrew its application. Four remaining applicants proceeded to a point system analysis.
In its evaluation of each applicant’s attributable radio station authorizations, the Media Bureau found New Beginnings Movement Inc. had fewest, with six, making it the new tentative selectee. New Beginnings seeks to operate a Class A FM signal on 88.5 from Seymour, Ind. A 30-day window for petitions to deny against the application is now open.
MX Group 200 – Texas
In southeast Texas, four applications were evaluated and Vida Ministry Inc. was named the tentative selectee. Call Communications Group, which lost out to Vida in the first tie-breaker, filed a petition to deny in 2023. It argued that two of the other applicants in the MX group, Christian Ministries of the Valley Inc. and CCS Radio Inc., included areas of the adjacent Gulf of Mexico in their coverage area calculations. Under the best technical proposal analysis, applicants can receive up to two points for proposing service to the largest population and area, excluding significant water areas. Without the water areas, Call Communications claimed it would be eligible for two points.
The Media Bureau partially granted Call’s petition, agreeing the two applications had incorrectly calculated their coverage areas. However, it stated the recalculated results did not automatically make Call the new selectee, as no applicant qualified for the best technical proposal category.
Call Communications filed a petition for reconsideration, further arguing the two applications included incorrect population data claims because of the coverage miscalculations. The commission denied this claim.
Call Communications then filed an application for review this past February. It argued that, since the Media Bureau concluded the two applicants’ technical calculations were incorrect, “the only valid action should have been to reject and dismiss both applicants’ technical claims,” therefore resulting in Call winning the technical proposal category. It argued the Media Bureau overstepped by adjusting the claims. But the commission reiterated the importance of the petition to deny process and said the corrected information because of Call’s initial petition merely helped it ensure a complete and accurate comparison in the technical analysis category.
Call’s application for review was dismissed, affirming Vida Ministry’s CP grant in Group 200. Vida seeks to broadcast from a Class A signal on 88.9 FM from Central Gardens, Texas, near Port Arthur.
(Read the FCC memo and order on the consideration of the three MX NCE groups.)
