The FCC has sorted out a mutually exclusive group of LPFM applicants in Puerto Rico and directed its three selectees to an involuntary timesharing agreement for their construction permits.
There were six different applicants for LPFM CPs filed during the December 2023 window that the commission considered in the MX group.
It applied standard tiebreaking procedures to tentatively select:
- Iglesia Generacion de Fuego, a religious organization based in Caguas.
- Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal La Gran Cosecha, a church based in Caguas.
- Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir Complices De Amor, a nonprofit organization in Cayey.
Caguas is approximately 15 miles south of San Juan, in eastern Puerto Rico. Cayey is approximately 11 miles southwest of Caguas.
The commission directed the applicants to submit a voluntary timeshare proposal. But a bevy of petitions to deny and informal objections against two of the applicants followed.
There was a petition for reconsideration filed by Ministerio Dios Cumple El Propósito En Mí, one of the applicants not selected — the commission ended up factoring this as a petition to deny.
Ministerio Dios Cumple and Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir — one of the selectees — each filed two separate petitions to deny against the Iglesia Generacion application, and two more petitions against the Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal application. Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir also filed informal objections against Iglesia Generacion and Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal, respectively.
Ultimately, the commission affirmed its tentative selections.
Non-selectee desires community presence
First, Ministerio Dios Cumple El Propósito En Mí filed what the commission determined to be a petition to deny against each of the three selectees. The group claimed it should receive a point for community presence based on evidence included in its application, which would put it back into the running for a CP.
To qualify for the point, Ministerio Dios Cumple needed to have been operating as a local entity since Dec. 15, 2021 — two years prior to the filing window.
Ministerio Dios Cumple submitted an affidavit stating it had provided services to the community of Bayamón since 2015. It also included a 2016 electric bill addressed to its president and a certificate of existence from Puerto Rico’s Secretary of State dated September 2023.
Only the certificate of existence met the commission’s requirements — and since it was issued just three months before the LPFM filing window, the commission found the group ineligible for the community presence point.
Ministerio Dios Cumple also argued that the commission was applying a double standard, since singletons are not required to prove community presence.
But the commission rejected that argument. Community presence is considered only in a tiebreaking scenario. An MX’d LPFM applicant “can still be the tentative selectee even if it was only incorporated days before filing the LPFM application, as long as it satisfies the LPFM eligibility criteria,” the FCC’s Media Bureau wrote.
First local service for Caguas
Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir and Ministerio Dios Cumple each filed petitions against the Iglesia Generacion and Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal applications. They both argued that because Caguas already has an LPFM station, the two applications do not serve the public interest. The groups also argued that applications to serve cities without any existing LPFM stations should be given priority.
The commission rejected their claims.
“There is no rule or policy that prioritizes first local service to a community by an LPFM station,” the Media Bureau wrote.
Lost in the mail?
Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir’s petition against Iglesia Generacion was sent to the group via USPS mail and was returned to the sender. As a result, Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir argued in its objection that Iglesia Generacion must have listed an inaccurate address in its application.
But the commission said physical mail may be returned for a variety of reasons and found no wrongdoing on Iglesia Generacion’s part.
The address on the envelope that Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir sent to Iglesia Generacion, the commission noted, appeared to be addressed to the wrong address in the first place.
In its objection against Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal, Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir argued that because Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal omitted asset percentages for three of its four directors, 50% of its asset ownership was unknown.
But the Media Bureau noted that Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal had amended its application in April to clarify that it had mistakenly listed its president as holding a 50% asset interest. In light of that amendment, the commission found no merit in Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir’s argument.
Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir also was concerned that Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal’s educational purpose included in its application was “too boilerplate.”
Originally, Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal said that it desired the LPFM to “predicate the evangelism of JesusCrist (sic) and promote his word thru acts along the entire island of P.R.”
But the commission found the statement suitable.
Three groups directed to involuntary timeshare
The Media Bureau denied each of the petitions and objections.
Ultimately, the commission affirmed Iglesia Generacion, Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal and Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir as the tentative selectees. Because the groups failed to submit a voluntary timeshare agreement, the Media Bureau requested preferred time slots from each. Preference is given to the applicant that has been local the longest.
Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal, local since February 2003, receives its preferred 10:00 a.m. to 5:59 p.m. slot. Iglesia Generacion, established in January 2019, gets its second-choice time of 2:00 a.m. to 9:59 a.m. Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir, established most recently, receives the 6:00 p.m. to 1:59 a.m. slot. The operating hours have been assigned to each applicant’s construction permit.
The three applicants wish to broadcast on 91.7 FM.
Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal La Gran Cosecha wishes to use the signal to broadcast religious teachings of its church to the Caguas community via an 100-watt signal.
Iglesia Generacion de Fuego applied to broadcast with three watts from approximately 550 ft. of height above average terrain and hopes to use the signal to assist more churches and organizations in Caguas.
Fundacion Hazlos Sonreir Complices De Amor seeks to use its signal to provide “continuous local programming to satisfy the best interest” of the community of Cayey, with a 100-watt signal there.
(Read the commission’s grant of the three LPFM construction permits.)
