The FCC has dismissed three LPFM applications filed by Arizona’s Gila River Telecommunications due to attributable interests in the for-profit LPTV stations the group operates.
Gila River applied for the stations in Stotonic, Blackwater and Komatke during the 2023 filing window. The group describes itself as an “instrumentality” of the Gila River Indian Community, which is an Indian reservation in Pinal County, adjacent to the southern side of the cities of Chandler and Phoenix.
FCC rules state that nonprofits and government entities with a public safety purpose may apply for multiple LPFM licenses. Otherwise, nonprofit applicants are limited to one LPFM license and up to two FM translators that may rebroadcast the station.
(Read the commission’s ruling on Gila River Telecommunications’ LPFM applications.)
Additionally, no entity can be granted an LPFM license if it holds an attributable interest in any other non-LPFM station.
Multiple waiver requests
Gila River sought three separate waivers in each of its applications. The first concerned second-adjacent short-spacing. The second was to declare the group’s status as a “government-owned entity” that is not a government in and of itself. The third — and according to the commission, the most important — was a waiver of its cross-ownership prohibition.
Gila River is the licensee of four LPTV stations: KGRX(LD) in the Gila River Indian Community, KGRQ(LD) in Stotonic Village, KGRF(LD) in Maricopa Village and KGRY(LD) in the Gila River Indian Community. The group did not pledge to divest these licenses before operating its LPFMs, according to the commission.
Gila River justified its waiver request by stating the LPFMs would fulfill the FCC’s mission for the service by establishing public safety radio broadcasts that deliver weather information and alerts on natural disasters. It also said the stations would serve the Gila River Indian Community lands, which would align with the FCC’s goals for LPFMs to support tribal areas.
Rocket Radio’s objections
In November, Rocket Radio Corp., which operates two FM translators near Phoenix, filed an informal objection to Gila River’s Komatke application. It challenged two of Gila River’s three waivers, first arguing the group’s nonprofit status. Rocket Radio noted in an ownership report Gila River filed in 2023 for its LPTV stations, the group certified that it was a “for-profit corporation.”
Rocket Radio also pointed out that Gila River’s website indicates commercial offerings such as telephone and high-speed internet service, as well a partnership with Verizon for mobile phone service in the I-10 corridor between Phoenix and Tucson.
Second, Rocket Radio objected to the waiver of the cross-ownership rule, citing Gila River’s LPTV ownership.
According to the FCC, Gila River did not file any response to Rocket Radio’s objections.
The FCC’s decision
The commission upheld Rocket Radio’s objection regarding the cross-ownership rule and dismissed each of Gila River’s LPFM applications. It stated that allowing an LPFM applicant to hold both commercial LPTV licenses and licenses in the noncom-only LPFM service “could set a precedent potentially opening the door to incursion of for-profit broadcasters” into what it had “clearly” established as a noncom service.
[Related: “FCC Turns Down LPFM Application for Page, Ariz.”]
The FCC said Gila River failed to provide any documentation establishing nonprofit status and said that the group had tried to rely on a report and order in which the FCC would consider suitable waivers for Tribes — if the applicant could demonstrate that its purpose aligned with the commission’s mission for the LPFM service.
“We find that this would not advance the commission’s LPFM goals,” the Media Bureau wrote, adding that its rules specifically list the LPTV service as one in which an LPFM applicant may not hold an attributable interest.
The Media Bureau found the rest of Rocket Radio’s objections to be moot. Because Gila River had listed itself as a for-profit corporation in its 2023 biennial ownership report, the commission said its ruling was clear.
“Given our conclusion that Gila River is a for-profit entity, we cannot grant the requested cross-ownership waiver,” the FCC wrote.
As a result, each of Gila River’s three LPFM applications was dismissed.
