In March, Cumulus Media cancelled the license of 97.5 WLAW(FM) in Whitehall, Mich. If that particular Class A allocation were to return to western Michigan’s airwaves, it will do so on a new frequency.
An engineering review by the Federal Communications Commission’s Audio Division revealed that the allotment faced several short-spacing conflicts: co-channel WKLT(FM) in Kalkaska at 101 miles, WJIM(FM) in Lansing at 111 miles and third-adjacent WLAV(FM) in Grand Rapids at 42 miles.
But staff analysis also found that a Class A on 99.5 can be allotted to Whitehall consistent with its minimum distance separation rules, provided a site restriction is placed eight miles northwest of the community. As a result, the division has moved the vacant allocation to that channel.
The filing window for 99.5 at Whitehall will not open immediately, the division said. Instead, the FCC will announce the application window in a subsequent order.
WLAW(AM/FM)’s former tower site was one of the leases Cumulus sought to shed as part of its prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Cumulus then filed for the FM’s cancellation on March 18.
In a separate action, the Audio Division deleted the vacant Class A allotment on 105.5 FM in Selmer, Tenn., which it had proposed earlier this year, as we reported.
The division proposed the deletion on its own accord after an engineering analysis determined the allotment was short-spaced to co-channel WVNA(FM) in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Selmer will continue to receive local service from WDTM(AM), WXKV(FM) and WWGM(FM), the commission noted.
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