The FCC Media Bureau has affirmed its decision to cancel the license of WNJC(AM) in Washington Township, N.J, after discovering that the station had been silent for more than a year.
Despite a petition for reconsideration filed by the station’s license holder, Forsythe Broadcasting LLC, emphasizing increasing economic challenges facing AM stations and asking for allowances due to extenuating circumstances, the commission chose to rescind the license, saying the licensee’s arguments were moot.
WNJC, formerly WWBZ, served southern New Jersey and southeastern portions of the Philadelphia radio market since 1946. After going off air in 2023, the FCC canceled its license in May 2024.
Background
Forsythe Broadcasting filed its application for renewal of WNJC’s license on May 27, 2022. On March 26, 2024, the bureau issued an Operational Status Inquiry (OSI) letter in which it informed Forsythe that WNJC’s license may have expired because the station had apparently been off the air for more than a year.
The commission said Forsythe did not file a request for Special Temporary Authority for the station to go silent, and bureau staff learned about the WNJC’s silence through internet postings.
Under the Communications Act, if a broadcast station “fails to transmit broadcast signals for any consecutive 12-month period,” its license expires automatically at the end of the period. However, in special circumstances, the commission may extend or reinstate a station’s license in order to “promote equity and fairness.”
On May 10, 2024, Forsythe filed a response to the bureau’s OSI Letter in which it admitted that the station had been silent since March 2023, and requested a waiver. Forsythe argued that the expiration of its lease agreement for its transmitter site, its inability to secure an alternate site and disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic justified WNJC’s extended silence, and that it still qualified for license renewal under the “equity and fairness” allowances of the Communications Act.
Arguments
According to the FCC, in its initial response, Forsythe cited “various, unrelated” commission proceedings in support of its renewal request. For example, it briefly referenced a statement from a 2017 filing window focused on facilitating AM radio service revitalization, as well as the Radio Duplication, the Revitalization of AM Radio Service and the Rural Radio proceedings.
In its response, Forsythe claimed that “the commission has long noted the unique technical challenges that confront AM broadcasters.” Specifically focusing on the Radio Duplication proceeding, Forsythe also contended that “the commission has further noted the economic challenges faced by AM stations, and how those hardships were exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.”
In accordance with all of these proceedings, Forsythe concluded that the commission should exercise its authority to extend its license “in the interests of equity and fairness” and grant its license renewal request.
Later, in its petition for reconsideration after the FCC chose to rescind WNJC’s license, Forsythe reiterated the above arguments. Its attempts to prove that the period of extended silence was due to circumstances beyond its control, however, ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Denied
The bureau responded to each item cited by Forsythe, emphasizing that the Revitalization of AM Radio Service proceeding does not provide a reason to exercise discretion under the Communications Act. It also concluded that neither the Radio Duplication proceeding nor the Rural Radio proceeding serves as a basis for such relief.
Separately, the bureau declined to exercise discretion on the basis of disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, or on the grounds of financial hardship.
The FCC said it has exercised its authority to reinstate an expired license to “promote equity and fairness” only where the station failed to provide service for 12 consecutive months due to compelling reasons beyond the licensee’s control.
The bureau rejected Forsythe’s argument that it had “diligently attempted to find replacement locations” for a transmitter site. Instead, the bureau concluded, “Licensee provides no documentation or evidence to support its assertions that it has looked for a new site, nor does it present evidence that it plans to actually resume service.”
Further, the commission said it consistently declines to reinstate licenses where the licensee failed to transmit a broadcast signal due to the “licensee’s own action or inaction, finances or business judgments.” The commission determined that Forsythe had failed to demonstrate the station’s silence is the result of circumstances beyond its control.
Accordingly, Forysthe’s petition for reconsideration is denied, and the FCC upholds its decision to rescind WNJC’s license.
Read more about the FCC’s decision here.
