The FCC says there was no reason to block construction of an FM in Haiku, Hawaii by Big Island Broadcasting.
Big Island won the permit to build KRYL (formerly KUHI) at auction in 2004. The CP authorized directional operation on an existing master antenna shared with several other FMs.
Big Island notified the FCC in 2008 the station went silent and asked for a Special Temporary Authorization to remain off the air until the station was moved and a new main studio completed. The station went back on the air in January, 2009.
Big D Consulting opposed the CP, and asked the FCC to reconsider the grant, saying the grant precluded its plan to upgrade its station KNAM(FM).
Big Island disputed Big D’s standing, arguing that even if the station had not been built, Big D would still have had to protect the Haiku, Hawaii, allotment. In its reply, Big D clarified that the Haiku allotment would not have affected its plans but protecting the station’s authorized transmitter site would.
Big D argued that Big Island failed to satisfy the spurious emissions condition because it did not submit actual measurements, only an engineer’s certification that the spurious emissions requirements had been met. The broadcaster also suggested that the antenna proof of performance submitted with the application was “seriously flawed.” Big Island said its proof of performance was not flawed and the commission has previously accepted “other spurious emissions certifications in lieu of the underlying measurement data,” according to the FCC’s account.
The commission said Big D didn’t show there was an error in the original decision nor raise new facts. The agency denied the petition for reconsideration. In the meantime, Big Island sold the station, now KRYL, to Hochman Hawaii Five in 2011.
