FCC Rejects Appeal Of Emmis/Indianapolis And WKQX/Chicago License Renewals

Renewed

The FCC has once again denied DAVID SMITH and others' appeal of the grants of license renewals for EMMIS Sports WFNI-A (THE FAN), AC WYXB (SOFT ROCK B105.7) and Country WLHK (97.1 HANK FM)/INDIANAPOLIS and Classic Rock WWVR (105.5 THE RIVER) and Country WTHI (HI-99)/TERRE HAUTE and MERLIN (now CUMULUS) Alternative WKQX/CHICAGO.  

SMITH, PETER LABARBERA, KATHY VALENTE, ILLINOIS FAMILY INSTITUTE, and ILLINOIS Chapter of the CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA challenged the licenses and saw their Applications for Review dismissed in MARCH on the grounds that a consent decree with EMMIS barred further consideration of the alleged indecency violations, and that a suit by MANCOW MULLER against SMITH was outside the Commission's reach. 

The group then filed a Petition for Reconsideration on APRIL 7th asserting that they are "Christian and seek to defend traditional Judeo-Christian morals and virtues” and the rejection of their appeal violated their equal protection right by ignoring "criminal" violations by EMMIS while fining Christian stations for "relatively minor violations."

SMITH was a frequent critic of former WKQX morning man MANCOW MULLER when EMMIS owned the station.

The Commission also dismissed ENTRAVISION's petition for reconsideration of the grant of a new FM at AGUILA, AZ to ABLE RADIO CORP.  ENTRAVISION objected on the grounds that ABLE did not have reasonable assurance of the availability of its initially proposed site.  ABLE later filed to move the proposed site to TONOPAH, AZ and also filed for an involuntary assignment under Chapter 7 bankruptcy to trustee RODNEY D. TOW.

And the FCC denied RAWHIDE RADIO, LLC, CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING LICENSES, INC., CCB TEXAS LICENSES, LP, and CAPSTAR TX LIMITED PARTNERSHIP's Petition for Reconsideration of the denial of their proposal for allocation changes in TEXAS and the grant of a competing proposal by MUNBILLA BROADCASTING PROPERTIES, LTD. for a new FM at GOLDTHWAITE, TX.  MUNBILLA filed its proposal as a counterproposal to the allotment of a new FM at LLANO, TX. whereupon RAWHIDE and the CLEAR CHANNEL companies refiled a previously rejected series of changes that would have moved RAWHIDE's KQBT (now KAJZ)/LLANO, TX to a new frequency and changed the channel for a then-unbuilt station at INGRAM, TX.

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