The latest round in a back-and-forth surrounding interference complaints from a full-power station near the North Carolina/Virginia border has resulted in a Federal Communications Commission order for the translator in question to shut down for now.
We’ve covered the interference complaints that stem back to the fall of 2024 from Lakes Media, the owner of Class C3 98.3 WLUS(FM) in Clarksville, Va. Its antenna is located just across the North Carolina state line in Granville County.
After Lakes Media’s first interference complaint, the FCC ordered same-channel W252EL(FM), a 150-watt “Rock FM” translator licensed to Cary, N.C., to go silent until it could implement a directional antenna pattern that avoided overlap with the WLUS 45 dBu contour.
The owner of the translator, Curtis Media, said it did so, and it returned to the air last September under program test authority. Curtis filed an application for a license to cover the new facility.
Lakes Media President Tom Birch quickly filed an opposition, arguing the application should be denied because WLUS was again suffering harmful interference.
The parties went back and forth some more. Curtis Media alleged that Birch repeatedly suggested paying $500,000 to settle the matter, “indicating that profit motives, not the interests of its listeners,” underpin Lakes’ interference allegations, according to the commission’s account.
Then in November, Birch and Lakes filed 10 listener complaints within WLUS’ protected 45 dBu contour, each plotted on a map, as well as signal strength data from each listener location.
“After enduring this three times since 2016, I am outraged that there are no FCC provisions for interference violators to be liable for reimbursing all of the expense incurred by the injured parties,” Birch told Radio World.
Birch ventured that Lakes Media spent “tens of thousands” of dollars in legal and technical expenses in trying to prove the interference.
Curtis argued that the latest exhibit was invalid because, among other reasons, nine of the listener complaints were clustered around the immediate neighborhood of Birch’s Raleigh-area residence.
“While the commission’s FM translator interference complaint process requires complaints to be from ‘separate receivers at separate locations,’ the commission surely did not envision ‘separate locations’ to mean more than a half-dozen houses in the same compact subdivision,” Curtis wrote.
The translator owner also argued those complaints should have been originally included in Birch’s 2024 filing. It further argued that its new antenna pattern, in terms of interference, was not being properly considered without the use of higher resolution terrain samples.
But the commission rejected Curtis’ argument about terrain accuracy and said that there is no rule or precedent supporting its claim “that listener complainants may not be clustered in a single neighborhood.”
All told, the Media Bureau found the latest evidence from WLUS compelling. While it cautioned Lakes and Birch against any possible abuse of process arising from financial settlement, it said that WLUS could not have collected the second round of listener complaints regarding the new pattern until it was actually on the air.
It found the complaints valid and, as a result, the Cary translator must shut down immediately. Curtis must first demonstrate, prior to any operation or processing of its new application, that it has resolved all listener complaints submitted by Lakes Media.
Radio World has also invited comment from Curtis Media.
The Federal Communications Commission has sent a notice of unlicensed operation in the 11 GHz band to an internet service provider in the Sierra Nevada foothill region of California.
Conifer Communications is an ISP based in Groveland. The FCC said it was transmitting on 10.915 GHz for over a year after its license had expired.
That part of the radio spectrum is allocated by the commission for common carrier and fixed point-to-point microwave operations.
The San Francisco office of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau said that it received a complaint of an unlicensed station operating atop Moccasin Peak.
Last September, according to the commission’s account, agents confirmed that Conifer Communications was transmitting with a license that expired in February 2024 and had not been renewed.
The Enforcement Bureau warned that operating radio transmitting equipment without authorization is a violation of federal law and could subject Conifer to monetary fines and seizure of the equipment.
Conifer Communications must discontinue operations immediately and must not resume. It also has 10 days from the date of the notice to respond with any evidence that it has authority to operate.
Before it grants the renewal of an AM station’s license in the Mississippi Delta, the FCC has entered into a consent decree with the owner of the station, which includes a voluntary contribution of U.S. $1,000 to the Department of Treasury, following several rules violations.
960 WABG(AM), “The Awesome AM,” in Greenwood runs 1 kW during the day from one tower and 500 watts at night from three towers. Bennie Wells is the station owner, listed officially under SPB LLC.
WABG filed for its license renewal in 2020. Following its application, one individual filed a petition to deny — which the FCC ultimately considered an informal objection — and another person also filed an objection.
The contentions centered on a transfer of control of the station back in 2015 that both parties argued WABG did not properly document with the commission.
After reviewing the case, the commission did find that an unauthorized transfer of control occurred when the interests of WABG’s two other members were acquired by Wells without prior approval.
It also found that WABG violated rules by failing to upload quarterly issues/programs lists in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
WABG also falsely certified on its renewal that it complied with public inspection file and biennial ownership reporting requirements, according to the commission.
As a result, the FCC and WABG have entered into a consent decree under which the station agrees to implement a compliance plan to ensure the station and staff follows the commission’s rules.
WABG will also make the voluntary contribution of $1,000 to the Department of the Treasury.
If the contribution is paid and the Media Bureau finds no other violations, the FCC said it will grant WABG’s license renewal.
WABG runs a Mississippi Delta blues and classic rock music format.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr speaks with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) after attending the presentation of the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the East Room of the White House on March 20. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Federal Communications Commission has made changes to its rules that ease some restrictions on broadcasters and eliminates others.
The revisions include removing the minimum AM power increase limit and extending technical special temporary authorities up to 180 days.
While Carr celebrated the removal of approximately 1,100 rules during his time as chair, he also indicated the commission is not nearly finished with its efforts.
“On deck for 2026 is licensing and permitting reform, eliminating unnecessary paperwork and smashing technological silos that have held back innovation for decades,” Carr said in a statement.
Of the three FCC commissioners, Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty unanimously approved the order.
Commissioner Anna Gomez concurred and dissented in part, stating, “as I have expressed before, I am sincerely concerned about the direct final rule process the commission has been using to eliminate rules.”
The changes also remove the ten-application cap adopted for the 2021 noncom educational FM new station application filing window; and codifies the definition of an authorized station, which LPFM applicants must protect, to include both licensed and granted construction permits.
The FCC voted to update its rules for AM station power increases to eliminate the requirement that stations request at least a 20% increase in nominal power; and update AM station classifications to conform to current classifications used in the Class B and Class D definitions.
The commission said that the National Association of Broadcasters supported the changes and agreed they would offer increased flexibility to AM stations, helping them achieve required community of license coverage.
The commission modified sections of its rules to state that an LPFM submitting an application a filing window for a new construction permit or modification of an existing LPFM authorization must protect FM, LPFM and FM translator applications filed prior to the release of the public notice announcing the filing procedures.
It also clarified that a public notice, which simply announces an upcoming filing window, would not terminate protection requirements for prior-filed applications.
In addition, the commission said it will remove language from its rules that limit an initial STA necessitated by technical or equipment problem to a 90-day window rather than the full 180-day period permitted for STAs for other reasons.
According to the order, NAB agreed that the change reduces burdens on both applicants and FCC staff. In addition, the comments of the licensees of 10 public broadcasters concurred that their stations would greatly benefit from the extension of this STA term. They also asserted that the period is more realistic given the time it takes to procure and replace technical equipment.
The order also stipulated that moving forward, the FCC will replace references to the bureau’s legacy CDBS electronic filing system with references to its new LMS electronic filing system. The commission said that it is making the change since it no longer updates CDBS, and users are instead required to use LMS to search for and file applications and pleadings.
Here is a summary of other rule changes adopted by the commission that affect broadcasters:
Change table of assignments/allotments references
The FCC adopted the proposal in the NPRM to update inconsistent terminology in rule references to the tables governing FM and TV allotments by changing references in certain sections to correspond with the standard language used in others.
The commission noted that in its comments, REC Networks considered the proposal noncontroversial.
Elimination of the NCE FM window application cap
The commission said it will eliminate language concerning the 10-application cap on the number of applications each applicant could submit in the 2021 NCE FM filing window. The FCC acknowledged that several applications remain pending from the 2021 NCE FM window.
It will delegate authority to the Media Bureau to effectuate this change and remove section the cap “upon resolution and finality of the remaining NCE FM applications.”
Revision of the signature rule
The FCC adopted the proposal to expand the definition of who may sign an application on behalf of a corporation, a partnership and an unincorporated association to include a “duly authorized employee.”
Additionally, in light of commenters’ requests, it will codify the term “duly authorized employee,” but the bureau to interpret the term “employee” broadly, as circumstances may require to take account of all types of employees.
Local public notice requirement after acceptance for filing
The order codified the established practice concerning when applicants for new NCE FM, NCE TV or LPFM construction permits must give local public notice of their applications.
It also clarified that the NPRM did not propose any new or additional local public notice obligations on parties.
The Media Bureau will be directed to update LMS to display the date an application is “accepted for filing.”
Redesignate renewal application petition to deny rule
The commission proposed to consolidate the rules for filing petitions to deny against license renewal applications into one rule section, and it adopted the measure finding that “moving all of the petition to deny rules into section will assist licensees and members of the public in complying with the rules.”
The FCC declined codify the existing interpretation of its rules that LPFM minor change applications received on the same day will be treated as simultaneously filed and, if mutually exclusive, directed to use engineering solutions and good-faith negotiation to resolve the mutual exclusivity. It said commenters gave conflicting responses to its benefits.
It also declined to make any changes to its informal objection rule. Currently informal objections are not required to be served upon the applicant, according to the FCC, which often leads to considerable inefficiencies in the resolution of contested proceedings.
Additionally, its current informal objection rule contains no restriction on the number or type of pleadings that can be filed in response to an informal objection, and provides no pleading deadlines.
However, the FCC said disagreement among commenters on how to proceed led the commission to decide to adopt any specific changes at this time.
The Federal Communications Commission has sent a notice of licensed operation and harmful interference to an amateur radio operator in Pittsburgh regarding transmissions on a 911 emergency services channel from a handheld transceiver.
Last summer, the FCC received a complaint from Allegheny County, Pa., Emergency Services concerning interference with one of its UHF “T-Band” emergency communications channels.
The interference affected the county’s west EMS dispatch channel on 470.4375 MHz.
On July 30, 2025, agents from the Columbia Office of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau conducted an investigation and determined, using direction-finding techniques, that the source of the interference was a signal emanating from the residence of David Kundston, a licensed amateur radio operator with the callsign KD3ASC.
After the agents notified Kundston of the issue, he produced a Baofeng BTech UV-Pro handheld radio.
The BTech UV-Pro Tan edition lists for approximately $165 on Amazon. It is capable of transmitting on the VHF and UHF amateur radio and private land mobile radio bands.
An examination of the radio by the agents determined it had been programmed to monitor the Allegheny County channel in question, and its “audio relay” feature had been activated.
This feature takes audio traffic from one channel and retransmits it on another.
He surrendered the radio to the agents, and they verified that the interference to Allegheny County’s system had ceased, according to the FCC’s account.
Radio stations, including those operating at 470 MHz, must be licensed with the FCC, with the only exception being operation at a power level in accordance with Part 15 of its rules.
The UV-Pro is not certified as a Part 15 device, according to the FCC’s Office of Engineering Technology’s 2024 grant of equipment authorization for the device. It is certified as a Part 90 device, rated for up to seven watts of transmitting power — far above Part 15 power limits.
No person shall interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of a licensed station, according to FCC rules.
Kundston must respond to the Enforcement Bureau within 10 days of the notice, describing the steps he is taking to avoid operating on unauthorized frequencies.
Lest you think the FCC isn’t paying attention these days to technical rules for broadcast stations, here’s an instance that suggests otherwise.
The Enforcement Bureau has sent a notice of violation to Morris Broadcasting Co. of New Jersey, owner of gospel-formatted WIMG(AM) in Ewing N.J., and of four towers that make up its directional array in Washington Crossing, Pa., just across the Delaware River.
FCC agents inspected the station in May and August of last year. According to the commission’s notice, they found several issues.
The four towers had red beacons at the top but side markers were at the wrong heights, placed at the mid-level of each structure, not at the one-third and two-thirds levels as required.
Also, some of the antenna lighting was not operational in May, and at least some of the obstruction lighting still was not working in August.
The FCC said Morris did file an FAA notice to aviators (NOTAM) about the outages but failed to renew them later (an FCC agent did so).
Also, the rules require that antenna towers with radio frequency potential at the base must be enclosed but allow access to the bases for technical and maintenance purposes. The agents said the denseness of brush and vegetation on the property prevented ready access to the bases of all four towers.
The rules also require that in most cases, antenna input power of an AM station must be maintained as near as practicable to the authorized antenna input power and may not be less than 90 percent or greater than 105 percent of authorized power. But during the May inspection, the agents said the station was operating with 900 Watts during the daytime, 28.1% of its authorized 3200 Watts.
Last, during the May visit, the agents said WIMG’s EAS equipment would not power on.
Now the FCC has asked the station for additional information concerning these alleged violations and any remedial actions it has taken. The licensee must submit a written statement within 20 days.
Radio World reached out to the station and will report any comment for this story.
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The commission calls its plan a historic expansion and opportunity for educational and community broadcasters, though one advocacy group says it doesn’t do enough for low-power FM stations.
The plan would permit noncommercial FM, LPFM and noncommercial AM licensees to apply for FM translators operating in the reserved band, 88.1 to 91.9 MHz.
The FCC has said its proposal balances providing more access for noncommercial broadcasters with the need to guard against possible abuse. It proposes a cap of 10 applications per licensee.
Here’s a summary of three filed comments.
LPFM-AG
The Low Power FM Advocacy Group, headed by Dave Solomon, told the commission that the window is welcome but too restrictive.
“The proposed window is confined to Channels 201–220 only. That is the narrowest slice of the FM band and the portion reserved for noncommercial educational FM service,” Solomon wrote.
He said the window risks becoming a “paper opportunity for LPFM” since the commission proposes to leave in place a set of LPFM-specific translator limitations that are “unusually restrictive.” As a result he says the opportunity for LPFMs in this plan is “largely illusory.”
He identified technical barriers for LPFMs as well.
“Those limitations include the 60 dBu overlap requirement, the direct over-the-air input rule and the 10-mile/20-mile siting rule.”
Solomon also says the growth in the number of NCE stations in recent years reduces the number of channels available.
The FCC also proposed a cap of four applications for tribal applicants and two for LPFMs.
According to Solomon, “The better approach would be either to permit four applications for all LPFM applicants or to adopt a neutral standard under which additional LPFM applications may be justified by terrain, rurality, dispersed market geography, insular location, lack of usable reserved-band channels or service to underserved populations.”
He also recommends the FCC implement a one-year holding period on assignments and transfers to discourage “trafficking” of new authorizations.
REC Networks, founded by Michelle Bradley, has taken an active interest in the plan.
According to an ex parte filing, Bradley met in January with several leaders of the Audio Division of the Media Bureau, including Division Chief Albert Shuldiner, to discuss it.
In her filed comments, Bradley told the FCC the national cap of 10 applications seems appropriate and is the same as prior noncommercial filing windows in 2007 and 2021.
However, Bradley warns of potential loopholes that could lead to manipulation of the filing system.
“Specifically, we are concerned that an applicant can intentionally file for a new FM translator to rebroadcast their own station and then immediately change the primary station to a different non-commonly owned station and eventually assign it to a different party based on a pre-planned arrangement,” she wrote.
“This vulnerability is very concerning to the integrity of the strict rules that are being put in place.”
Bradley would go further to prevent potential gamesmanship, proposing a condition that within the first four years of licensed translator operation, the primary station designation can only be changed to another broadcast facility that is commonly owned by the translator permittee/licensee.
Meanwhile a full-service NCE licensee is urging the commission to expand the cap from 10 to 30 applications.
Cedar Cove Broadcasting says a smaller cap could force applicants to focus on large markets instead of rural areas.
“With the proposed 10-application limit to established NCE FM broadcasters, it will most likely limit potential new service to rural areas as NCE FM broadcasters will need to choose between filing applications for larger populated areas and these smaller areas,” the broadcaster told the FCC in a filing by President Victor A. Michael Jr.
Cedar Cove, licensee of eight full-power noncommercial stations and eight translators, says it has done preliminary potential channel availability studies for new NCE FM translator stations and has found available spectrum in most of the top 150 metro markets.
It also would reduce the planned cap for LPFM licensees from two applications to one, due to the limited number of opportunities in larger populated areas, which in turn would give established full-service NCE AM/FM stations a greater opportunity for these new potential NCE FM translators.
It said that even limiting LPFMs to one application could allow an existing LPFM station to potentially double its population coverage area, because those stations are limited to a maximum of 100 wats effective radiated power, whereas new NCE translators can operate with up to 250 watts ERP.
The FCC also plans to limit eligibility in the window to existing licensees and permittees, which drew broad support from commenters.
No dates for the filing window have been announced.
Other filers include Ted Schober, Kyle Magrill, the Educational Information Corp. and Charles De Caro. You can review the filings at https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings. Enter 26-20 in the “Proceeding” field.
A Virginia low-power FM must take steps to avoid violating the FCC’s underwriting announcement rules for noncommercial broadcasters. But it will keep its license.
This decision regarding WXRK(LP) in Charlottesville is one of a series that originally involved five LPFMs that participated in an unusual joint marketing arrangement.
Their “coop” prompted a license renewal challenge in 2019 from Saga Communications, which owns several stations in the region.
Saga asked the FCC to deny their license renewals based on several allegations, as we’ve reported, with the coop arrangement a central part of the case. Saga called it “an elaborate sham designed to give the appearance of compliance … while operating a commercial enterprise.”
Two of those stations are no longer active, with one having gone silent in 2020 in part because of the resulting financial strain, according to a local news report.
A third licensee agreed in 2024 to pay a $1,000 penalty and received a shortened license renewal. The fourth signed a consent decree last year without a financial penalty and won a full-term renewal.
Now comes the decision for the fifth.
Details
Blue Ridge Free Media is licensee of WXRK and operates on 92.3 MHz in Charlottesville. It broadcasts a rock format known as Rock Hits 92.3.
Saga Communications, through its Tidewater Communications subsidiary, alleged that the station was broadcasting commercials regularly. It also contended that WXRK was not conforming to its educational purpose and was part of an operating agreement that is prohibited by FCC rules.
Blue Ridge disputed the allegations and in turn claimed that Saga was abusing the commission’s processes in an attempt to eliminate competition.
As in the other cases, the FCC acknowledged that the LPFMs had entered into “highly unusual” agreements by forming the Virginia Radio Coop and using Experience Media and Experience Sales to sell underwriting announcements.
The FCC said it has reviewed these agreements to ensure that they do not create common ownership or control of any stations, which would violate LPFM license restrictions.
It noted that the LPFMs had formed the coop in part to share a transmitter site, antenna, studio and office facilities. The commission agreed that this was “unconventional” but it found that the coop was similar to a shared services agreement.
“The coop operating agreement itself does not contain any provisions that allow the coop to control the programming, personnel or finances of any station operated by its members that are commission licensees,” it found.
But as in the other cases, the FCC also expressed unease, saying such agreements created possible conflicts and that the case “identified issues” that it would look closely at should similar cases come up in future. “We remain troubled by this type of arrangement,” it wrote.
Blue Ridge did admit to airing announcements that failed to comply with the underwriting laws. It agrees to name a compliance officer, implement a compliance plan and file updates with the FCC. It avoided a financial penalty by showing that it did not have means to pay one.
The FCC did not accept other assertions by Saga or find that WXRK’s actions merited an end to its license. But it rejected Blue Ridge’s argument that Saga was misusing commission processes to eliminate competition to its stations.
Nick Langan’s reporting contributed to this article.
The recipient of a construction permit to build a low-power FM station on 99.5 MHz in Miami, Fla., has fought off a challenge at the FCC.
The case involves a group of mutually exclusive applications submitted in the FCC’s 2023 filing window for new LPFMs.
Originally there were five applications in this MX group. Two dropped out by making changes to their applications and becoming “singletons.”
The FCC then applied its “point system” analysis to the remaining three, and it chose two, tentatively deciding that La Familia De Fe Corp and Doral Voice Corp. should submit a voluntary time-sharing proposal.
But each raised concerns about the other.
La Familia and REC Networks argued, among other things, that none of the headquarters addresses in the DVC application and filings with Florida’s secretary of state were within 10 miles of the proposed transmitter site as required by LPFM rules.
Meanwhile Doral Voice told the FCC that La Familia President Rodolfo Martinez had engaged in pirate broadcasting by already broadcasting on 99.5, a frequency time-shared by WHIM(LP) and WBUJ(LP), and that he or his company exert control over WHIM and may have an undisclosed attributable interest in it.
The Media Bureau subsequently awarded a CP for WFRH(LP) to La Familia and rejected the Doral Voice application.
But Doral Voice then asked the bureau to reconsider the dismissal.
Among other reasons it said it subsequently had relocated its headquarters; that Rodolfo Martinez or La Familia really had engaged in unlicensed broadcasting and continue to do so; and that Martinez’s company was fully in control of WHIM.
The FCC Media Bureau now has rejected its reconsideration petition.
For one thing, it cites a precedent that an applicant may not “sit back and hope that a decision will be in its favor and, when it isn’t, to parry with an offer of more evidence.” It said Doral should have raised its localism defense earlier.
But the bureau also decided on separate grounds that the Doral petition was “meritless and repetitive.”
On the issue of local eligibility, the FCC says Doral Voice had “amended its application more than one year after filing the original DVC application, and well after the filing deadline.” So Doral Voice was not local at the time of filing the initial application, as required.
As to the La Familia application, the bureau upheld its decision. It said Doral Voice had failed to establish that La Familia or its president has engaged in pirate broadcasting, or that Martinez failed to disclose an attributable interest in WHIM.
You can read the FCC’s case summary and details of these legal arguments here.
I stand four square opposed to the major tenets of Dr. Jamison’s thesis of disbanding the Federal Communications Commission.
The venerable institution is already wracked with the debilitating disease of deregulation with its predictable negative effects on the public which, it must be emphasized, owns the U.S. spectrum.
In contradistinction to all other media which can proliferate without limit, the RF spectrum is a limited and precious resource. That the public is viewed as tepid about OTA radio is spurious and obviously wishful thinking by non-OTA interests.
The most egregious abandonment of technical responsibility occurred with the reduction in field engineering offices and engineering personnel.
We technical practitioners witness commonplace cynicism with regard to the FCC rules and regulations as mere suggestions to be ignored if inconvenient to obey, in AM and FM broadcasting as well as land mobile and marine frequencies.
The reason?
Identical to the effects of “defunding the police” resulting in increase in crime. Fewer cops yields more criminals. Intuitively obvious except to some.
In earlier times, operating a broadcasting station involved adherence to the notion of public interest, convenience and necessity as justification for licensure.
Stations served their communities of license with valuable news and information as well as entertainment and commercials.
The Local Studio Rule gave the public access to their air waves for a variety of purposes. Both now gone; many stations thumb their noses at their COL but wonder why their shunned and disowned audience fled to other more friendly media.
Sharp limits on multiple station ownership ensured a variety of content and political viewpoints on the radio.
Loosening those restrictions resulted in group conglomerates airing homogenized voice tracked plastic pap, devoid of any semblance of “live-and-local” flavor which once endeared listeners to those stations.
Currently the call is going out for total freedom of station aggregation, while the two big players contemplate or re-enter bankruptcy.
Dr. Jamison’s most egregious recommendation is to fragment the numerous functional entities of the FCC and distributing them among other existing federal agencies. It would appear he fails to realize the need for unit cohesion within the ranks.
Having those functions under one umbrella provides the opportunities for cross-pollinating of thoughts and ideas contributing to problem resolution, et.al., facilitated by simple physical relatedness within one facility. In contrast, federal agencies are notoriously indifferent or downright hostile to extra-departmental influences.
In conclusion: I recommend fortifying the FCC with sharper focus on its core missions of fair licensure; prosecuting flagrant rules violators; streamlining online reporting applications which seem to grind to a halt at deadline time; maintaining language and image censorship rules, etc.
Furthermore, I recommend reintroducing PICN as fundamental to retaining licensure; reintroducing the Local Studio Rule; retaining present ownership limits; hiring more engineers and fewer lawyers; and focusing more on RF OTA than wired media.
More cops mean better rules compliance when it’s understood that big brother is watching. Big brother has been asleep for a while.
A strong FCC is more needed today than anytime in history.
— James B. Potter, owner, Cutting Edge Engineering of Missouri
The FCC has granted a transfer of Legend Communications of Wyoming from Susan K. Patrick to her ex-husband, Larry, following her felony conviction for income tax evasion which led to the couple’s divorce.
Legend is the licensee of 24 stations — four AMs, 13 FMs, six FM translators and one booster. The stations serve five markets — Cody, Worland, Sheridan, Buffalo and Gillette — in northern Wyoming.
The company also operates Big Horn Basin Media.
Susan Patrick altered joint individual and partnership returns to under-report approximately $9 million in personal income and $10 million in gross receipts earned by the partnership between 2012 and 2015, according to the commission’s summary of federal court records.
Pursuant to a stipulated divorce decree, Susan Patrick agreed to transfer her ownership interest and control in Legend to her ex-husband for a sum of one dollar. Susan and Larry jointly filed a transfer of control form to the commission in June 2024.
After the FCC performed a character evaluation, it determined the northern Wyoming communities would be best served by Larry Patrick assuming control of the stations, and that he had demonstrated a clean track record since the Patricks formed the company.
The Patricks formed Legend Communications in March 1998, with husband and wife each owning 30 percent.
In 2018, the couple bought out their partners and each assumed half ownership.
The couple were also co-owners in other entities, including the brokerage firm Patrick Communications.
According to the commission’s facts of the case, in 2016, Patrick Communications failed to file employee tax documents, and the Internal Revenue Service opened an investigation collection case.
Susan Patrick transmitted to the IRS what she said to be missing tax forms. In reality, according to the commission, the documents significantly under-reported both her and her husband’s income and PCL’s partnership income, using backdated signatures.
Five years later, according to the FCC’s account, Larry Patrick returned from a business trip to discover that his wife had moved out of the home they shared, leaving a note that stated she faced issues that “required all her attention” in the near future.
That August, Susan pleaded guilty to one count of criminal information charging her with willfully subscribing to a false tax return.
Lawrence Patrick filed a divorce proceeding, and also requested a temporary restraining order, which he was granted.
Susan Patrick was adjudged guilty of willfully making and subscribing a false tax return in the U.S. District Court for Maryland.
She was sentenced to 15 months in prison, as well as an order to pay approximately $3.5 million in restitution to the federal government.
The divorce was finalized in March 2024, and in June, the FCC received the application to transfer control of Legend’s broadcast licenses.
Character counts
As the commission reviewed the transfer, it noted that the Jefferson Radio policy generally prohibits the assignment or transfer of control of a station license when character qualification issues are pending against the licensee.
The rule is designed to prevent a wrongdoer from “selling out” to avoid disqualification and profiting from the sale of a license despite their misconduct.
According to its records, Larry Patrick said he had no knowledge or suspicion of his wife’s behavior.
The FCC determined that he had a long record of operating the stations and “is fully qualified to continue operating them.”
Ultimately, given the fact that Susan Patrick concealed her crimes to both the IRS and her husband, according to the commission, and that she will be “exiting the broadcast business,” it determined the Legend stations would be best served by being controlled by Larry Patrick.
Larry Patrick relaunched the Patrick Communications brokerage firm under the name Patrick Media in 2023, according to Inside Radio.
We’ve learned the broadcast-related items that will be up for consideration at the Federal Communication Commission’s open meeting later this month.
The commission released a draft report and order that includes rules for tentative consideration. It cautioned that the ultimate resolution of the issues at hand remains under consideration and subject to change ahead of the March 26 meeting.
The original proceeding that contains these proposals dates back to a notice of proposed rulemaking from December 2024 that revises FCC regulations under Parts 1, 73, 74 and 76 of the CFR.
In response to that NPRM, the commission received comments and replies from stakeholders who it said “overwhelmingly support” the majority of its proposed changes. As a result, 13 of the 15 changes from the 2024 notice, proposed under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, are included in the draft.
We’ve listed the changes that will be up for a vote in the commission’s draft report and order below. You can read the full draft here.
Eliminating AM station power increase restrictions
The FCC proposes eliminating the requirement that AM stations must request at least a 20% increase in nominal power when applying for facility modifications.
“Elimination of this requirement will provide AM broadcasters with greater flexibility and thus allow for new opportunities for stations to optimize their technical operations,” the commission wrote.
The order also would update AM station classifications in the rules to conform to current international agreements.
Authorization definition
The order would codify that an “authorized” station — which LPFM applicants must protect — includes both licensed stations and granted construction permits.
It also clarifies that LPFM applicants must protect prior-filed FM, LPFM and FM translator applications submitted before the release of the public notice announcing an LPFM filing window’s procedures.
Extending technical STA limits
The FCC proposes to remove the restriction that limits initial Special Temporary Authorizations necessitated by technical or equipment problems to a 90-day period.
Under the proposed order, those type of STAs would be granted for the full 180-day period permitted as it is for other STAs.
The commission noted that applicants seeking a technical STA currently have to file STA requests twice as often as applicants for other STAs – 90 days instead of 180 days. But as several NPRM commenters pointed out, station technical problems often require at least 180 days to order equipment and complete the repairs.
Removing the 2021 NCE FM application cap
The order would delegate authority to the Media Bureau to remove the rule that capped applicants at 10 applications during the 2021 noncom FM filing window. The rule would be officially removed once all pending applications from that specific window are finalized.
There are some other, more procedural changes the report also proposes:
Replacing CDBS with LMS references: The order would amend multiple rule sections to replace references to the legacy Consolidated Database System with the currently used Licensing and Management System.
Standardizing table of allotments language: The FCC would correct terminology regarding FM and TV allotments to use standard language.
Removing post-incentive auction notice requirements: Outdated rule language and notice requirements originally implemented for the broadcast television spectrum incentive auction would be removed.
Expanding the signature rule: The commission’s rules would be broadened to allow a “duly authorized employee” to sign applications on behalf of a corporation, partnership, unincorporated association or governmental entity.
Clarifying local public notice triggers: The order would codify the established practices regarding when noncom FM, noncom TV or LPFM applicants must give local public notice of their applications.
Consolidating petition to deny rules: The rules for filing petitions to deny against license renewal applications would be consolidated into a single general rule section.
Mixed feedback
The two changes that did not make the cut from the original 2024 notice:
The commission said it received mixed comments in response to its proposal to harmonize processing procedures for minor change LPFM applications with current procedures for full-service FM and FM translators.
It also received mixed feedback on its proposal to revise the informal objection rule to require service of pleadings upon the relevant applicant and objector, limit the number of responsive pleadings and impose filing deadlines.
As a result, the commission declined to adopt those two proposals.
Chairman Brendan Carr speaks at the FCC’s February open meeting. Credit: Al Drago/Getty Images
Thursday, we then learned of the 13 procedures related to radio and TV the three FCC commissioners will vote on at its open meeting on March 26. Read that updated story here.
As part of the FCC’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” deregulation initiative, the commission will vote to update several broadcast regulations this month.
For radio, Carr pointed to “unnecessary” requirements for routine AM station facility modifications, for the definition of “authorized stations” to include both licensed stations and construction permits and a rule consolidation for petitions to deny license renewal applications.
December 2024 NPRM
Details have not been released as of this writing of what the chairman was specifically referring to as far as the procedures the commission seeks to remove.
But in a notice of proposed rulemaking issued by former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in December 2024, the FCC noted that the term “authorized” was never formally defined in the rules setting out the minimum distance separation requirements for new and modified Low Power FM applications. To be approved, LPFM applicants must satisfy minimum distance separation requirements to protect authorized FM and LPFM stations, as well as authorized FM translator stations.
The commission’s unwritten interpretation has always been that this encompasses stations holding a granted license and/or a CP. However, the lack of a codified definition, it wrote, “may have the unintended effect of causing confusion in the LPFM application process.”
The NPRM also had specific language on the “petitions to deny” — formal objections filed against a station’s license renewal. Previously, the commission said that the deadlines and procedures for these petitions were “awkwardly split” across different sections of the FCC’s regulations. The proposal in the NPRM would consolidate those rules under a single section.
The notice from December 2024 also proposed removing the 20% minimum power increase for AM stations, a rule that was originally adopted in 1985.
We’ll find out Thursday morning, when the public draft of the report and order ahead of open meeting is released, on what orders will be up for vote.
Carr added that the commission will also vote on an order that builds on previous efforts to streamline copper wire retirement, freeing up capital to invest in all-IP networks.
“We’re moving forward with an agenda that puts American consumers first — improving service, protecting public dollars and modernizing the rules that stand in the way of progress,” Carr wrote in his blog post.
Long a key arbiter of U.S. communications policy, the FCC is actually stuck in a bygone era, argues economist Dr. Mark Jamison.
The American Enterprise Institute recently published his paper “Disbanding the Federal Communications Commission,” in which Jamison asserts that the agency’s independent commission model should be scrapped.
Jamison is a nonresident senior fellow at the AEI and director of the Public Utility Research Center and the Digital Markets Initiative at the University of Florida. He served on the Trump presidential transition team in 2015–16.
A regulatory dinosaur?
Jamison argues that the FCC is a relic of a world that no longer exists, one built around monopoly phone service and tightly limited broadcast spectrum. Today, he says, “broadcasting” is just one of many ways to deliver content and it no longer justifies its own regulatory silo.
Mark Jamison
“Because consumers increasingly view broadcast programming through non-broadcast channels and regard it as one option among many, broadcasting no longer constitutes an industry in the traditional sense and deserves no special licensing other than a right to use radio spectrum,” wrote Jamison.
The FCC was established in 1934 to oversee government-protected telephone monopolies and to manage scarcity in the number of broadcasters. Jamison said those conditions have long since evaporated.
“Given its loss of purpose and its institutional weakness, it appears that communications policy in the U.S. would be better off without the FCC,” Jamison wrote.
“There is no longer a need for the two core functions for which the FCC was created: common carrier regulation and broadcasting licensing.”
When market boundaries are dynamic, he argued, it is impossible to establish common carrier regulations that apply only in situations where customers are unable to exercise options.
“Shuttering the FCC would implement a deregulatory strategy for the communications sectors,” he said.
“Common carrier regulations for telecommunications would cease, as would content oversight of broadcasters.”
Jamison contends that, as the FCC’s core mission has faded, it has become easier to use it as a political tool without real economic cost.
“During the Obama years, the agency undertook newsroom inquiries, redefined internet services to fit the common carrier mold and advanced initiatives shaped heavily by congressional partisans,” he wrote.
“The Trump administration continued the trend, attempting to enlist the FCC into regulating social-media content. The Biden administration pursued sweeping rules to oversee broadband participants and even broadband supply-chain relationships. The recent Biden and Trump efforts demonstrate the eroded predictability that regulatory-commission design was meant to protect.”
His solution is to scrap the commission structure, move its staff and duties elsewhere in government and avoid tech-specific rules that quickly go stale and stifle innovation.
Revamp, renew, reorganize
Jamison’s plan is framed as an administrative reorganization rather than a shutdown of its core functions.
He emphasizes that the first step would be to identify which essential staff functions need to be preserved and immediately rehouse them within a different federal agency. The idea is continuity of work and expertise, with only the oversight structure changing.
“We can keep something that is like a ‘Federal Communications Department’ … but we just don’t need the commission,” Jamison told Radio World. “We can have staff and directors of staff that do that work quite well.”
If the FCC is dissolved, Jamison says its spectrum auction operations and staff should be transferred to an agency that is noted for its ability to manage technically complex functions. His candidates include the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). He writes: “It might even be appropriate to form a new, specialized agency.”
As for other core FCC functions, Jamison says consumer protection would be better handled by the Federal Trade Commission.
Additionally, equipment authorization functions could be handled by NIST. Emergency services oversight could be handled by the Department of Commerce, CISA or Homeland Security. Space policy could be handled by NASA. And international relations are covered by the Department of State.
Jamison teaching at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business. (Credit: Warrington College of Business)
Jamison says the way the FCC handles the distribution of broadcast licenses also needs to change.
Traditionally, a broadcast license includes both the spectrum in question and what the licensee is allowed to use it for.
“I’m suggesting that the last piece, ‘here’s what you can use it for,’ doesn’t belong anymore. You can have the license to use the radio spectrum but we’re not defining how it’s used.”
Political chess
According to Jamison, as the FCC’s founding purpose receded and the economic cost of politicizing it fell, administrations began using the agency as a political tool rather than an independent regulator, with each executive power redefining the “public interest” to suit its own agenda.
As the reasons for its creation disappeared, a mission vacuum was created.
The FCC’s public interest standard requires radio and TV broadcast licensees to operate in the “public interest, convenience and necessity” — a broad mandate stemming from the Communications Act of 1934, obligating broadcasters to serve local needs with diverse programming rather than just maximizing profit.
“‘Public interest’ is a very general term, and I suspect that the Trump administration probably defines it quite differently than the Biden administration, which probably is quite different than the Obama administration, than the Clinton administration and either Bush administration,” said Jamison.
“Everybody gets their own definition.”
But he told Radio World that the FCC’s public interest standard is vague, subjective and in conflict with the First Amendment.
“When a broadcaster is influencing people to think differently than you do, you would view that as contrary to the public interest,” he said. This is one reason the FCC is so vulnerable to political pressure.
Since Brendan Carr was appointed FCC chairman by President Trump in January 2025, the rights and responsibilities of broadcasters and networks have been debated widely.
President Trump criticized ABC, NBC and CBS for what he called bias following the murder of activist Charlie Kirk.
Carr warned the networks that he could and would use his powers to block mergers or pull the licenses of broadcasters who did not operate in the public interest. ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel in the face of such pressure resulted in widespread backlash.
Carr also launched investigations into NPR and PBS, questioning whether their corporate underwriting violated federal laws against commercials. The investigation helped propel Trump’s effort to end federal funding for public media, framing it as a move against perceived “liberal bias.”
Jamison said the FCC’s pressuring of broadcasters isn’t anything new. He said President Obama’s second term marked an “unprecedented rise in partisanship” at the agency.
He pointed to research by the Technology Policy Institute on commission votes from 1994 to 2016. It found that, during Chairman Thomas Wheeler’s term, 26% of votes were split along party lines, more than triple the rate under other Democratic chairs (8%) and more than five times that under Republican chairs (4%). Wheeler was appointed by Obama in 2012.
Likewise, TPI reported that fewer than half of the votes in this era were unanimous, compared with averages of 65% and 58% under other Democratic and Republican leaders, respectively.
“The FCC experienced more party line votes from late 2014 through 2015 than in its previous 43 years,” wrote Jamison.
In the cases of both Presidents Trump and Biden, Jamison wrote that there is “inadequate” evidence that the FCC was doing a president’s bidding. “Nevertheless, the policy swings demonstrate that the agency is not providing the dependable regulatory environment that it was created to deliver.”
Innovation is key
Jamison warns that keeping outdated communications laws on the books traps broadcasters in “boxes that are not economically viable.”
He argues that rules designed for a bygone era hold back innovation and should be rethought so stations can adapt to today’s media and technology landscape.
Broadcasters “should be released to innovate and do things differently… not being bound by things that have lost their importance.”
He said: “If you write regulations with a particular type of technology in mind, the technology is going to race beyond you, and your regulations won’t be accomplishing what you would think they should. In fact, they may work against the very things that you’re trying to accomplish.”
Jamison with his Project Navigate student group. The initiative explores the European Union’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. (Credit: Warrington College of Business)
As an example, Jamison questions the FCC’s standing regulations on fixed line telephone service, noting those rules were written in the 1930s and stopped being relevant in the ’80s.
His view is that radio’s future depends on regulatory frameworks loosening so stations can adapt and innovate, rather than being preserved through legacy, broadcast‑specific protections.
This is an area where Jamison and Carr seem to agree. Under the direction of the chairman, the FCC opened up a “Delete, Delete, Delete” docket last March and has since scrapped countless “outdated” rules with the help of public feedback.
As to his broader conclusion, Jamison acknowledges that more research would be needed.
“It is unclear how expertise and statistical histories can be transferred without loss of skill, professionalism and proficiency. Work is also needed on how to protect from political interference agencies that take on FCC functions, especially those related to radio spectrum and subsidies.”
He added that the research will be even more important if the Supreme Court rules that independent agencies as currently constructed violate the Constitution.
“While political interests are legitimate for providing laws, they can be destructive when applied in the execution of the laws.”
Connexion
