Media Bureau Rejects Connected LPFM Applications
The FCC Media Bureau rejected eight Texas low-power FM applications that were filed on behalf of separate outreach organizations but appeared connected to a single church, said a letter in Monday's Daily Digest. The LPFM window rules require applicants to…
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certify that they don’t have other attributable broadcast interests, including LPFM applications. “The many commonalities among the Applications -- in particular, the common use of broadcast facilities and headquarters, contact information, and mission statements -- suggest a significant degree of organizational interconnectedness,” Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner wrote in the letter dismissing the applications. The applications were on behalf of individual outreach organizations for the Christian Life Church in Lubbock, Texas. LPFM entity REC Networks filed informal objections noting connections between the groups. The outreach groups argued their applications were allowed under LPFM rules that prevent local chapters of large organizations from being considered attributable to the larger group if the local chapters are “separately incorporated” with “a distinct local presence and mission.” The outreach groups aren’t separately incorporated and their use of shared addresses and facilities shows they don’t have a distinct local presence, the Media Bureau said. They also failed to show they had available broadcast sites, the letter said.