FCC Says 7 Upper Midwest Non-Comm Applications are Defective

The FCC has determined that dozens of applications for new non-commercial stations nationwide, including seven in the Upper Midwest, are defective due to failure to comply with regulations.

The applications were filed in November’s window for new non-commercial FM applications. Those identified in this week’s public notice were “singletons,” meaning they were not in competition with any other applications and would likely have been lined up for a quick approval if they hadn’t been deemed defective.

It’s not the end for the applicants, though. They have an opportunity to amend their applications to fix the issues the FCC has identified.

Regionally, the applications deemed defective by the FCC include:

Manly, IA: 90.7 C3, Iowa Public Radio. Co-channel overlap with KLSE/90.7 (Rochester, MN).

Waterloo, IA: 91.5 A, Covenant Network. Overlap with the third-adjacent channel of KUNI/90.9 (Cedar Falls).

Rockland, MI: 88.5 A, Gospel Opportunities. Co-channel overlap with WOAS/88.5 (Ontonagon).

Baudette, MN: 89.9 C3, Elemental Public Media. Overlap with a co-channel allotment in Cat Hills, MB.

Thief River Falls, MN: 88.3 A, We Have This Hope Christian Radio. No coverage of Thief River Falls.

Mitchell, SD: 89.1 C3, South Dakota Board of Directors for Educational Telecommunications. Co-channel overlap with KAUR/89.1 (Sioux Falls).

Whitewater, WI: 89.3 B, 2820 Communications. Co-channel overlap with WPNE/89.3 (Green Bay); first-adjacent channel overlap with WPSE/89.1 (Burlington), first-adjacent channel overlap with WNIJ/89.5 (Dekalb, IL).

It’s not immediately clear what’s next for the singleton applications not on this list, since those without defects are apparently grantable. The FCC has not laid out a timeline for issuing construction permits.

Meanwhile, dozens of other proposals are locked up in groups of mutually-exclusive applications that may eventually be decided by a point system unless competing applicants reach agreements among themselves. REC Networks has the applications all sorted out.