The FCC has denied applications for two new non-commercial stations in Minneapolis, saying the applicant failed to make the case for waivers needed to squeeze the stations onto the crowded FM band.
Park Public Radio had applied for new stations on 90.7 with 99 Watts non-directional and 91.9 with 30 Watts directional. The stations would have transmitted from the IDS Center and would have been licensed to St. Louis Park, where Park Public Radio owns existing low-power FM station KPPS-LP/97.5.
Park Public Radio presented the applications as a solution for KPPS-LP’s long-term difficulty of finding a new transmitter site, pledging to divest the LPFM station if was replaced by a full-power license. KPPS-LP is currently challenging the FCC’s decision to deny its application to move its transmitter to Minneapolis and change its frequency to 97.7.
The proposed station on 90.7 is short-spaced with KFAI/90.3, KNOW/91.1, and the intermediate frequency (IF) of KDWB/101.3. Meanwhile, the 91.9 application is short-spaced with KQRS/92.5.
The applicant sought waivers from spacing requirements, saying the new stations were unlikely to cause actual interference to the existing stations. For the 90.7 application, it sought a waiver reserved only for existing stations, saying it would resolve the “unique and messy legal situation” involving KPPS-LP’s proposed move and that the application would “essentially supplant” the LPFM station.
In a letter issued May 24 from FCC Media Bureau Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner, the bureau denied the waiver requests and dismissed the applications.
“Park fails to demonstrate that no fully-spaced sites are available, that the proposed site is the least short-spaced available, or that waiver is necessary to provide service to an underserved community where the antenna cannot be directionalized to avoid contour overlap. Instead, it simply argues that the public interest would be served by authorizing new NCE stations to serve as a functional replacement for its LPFM station…”
FCC Media Bureau May 24 letter
The letter says Park Public Radio’s situation is “not unique or compelling” and “not a ‘special circumstance,'” adding that many stations have trouble finding suitable transmitter sites.
It also says the 90.7 application does not meet the requirements for a “Raleigh waiver” for several reasons, including that the overlap with KNOW would be more than the maximum 10% that is allowed for such waivers.
No other groups applied for the frequencies, which are currently occupied by translators.
Separately, Park Public Radio has already been granted five construction permits for new non-commercial FM stations elsewhere in Minnesota. KPPS-LP is currently silent.
This post was updated on Oct. 1, 2023, to reflect that KPPS-LP sought a move to 97.7, not 97.9.