The FCC has granted construction permits for three new low-power FM stations in Wisconsin, and several others elsewhere the country, after determining that a common entity mentioned in their articles of incorporation does not actually exist.
The applicants include Oxford Lifestyle Educational Radio (92.9 in Oxford), Winwood Lifestyle Educational Radio Corporation (104.7 in Rhinelander), and Sturgeon Bay Lifestyle Educational Radio Corporation (107.7 in Sturgeon Bay).
Triangle Access Broadcasting initially raised concerns about the applications, stating that each group’s articles of incorporation gave an entity called Heartland Inc. the power to appoint board members and, therefore, was ultimately in control of multiple applications nationwide.
The groups’ registered agent told the FCC that the Heartland provision had only been included as a “an emergency backup plan” in case any of the groups’ boards dwindled and that he did not actually intend to exercise control over the stations.
After much back-and-forth, the FCC has now concluded that Heartland does not actually exist and does not actually have an attributable interest in the groups.
We caution future LPFM applicants, however, that in slightly different circumstances, a similar provision in an applicant’s organizational documents could easily lead to a finding of an impermissible attributable interest in multiple new LPFM applications.
The FCC’s decision notes that the Rhinelander and Sturgeon Bay groups have removed the Heartland provision from their articles of incorporation.
All three new Wisconsin stations will use 100 Watts.
The Oxford and Sturgeon Bay applications stated plans to carry Bible teaching; the Rhinelander application used similar wording but did not specifically mention the Bible.