After a years-long battle among several groups, the FCC has granted construction permits for two new non-commercial FM stations to share time on the same frequency in southern Wisconsin.
Waterloo Christian Radio Corporation and Optima Enrichment have both been granted construction permits to transmit on 91.5 from the same tower north of Oconomowoc.
The groups have initially been granted slightly different facilities: Waterloo Christian Radio’s station will be licensed to Ixonia and has a construction permit for 10kW/54m. Optima’s station will be licensed to Delafield with an initial CP calling for 14kW/48m. Both are class B1.
Both stations will have main coverage areas stretching from the northwestern Milwaukee suburbs to Watertown, with additional fringe coverage of Milwaukee.
The FCC had named Optima the tentative selectee in early 2024, meaning it would have had sole use of the frequency, but reconsidered that decision after Waterloo Christian Radio raised allegations about whether Optima qualified for the tie-breaker that led to the FCC’s decision. Last fall, the FCC ordered the two groups to reach a voluntary time-sharing agreement.
The FCC says Waterloo Christian Radio did not respond to its order that it submit its preferred timeslot, while Optima requested 3 a.m. to 2:59 p.m. The FCC decided to assign Optima to its requested timeslot. Waterloo Christian Radio Corporation was assigned 3 p.m. to 2:59 a.m.
The two applicants were part of a group of eight competing applications that was eventually whittled down to three. Two applicants changed their planned facilities to remove themselves from the group, two withdrew their applications, and one was dismissed due to flaws in the application.
Simultaneous with granting the Waterloo Christian Radio and Optima applications, the FCC formally dismissed The Family Radio Network’s application, which scored fewer points in the FCC’s process.