LPFM station 97.9 WREN in Charlottesville, Va., will pay the FCC $1,000 in a consent decree for violating its underwriting announcement rules.
The commission will also renew the station’s license on a shortened two-year term. During the term, the station has agreed to demonstrate compliance with future underwriting announcements.
WREN, licensed to Genesis Communications, aired the announcements in question throughout 2019 and 2020. WREN is a 20-watt LPFM calling itself as “The Wren” and running an oldies format.
Saga’s Tidewater Communications, which owns six stations in the Charlottesville market, filed a petition to deny WREN’s license renewal in late 2019. Tidewater provided transcripts of several underwriting spots heard regularly on the station, alleging that they included impermissible promotion for merchants. These included comparative or qualitative descriptions, calls to action and inducements to buy. Among the businesses featured in the spots were local Outback Steakhouses and Hampton Inn franchises.
The commission sent Genesis a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) in early 2020 regarding Tidewater’s allegations. Tidewater followed with an opposition to Genesis’ reply to the LOI, insisting improper underwriting announcements were still airing on WREN. In Genesis’ response to Tidewater, it insisted all but one of its announcements complied with the commission’s underwriting rules and it was acting in “good faith” to comply.
But Genesis and the FCC ultimately agreed to a consent decree that ends the commission’s investigation. As opposed to the typical eight-year license term, WREN will have to prove it is following underwriting guidelines over a two-year period.
Tidewater’s petition and objection also included concerns regarding its WREN’s ties to multiple other LPFMs in the Charlottesville area. They are Charlottesville’s 92.3 WXRK(LP), 101.3 WVAI(LP) and the now cancelled licenses of 94.7 WPVC(LP) and 96.5 WKMZ(LP), the latter of which was licensed to Ruckersville.
Tidewater’s petition intended to deny the renewal of all the LPFMs in question. The FCC said it will handle allegations toward WXRK and WVAI in separate cases.
The commission did rule that Jon Hall, WREN’s founder, had attributable interests in the now-defunct WKMZ. Hall was listed as one of the directors of Gateway Media, the licensee of WKMZ. Hall’s wife, Sharon, meanwhile, is listed as a WREN director. The commission also found WREN and WKMZ shared programming, often directly simulcasting. However, since WKMZ’s license was canceled in 2019, the commission will not take further enforcement action on the matter.
The Charlottesville LPFMs operate under different licensees, as per FCC rules. Tidewater raised concerns that the stations formed the Virginia Radio Coop, allowing them to use the same transmitter site, antenna, studio and office facilities. Tidewater alleged the stations may have used the operating agreement to collaborate and consult each other about their LPFM applications.
While the commission acknowledged the arrangement “is unconventional and warrants greater scrutiny to ensure that it does not result in violations of the restrictions on LPFM ownership,” it said it does not demonstrate the coop “having an attributable interest in (the) licensee or its other members.” It likened the arrangement to a shared services agreement.
The Charlottesville LPFMs also have an arrangement with Experience Media regarding the sale of the underwriting announcements. Tidewater included Experience Media underwriting rate cards in its petition. All five LPFMs were presented together in one of the sample cards. Tidewater argued this indicated the LPFMs had shared interests. Furthermore, it pointed out that the owner of Experience Media, Mike McBlair, is also WREN’s operations manager. Genesis responded by stating that Experience Media was acting as an independent contractor.
The commission ended up siding with Genesis here, noting that, while the agreement with Experience Media was “unusual and that close scrutiny of the relationship” is warranted, it found no “substantial and material question of fact” as to whether Experience Media held an attributable interest in WREN. So, WREN will be responsible solely for ensuring its underwriting announcements are compliant with FCC rules and paying the $1,000 penalty within 30 days.
Underwriting is a term used by the FCC to describe on-air announcements that acknowledge the financial support of public radio stations by businesses. It is a major source of funding for public radio stations; however, the commission has strict guidelines for the announcements, and forbids those that issue a call to action as heard in traditional advertising.
