A question about the completeness of a station’s public file held up its license renewal for years.
Some negotiation and special circumstances are now allowing the case to move forward and give the licensee more business certainty.
In 2006, Masconoment Regional School District applied to renew the license for WBMT(FM), Boxford, Mass. Joseph McDonough protested, saying when he asked to inspect the public file, the station manager said it was on the FCC website; The manager disputes this.
The commission couldn’t ascertain the truth so it warned Masconoment to take necessary steps to ensure its staff knows they can’t prevent the public from having access to the public file.
McDonough also claimed some documents were missing, arguing there was doubt over whether the licensee had been honest with the commission. The commission said there was more missing information than the licensee had led it to believe, and the licensee had but not enough to prevent license renewal.
But here’s where it becomes more interesting. McDonough had approached Masconoment about a time-sharing agreement and filed the renewal objection after that was rebuffed.
Masconoment argued McDonough operated a pirate station which he failed to mention to the agency and that he and his wife filed an application for an LPFM in Ipswich and Salisbury, Mass. These undisclosed interests make him ineligible to be an NCE licensee, the broadcaster argued. Masconoment accused McDonough of abusing the FCC process.
To settle the case, both entered into a consent decree with the commission, which determined that the first-time violations at student-run WBMT were not serious enough to prevent license renewal; the agency has previously fined the licensee $1,500 in similar cases but said since Masconoment had already paid $1,200 for filing its renewal paperwork late, no additional penalty is needed.
McDonough did not prove his case so the commission dismissed his objections.
A time-sharing agreement was worked out between WBNT and McDonough’s New England Broadcasting Educational Group.
WBNT does have to adhere to a compliance plan to ensure it’s keeping up the public file.
