The broadcasting arm of the Milwaukee-based company helmed by Craig Karmazin has received FCC approval to modify the facilities of an AM station that years ago was home to WLUP and, before that, WCFL.
The Chicago change was granted over the objection of an individual in Berwyn, Ill.
Albert Adam David in November 2023 filed an informal objection with the Commission, on the grounds that a proposed nighttime power reduction for Good Karma-owned WMVP-AM “ESPN 1000” from 50kw to 37kw would fail to provide “the levels of secondary service that clear-channel status is intended to protect” and would not meet the technical requirements for Class A stations set out in the Commission’s rules.
David also alleged that the proposed nighttime power reduction, a result of WMVP’s move to the currently licensed nighttime transmitter site of WCPT-AM in Willow Spring, Ill., would create a significant skywave contour pattern null over “areas of the country that are most dependent on such coverage, such as sparsely populated areas of Appalachian Virginia and West Virginia.”
WMVP would remain a Class A, but Good Karma’s request seeks the Commission’s OK to diplex WMVP’s nighttime signal with that of WCPT. David argues that WMVP should become a Class B facility and lose protection to its secondary coverage areas.
In a response to David, Good Karma pointed to two other Class A AMs with lower than 50kw of power after dark.
For Al Shuldiner, the Audio Division chief, properly supported allegations of fact must be taken into consideration when an informal objection is filed. David failed to do so. As such, Good Karma can make the change per a 1991 reclassification of Class 1-A and Class 1-B clear channel stations into a single category. “WMVP was classified as a Class 1-B station prior to 1991 and is therefore permitted, as a grandfathered station, to operate at less than 50 kW power if it is otherwise compliant with the Commission’s rules,” Shuldiner said.
He added that the exception “applies to a very small number of stations and that most Class A stations are still required to operate at 50 kw.”
