On November 24, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offered its readers a lengthy profile on a small Western Pennsylvania town “ready and eager” for tourism. In its report on Meyersdale, some 80 miles to the southeast of the city, is home to 2,056 people. It is also home to a Class A Classic Hits station, with a signal that reaches into western Maryland and even portions of West Virginia.
The radio station is owned by Roger Wahl‘s Target Broadcasting Inc. The Post-Gazette article noted that “locals revere” Wahl, a.k.a. “The Commander,” who — like many small-town morning hosts of yesteryear — offers local news headlines and school lunch menus to listeners.
Now, 68-year-old Wahl is in trouble, and it could impact his ownership of this station that’s the “top of the rock.”
As reported by local media in Johnstown, Pa., Wahl was arrested Sept. 7 by Pennsylvania State Police on charges of rape solicitation, identity theft and invasion of privacy.
Wahl is accused of attempting to solicit men to engage in unwanted sexual acts with a woman he reportedly impersonated through the creation of a phony online dating profile.
It began, according to State Police, with Wahl hiding a trail camera inside the 62-year-old woman’s house several years ago. Images from the camera were allegedly used by Wahl to lure men into her home, with Wahl making the arrangements.
In a release distributed to local media by Trooper John Wogan, Wahl encountered a man who traveled to the woman’s home on August 30, and solicited him to rape the woman. “(Wahl) indicated that other individuals would potentially be solicited to do the same acts with him,” Wogan said. “The victim was unaware of these activities and had no involvement in this scheme.”
What could be potentially damaging for Wahl is a possible loss of his FCC license.
The charges brought against him include “criminal use of a communication facility,” as Wahl’s home and radio station address are shown on official police records as identical. Troopers said Wahl, from this address, used a computer to conduct the illicit online communications via the dating website.
To exacerbate matters, Wahl is also being charged with tampering with physical evidence. Trooper Wogan says pictures were deleted from Wahl’s phone as were text communication from the dating site, apparently after Wahl discovered State Police were investigating.
Wahl on Sept. 9 was being held at Somerset County, Pa., jail on $25,000 bond, which was unpaid at the time.
A preliminary hearing was held Sept. 12; criminal motions continued Monday in Somerset County Court.
WQZS’s listed phone number went unanswered on Monday morning (9/16).
THE END OF THE ROCK?
WQZS is an outlier in today’s consolidated, satellite-dependent world of radio. It has a live and local air staff, and is a standalone FM, owned by Wahl and him alone.
He was granted an FCC license to launch the FM in July 1990, with October 26, 1992 serving as its official sign-on date. It’s a family operation. According a Wikipedia listing, wife Helen Wahl is PD. Children Rachel and Brian also work at the station.
Wahl’s ownership of a radio station is directly linked to his role as a regional sales manager for a beer distributor. One client owned a radio station, and they became fast friends. The station owner explained to him that a window of new FM applications was coming at the FCC. Wahl acted, and filed the application in August 1988.
All in the eyes of the FCC has been fine since then, with Lauren Lynch Flick at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman successfully filing an application for renewal of the WQZS broadcast license in February 2015.
Now, with salacious charges being brought against Wahl, could he lose his license?
Garvey Schubert Barer counsel Erwin Krasnow and Jacksonville-based attorney John Wells King have been prolific contributors to RBR+TVBR over the years on ways a licensee could lose their license.
Krasnow and King identified eight ways for a broadcast station to lose its license.
To recap, they are as follows:
- molestation of children
- drug trafficking
- lying and cheating
- stealing
- racist actions
- lack of integrity
- not minding the store
- being oblivious to FCC deadlines
As Krasnow and King discussed earlier this year, obstruction of justice and lack of candor are also taken into account. Those allegations are tied to a June 2019 FCC Hearing Designation Order involving Entertainment Media Trust (EMT).
As RBR+TVBR reported, the Media Bureau believes EMT is guilty of misrepresentation and fraud. That case involves St. Louis-based KZQZ-AM 1430, KQQZ-AM 1190 in Fairview Heights, Ill.; daytime-only WQQW-AM 1510 in Highland, Ill.; and KFTK-AM 1490.
The matter was so serious that the Media Bureau designated EMT for a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge to determine whether it committed “serious violations” of the Communications Act and the Commission’s rules by lying about its true owner. If found to have committed these serious violations, EMT’s licenses may be cancelled.
In the matter of Mr. Wahl and WQZS, the future of his station ownership could be indirectly up to Somerset County Court. If found guilty, Wahl would most certainly lose his license. If proven innocent, his reputation would be smeared, but he’d still retain WQZS.
Speaking to RBR+TVBR on Monday, Krasnow explained that the FCC’s concern is the final act: if Wahl is convicted.
And, if that were to occur, where Wahl conducted his illicit acts is irrelevant in the eyes of the Commission. “The fact that he is accused of doing it at the station’s facility is just adding color — it would not be the basis of the ruling,” Krasnow said.
What if Mr. Wahl were to transfer control of the radio station to a family member?
That is highly unlikely, as Target Broadcasting is a business name used for WQZS. The licensee name is Roger Wahl, and him alone.
“If he were to try to assign the license to a family member, it would be with a long-form application, and the FCC won’t act on that application until they make a decision on what to do regarding a license revocation proceeding,” Krasnow said. “He can’t just get out it by just changing the licensee, assigning his interest to a family.”
As such, the Commission — and local media — will be watching what happens to a “Commmander” who may soon face a dishonorable discharge from media ownership.
