In early September, radio industry veteran Tom Birch and his Lakes Media first made it known that “illegal translator interference” was impacting the reach of a Clarksville, Va.-licensed FM with listeners on the northern edge of North Carolina’s Triangle region.
It is a problem that has happened before, marking the third time in nine years WLUS-FM 98.3 had to contend with a distant FM translator’s signal disturbance. But, the FCC hasn’t acted. Birch is now renewing his call for Commission assistance.
A second opposition filing has been made with the FCC, demanding “immediate enforcement action against ongoing illegal interference” caused by FM translator W252EL at 98.3 MHz in Cary, N.Y..
It is operated by First State Communications, a subsidiary of Curtis Media. And, it uses a tower site some 60 miles away from that of WLUS, with protections given to Raleigh-area FMs WKIX and WQDR. The FM translator is one of four frequencies for “The Triangle’s ROCK FM.”
A Construction Permit is in place for W252EL that would further directionalize the FM translator’s signal, focusing it on Raleigh, Cary and much of Durham. As of today, it reaches much of Wake Forest, and a plan to eliminate that is in play.
Birch has no interest in waiting and seeing what transpires after such an adjustment for the Curtis Media property. He’s provided the Commission with “extensive engineering documentation, listener affidavits, and detailed evidence showing First State’s ongoing pattern of harmful interference.”
WLUS’s Class C3 FM signal can reach Butner, N.C., and parts of Wake Forest. Its fringe signal reaches Durham and northern areas of Raleigh, too.
Birch said, “We pay thousands of dollars every year in FCC license fees to guarantee interference-free coverage of our 45 dBu contour. Yet we have been forced—again—to spend more money on lawyers and engineers to stop a translator from illegally disrupting our audience and violating federal law.”
Lakes Media also owns Classic Hits WKSK-FM and Urban AC WSHV-AM (with an FM translator) in South Hill, Va.; Adult Contemporary WHLF-FM in South Boston, Va.; Classic Country WMPW-AM (with an FM translator) and Classic Rock WWDN-AM (with an FM translator) in Danville, Va.
