In May 1981, Monty McAnnally signed on a Class D daytime-only AM radio station with a secular rock n’ roll format. Fast-forward to 2000, when Rev. Gerald Parks acquired the station, moved it to Main Street in Williamsburg, Ky., and established a 24/7 Gospel format.
For 20 years, the Parks family generated accolades and listeners. But, trouble began in 2012 when a license renewal application was put on “red light” status for unpaid regulatory fees. Then came the station’s deletion. Parks sought to reverse that decision. The FCC in February 2023 declined the request.
That didn’t stop Parks from filing one month later a Petition for Further Reconsideration, in which he sought to immediate resume the operations of what was WEKC-AM in Williamsburg, Ky., and that the Audio Division of the FCC’s Media Bureau reconsider and subsequently reverse its decision.
Audio Division Chief Al Shuldiner said no to each of the requests, reaffirming his February 7, 2023 decision to hold Parks accountable for violating Commission rules.
Parks’ first Petition for Reconsideration was filed on April 20, 2022, illustrating the lengthy, time-consuming process one must undertake when seeking to contest an Audio Division decision.
The matter actually dates to April 2012, when the Media Bureau withheld action on a 2012 Renewal Application for WEKC because the Enforcement Bureau was conducting an investigation into the AM’s compliance with its Public File Rule.
Parks also happened to be delinquent in paying his regulatory fees. This placed WEKC in “red light” status with the Office of Managing Director.
Fast-forward five years. In April 2017, the Enforcement Bureau finally completed its investigation. The “red light” hold on a license renewal remained, pending an amended 2012 renewal application. This was needed because Rev. Parks had certified that he had complied with the Public File Rule, but the Enforcement Bureau’s investigation had determined this was not accurate.
Parks took no action, resulting in an August 2020 license expiration. WEKC disappeared.
Finally, on March 16, 2022, Parks’ legal counsel contacted the FCC; the Bureau reinstated and granted the 2012 renewal application.
One month later, Parks wrote to the Commission, arguing that the Media Bureau erred in reinstating and granting the 2012 Renewal Application but not also simultaneously rescinding the cancellation of the WEKC license. Parks claimed this was mandated by section 307(c)(3) of the Communications Act.
Shuldiner disagreed. “As clearly stated in the Expiration Warning Public Notice, the reason for the cancellation of the Station’s license was Parks’ failure to file a renewal application in 2020,” he said.
As far as the reinstatement and granting of the 2012 renewal application, Shuldiner declared this to be in error. That was rectified, putting an end to any hope that WEKC-AM will rise from the dead — as seen with the July 1 affirmation of his earlier decision.
