MESA, ARIZ. — A yet-to-be-built FM radio station, licensed for broadcast at 50kw from a transmitter located far to the northwest of the Phoenix metropolitan area, has of late become the focus of a fight by one of the nation’s leading media companies serving Hispanic consumers.
Entravision Communications is less than pleased about the pending arrival of the facility, given the frequencies used by its Classic Regional Mexican brand in Phoenix — “La Suavecita.” It objected to the CP grant with the FCC. Now, the FCC has spoken, and Entravision won’t be happy.
On Dec. 26, 2017, Matinee Media Corp. filed an application for a construction permit for KAZV-FM 107.3, licensed to Aguila, Ariz.
An informal objection to the license application arrived at the FCC on Jan. 3, courtesy of Entravision.
Additionally, the FCC on Dec. 27 received modification applications for Entravision’s 6kw Class A KDVA-FM 106.9, licensed to the West Valley city of Buckeye, and KVVA-FM 107.1 in Apache Junction, serving the East Valley region of the sprawling Phoenix DMA.
This action all stems from the Nov. 29, 2011 awardance by the Media Bureau’s Audio Division of a CP to Able Radio Corp. as the winning bidder in a new radio station licensed to Aguila. It’s an extremely rural town west of Wickenburg on U.S. 60.
But, because of its elevation, any 50kw signal could easily make its presence known across the West Valley towns of Surprise, Sun City West and even Buckeye. This led Entravision to thwart the new station’s possible entry into the Phoenix market by submitting competing modification applications for KDVA and KVVA. The Media Bureau dismissed those concurrent to the grant of KAZV’s CP.
Entravision repeatedly challenged the grant of the KAZV Construction Permit—through an informal objection, petition for reconsideration, and application for review—at each stage arguing unsuccessfully that Able had failed to obtain reasonable assurance of site availability at its original site and could not correct this deficiency by later curative
amendment.
On April 23, 2014, the Commission issued a final disposition of the matter in a
memorandum opinion and order denying Entravision’s application for review.
Then, on Dec. 3, 2015, Matinee entered the picture, acquiring KAZV’s CP from Able’s trustee in bankruptcy.
On October 22, 2015, as the proposed assignee, Matinee filed an application to modify the KAZV Construction Permit to specify a new 365-foot guyed tower located between Aquila and Wickenburg. Processing of this application was delayed due to various issues relating to leasing, environmental compliance, Federal Aviation Administration compliance, and local zoning.
In July 2017, Matinee applied for a “Special Use Permit”—a type of zoning permit—from Maricopa County to build the KAZV tower. Finally, on Dec. 26, 2017 — the day the KAZV Construction Permit expired — Matinee filed the KAZV License Application and a request for program test authority (PTA).
One day later, , Entravision filed the contingent Entravision Modification Applications.
According to the FCC, they are “substantially similar” to the modification applications that the Bureau dismissed in 2011.
What did Entravision want? It asked that the KVVA-FM license be modified from Apache Junction to Sun Lakes, Arizona, with a change in community of license and transmitter site while staying at 107.1 MHz. It also requested that the KDVA license be modified from 106.9 MHz at Buckeye to 106.7 MHz at Buckeye, at the existing KDVA transmitter site.
Sun Lakes is in the southern tip of the growing Gilbert-Mesa-Chandler region of the San Tan Valley, far from Buckeye.
Entravision wasn’t done: It also requested that the license for station KPPV-FM 106.9 in Prescott Valley, Ariz., be involuntarily modified through an order to become a Class C2 instead of a Class A at its existing site.
Then, KAZV could be relocated to a site that Entravision argued would be fully spaced to KVVA.
This was dismissed, as the FCC found that Entravision “has failed to demonstrate that Matinee failed to meet the terms of its permit or that grant of the KAZV License Application would be inconsistent with the public interest.”
A Temporary Use Permit was also discussed in Entravision’s objection. Local zoning matters brought to the FCC’s attention were deferred to Maricopa County by Albert Shuldiner, the Media Bureau’s Audio Division Chief.
In the end, the KVVA-FM modification application was denied, Matinee’s informal objection was granted, and KAZV’s official sign-on is now on track.
