MESA, ARIZ. — On May 8, the FCC’s Media Bureau ordered the licensee of a Phoenix AM radio station with an FM translator to cease operations due to multiple regulatory violations. This put an end to regional Mexican “La Indiscreta,” operating since 2018, after Entravision Communications cited interference concerns with what is today KFUE-FM in Buckeye.
Now, the Commission has, intriguingly, opened up an avenue for the return of an FM translator for KASA Radio Hogar on the same frequency as Entravision’s “Fuego.” However, getting FCC approval will require some skilled maneuvering.
According to a letter sent to Entravision counsel Ari Meltzer of Wiley Law and KASA Radio Hogar counsel Barry Wood of Wood & Maines, reconsideration of the deletion of KASA-AM 1540’s call sign and its associated FM translator, K294CW, was submitted by Wood to the Commission on June 10.
KASA Radio Hogar wanted Special Temporary Authority to continuing to operate K294CW by rebroadcasting a different station, pending reconsideration.
Enter Entravision, which argued in a December 2023 complaint that K294CW created interference with KFUE. This led to a Media Bureau inquiry issued in February that found KASA to be broadcasting from an unauthorized location for over a year without approval. This activity led to the termination of its license.
KASA Radio Hogar then attempted to address these issues by applying for special temporary authority and waivers, and in May those were dismissed as moot due to the license terminations.
Now, in a twist, Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner has given KASA Radio Hogar the slightest bit of hope. In the letter, he stated, “We … express our potential willingness to reinstate the Translator’s authorization and allow it to rebroadcast a different primary
station.”
Here’s the catch: KASA Radio Hogar has 60 days to demonstrate to Shuldiner’s team that such operation will not cause predicted interference and to provide a plan demonstrating “a commitment to take prompt action in the event of actual interference” with KFUE.
And, this operation would indeed come from a different station than the now-former KASA-AM, which will not be coming back to life.
“Any reinstatement of the Translator license would potentially also reinstate our consideration of what action, if any, may be appropriate for the Translator’s apparent prior violation of a program origination prohibition in section 74.1263(b) of the Commission’s rules,” Shuldiner added.
The FM translator relocated to the Valley of the Sun from Baker, Calif., a famed town along Interstate 15 known as a rest stop for drivers between Las Vegas and Southern California. This is key to the ruling regarding the FM translator, as Wood contended, and Shuldiner’s team agreed, that the Translator’s deletion was based on “an incorrect premise” that its
license was permanently linked to that of KASA-AM. From 2016-2020, the link was enforced as unchangeable.
