MIAMI — It’s a hard-rockin’ Christian-themed radio operation run by Rob Robbins that made headlines in October 2020 with its sale of 50kw rimshot noncomm WMKL-FM 91.9, in the heart of Miccousukee Indian Reservation territory, to Radio Maria Inc.
Then, in June 2021, Robbins’ Call Communications Group grabbed another close-to-Miami facility for his “Call Radio” operation, closing on the $25,000 acquisition of a 7,700-watt Class C3 facility licensed to Florida City.
On March 15, 2022, Call asked the FCC for a power increase, a tower site move, and a change of its community of license to Palmetto Bay — a bedroom community of Miami. A first-adjacent Jazz-formatted noncomm’s licensee protested. However, Call’s “minor modification” has been granted by the Commission.
What does this mean for Call? WMFL-FM 88.5 will now be able to reach much more of Miami-Dade County, with a shift north from a remote tower site emitting a signal over Key Largo and the agricultural city of Homestead.
To make the move happen, WMFL needs to change the existing prohibited contour overlap between WMFL and second-adjacent WDNA-FM 88.9 in Miami, via a waiver request.
Licensed to Bascomb Memorial Broadcasting Foundation, WDNA has famously suffered from a poor signal across the northern portion of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market, but has a Construction Permit allowing it to expand to 10kw from a new tower site atop a Brickell District high-rise. That’s a big upgrade from its current facility near the famed Knaus Berry Farm in the Redland area in the far western portion of the Miami market. And, it would finally put a city-grade signal over Aventura, Hallandale and tony Golden Beach, Sunny Isles Beach and Bal Harbour.
On June 3, 2022, Bascomb filed an informal objection to the “minor modification” request submitted to the Commission by WMFL.
But, does it have the right to object? An area of waived overlap “caused” by WMFL
and “received” by WDNA has existed since at least 2006, the Commission points out, and is the result of a 10-year effort that came to fruition that year to have WDNA upgrade from just 1kw to 7.7kw.
Enter the WMFL upgrade request. As Bascomb sees it, the proposed new WMFL facility would cause, not receive, prohibited contour overlap with WDNA and therefore does
not qualify for a Raleigh waiver.
Al Shuldiner, the Audio Division Chief, disagrees. “Any Raleigh waiver—including the WDNA Waiver—is ‘granted with the acknowledgement that future modifications
proposed by the affected licensees will not be construed as a per se modification of the waiver recipient’s license.’ Neither Raleigh nor Special Operating Condition #2 limits the size, location, or population covered of such future modified caused overlap areas.”
