On August 2, 2022, the FCC’s Administrative Law Judge, Jane Hinckley Halprin, terminated a license revocation hearing against the owner of a Class A FM radio station in Somerset County, Pa., who is a convicted felon.
However, Roger Wahl had not yet been ordered to turn in the license of WQZS-FM 93.3 in Meyersdale, Pa., as a local pastor pleaded with the Commission to reconsider stripping Wahl of the station considered by some to be a lone local voice.
Now, the full Commission has spoken. Wahl is hereby ordered to shut down WQZS.
An Application for Review submitted on behalf of Wahl was denied by the Commission, affirming a revocation order. As such, Wahl’s license has been revoked as of Thursday, April 4.
The Order on Review was officially released late Wednesday by the FCC, after its April 2 adoption.
As has been extensively reported by RBR+TVBR, Wahl in July 2020 pleaded guilty to five crimes associated with voyeurism and a series of lurid events involving a woman. Wahl pleaded guilty to criminal use of a communication facility, as the WQZS offices and studios are also Wahl’s residence. This is a third-degree felony. Wahl also pleaded guilty to four related second-degree misdemeanors.
Efforts to strip WQZS from Wahl then commenced, even as he attempted to sell the station to his daughter for a token price. A license revocation hearing began, and Wahl largely treated the legal proceeding casually, leading Halprin to end it and suggest to the Commission that Wahl’s license be rescinded. Specifically, she held that Wahl had waived his right to a hearing by failing to respond to discovery requests and failing to comply
with other procedural obligations.
On May 2023, with Wahl’s chances fading to save his ownership of WQZS, an Application for Review was filed; a supplement was submitted on July 3, 2023, with two letters endorsing Wahl’s character. In the AFR, Wahl argues that he should be given an additional opportunity to present his case and rebut the Enforcement Bureau’s case by demonstrating WQZS’s “meritorious programming and his own public service and reputation for good character in the community.” Wahl also argued that his criminal convictions do not
merit revocation of the license. As such, the case should be remanded to Halprin, Wahl suggested.
The Commissioners, as is their duty, reviewed the record and the arguments raised by Wahl in the Application for Review. In the end, the Commissioners ruled that the Enforcement Bureau, which started the revocation process, acted correctly. First, the Commission rejected new evidence concerning his illness, conduct, and reputation. Second, “Because the hearing was terminated by the ALJ, Mr. Wahl may no longer present evidence or rely on other hearing rights,” the Commission ruled.
Finally, the Commission determined that the Enforcement Bureau reasonably concluded that Wahl’s criminal convictions merited revoking the WQZS license.
Thus, after some 3 1/2 years following a Media Bureau “Order to Show Cause” to commence a license revocation hearing, Wahl’s ability to continue as WQZS’s owner and operator has ended.
