It’s a Class B AM with a four-tower array along Addison Road in Prince George’s County, Md., that served as one of the National Capital Region’s first big Top 40 stations. Today, it is the home of “Sputnik,” the English-language Voice of Russia, thanks to a lease agreement between its owner and the programming supplier, a Florida-based registered foreign agent.
The station’s owner has been visibly silent as Congressional furor over the use of the AM, in addition to that of the NAB’s head. The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America has now stepped in, and wants Multicultural Radio Broadcasting to be stripped of its license for not only that station, but for all of Arthur Liu‘s radio properties.
The pro-Ukrainian organization has filed a petition with the FCC that seeks to revoke every AM and FM in the U.S. in which Liu and Yvonne S. Liu have attributable interest.
The Lius are the controlling shareholders of MRB and related licensee Way Broadcasting.
To be clear, it is only WZHF-AM 1390, a directional two-pattern Class B facility, that airs “Radio Sputnik.” It also airs in Washington, D.C., on a FM translator owned by retired attorney John Garziglia.
In both cases, the Arnold Ferolito-led RM Broadcasting LLC enjoys a LMA in which it controls the programming aired on the facilties. In DOJ filings, RM confirmed that it was paid $1.43 million between November 24, 2017 and June 2019 by Rossíya Segódnya, the government news agency created in 2013 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Yet, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America wants the FCC to strip the Lius of each and every license they hold. This involves eight AMs licensed to MRB; KALI-FM 106.3 in Santa Ana, Calif.; and 22 AMs licensed to Way.
The chances of the FCC moving forward with consideration of the request is likely slim, as 30 of the 31 stations do not air “Radio Sputnik.”
Still, it shows just how sensitive the airing of the English-language service of the Voice of Russia is given the war in Ukraine. To some, it is a propaganda-laden mouthpiece of the Kremlin. To others, it is no different than Deutsche Welle or the BBC.
Don’t tell that to the Ukrainian group. In the petition, it argues, “Arthur and Yvonne Liu have exchanged the lives of innocent women and children in return for thirty pieces of Russian silver. They have failed in their duty to broadcast in the public interest. Their actions are so heartless and uncaring that not only should the license of WZHF be revoked, but all their licenses should be revoked as well.”
According to the filing, WZHF was paid $35,000 per month between July and December 2021 to air “Radio Sputnik” via Rossiya Segodnya.
You can view the Full Petition Here.
