ARD's Guide to Fighting A Radio Station Sale
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So what can you do when your favorite locally owned, community involved radio
station gets bought out by a media giant? This is ARD's attempt to aide you in fighting
such a sale.
Although a station sale has never (yet) been overturned by the FCC based on public
comment and the Telecom Act of '96 makes it increasingly difficult to make an anti-trust
argument, ARD encourages you to take action. If you do not succeed, at least a public
record of the protest is made (which can be useful to others as they try to change
ownership rules in the future), and the involved parties are forced to spend legal
fees defending themselves which may make them think twice the next time they consider
an acquisition in that market.
Though there is room for improvement, ARD successfully used the following tactics
to delay the sale of station KREV/WREV/KCFE in Minneapolis for five months between
March and August of 1997.
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Public Comment | Informal Objection | Letter Writing Campaign | Letter Writing Guide |
Period of Public Comment
The FCC allows a 30 day period to file comment on a sale after the application for
transfer of license is made. FCC public notices of acceptance of applications are
available on the Web at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/Brdcst_Applications/
Informal Objections
During this 30 day period one way to comment on the sale is referred to as an Informal
Objection. 47 C.F.R. Section 73.3587 allows an informal objection to be filed against
any pending application. The objection may be in letter form and shall be signed.
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) can be accessed through the Web at http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html
Organize a Letter Writing Campaign
Often times those who are upset about a station transfer have no idea there is something
they can do. An effective way to educate the public about the 30 day comment period
and informal objections is to start a letter writing campaign to the FCC. The following
are effective ways to reach people with the information they need to know.
- Flyer: Leave informational flyers at local music venues/clubs and record stores. Concentrate on those that may have been supported by the station being sold. If it was not a music formatted station, pick other local businesses that catered to your target audience. Keep in mind you will find support from those who are against corporate media regardless if they listened to the station or not.
- Organize Over the Net: Discussion boards sponsored by the local news media may be an effective way to hook up with others interested in the cause. Other things to consider are starting a web site and e-mail list dedicated to issues surrounding the sale, the effects of corporate media, and actions people can take.
- Contact Local Media: Do not hesitate to contact the local media outlets. If there is a ground swell of support they may be perceptive to running stories. Your local college and public stations will likely be more than willing to cover the story for you.
- Contact Affected Members of the Community: Contact local charities, businesses, advertisers, bands, and record labels that benefited from the station and encourage them to write letters to the FCC. You may also consider contacting local elected officials.
- Public Meetings: Holding organized, well advertised, public meetings can be a good way for those concerned to share ideas and to organize an effective campaign. Consider using some of the above mentioned techniques to advertise the existence of the meetings.
Now, what do you tell the people you are organizing? Below we present a letter
writing guide detailing format, were to send the letters, and effective angles to
take when writing letters to the FCC.
Letter Writing Guide
When writing your letter to the FCC keep the following in mind. And always remember
that for the most part the FCC is not concerned about format issues.
1) Identify yourself as a radio listener, community member, advertiser, etc. or describe
why you have a special interest in this matter. Get this statement signed by a notary
public to make it an official document.
2) Share your concerns about the sale of the station to the new parent company. The
FCC will evaluate whether the new parent company will serve in the community interest
and likely not focus on the past record of the station.
3) But then again, we are creating a public record about the value of truly community
focused commercial radio, so share your feelings about and experiences with the station
and how the station served in the public interest. If possible, compare and contrast
the station's public interest programming and activities with those of stations owned
by the purchasing company already in the community. Specific positive examples or
'showings of abuse' with dates, transcripts, or recordings have stronger standing.
4) Offer specific facts or details to support your position. Express your concerns
about the general trends in commercial radio to support your argument, but not as
your only argument.
5) Be concise and to the point. Please use the FCC cover letter template (see below)
and citations to ensure that it gets to the correct place.
6) (Optional - clearly separate these comments from the main body
of your informal objection.) In the broader context of radio trends here are
some things you might want to write about. Call on the FCC to hold public hearings
in the community and elsewhere on the issues of radio diversity, public interest
post-Telecom Act, ownership concentration and emerging lack of competition; call
on the FCC to use their authority to 'provide for experimental uses of frequencies'
by developing a low power FM test-bed; call on the FCC to specify the creation of
free public stations of a regional and national nature as a part of digital radio's
public interest obligation.
Do not limit your comments to these suggestions if there are other issues that you
feel strongly about. If you write about these broader topics please CC: the FCC chairman.
The following FCC rules, requirements, and comments should help you craft your letter:
1. The FCC has a goal of promoting local radio diversity (which unfortunately they only define as the number of owners, not format, the audiences served, or locale of owners), competition, and the public interest, necessity, and convenience.
2. All radio stations are required to report on their 'issue responsive programming' and provide a brief narrative in their purchase application describing what they will do in this area.
[The following quote comes from a February 10, 1997 letter in response to an Informal Objection about a radio sale and programming complaint in Illinois (1800B3-WJS).]
3. "As a general matter, however, we do not attempt direct licensees in the selection or presentation of particular programming."
4. Absent a 'showing of abuse' the FCC will accept the 'good faith programming judgments' of a licensee.
5. The FCC notes that "licensees are required to offer programming responsive to the needs and interests of the community they serve" but that they "encourage residents and listeners to continue to make their programming preference known by directly contacting" the radio station in question.
Where to Send Informal Objections:
Send your original and nine copies in one envelope to:
Office of the Secretary
Federal Communications Commission, Room 222
1919 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20554
ATTN: Case #
Send a CC: in a separate envelope to:
Annette Clark-Smith
Federal Communications Commission, Room 332
1919 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20554
ATTN: Case #
Contact the FCC to get updated contact information and the applicable case #'s
Cover Letter Template:
In the Matter of
The assignment of the license for (station call letters) from (selling company) to
(purchasing company).
(Call Letters), (city where transmitter is located)- Case #
COMMENTS OF
(Place your name, organization name (if appropriate), and address here. Also include
the Date submitting the comments)
I (or organization name) file these comments on (date), about the FCC's license transfer
review of (call letters and case #).
(It is often best to start with a summary of your comments, then follow
with the details, explanations and other materials as needed. This can be more than
one page. Be sure your name and case number you are referring to appear on each page.
At the end of your comments be sure to sign the document.)
Submitted by:
(Signature)
Typed name and address
Date
Contact the Department of Justice
This section focuses on generating letters from those who feel they will be effected
economically by the sale.
The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Merger Task Force will be interested in:
1. The ability of advertisers to 'buy around' a group of commonly owned stations.
2. The ability of radio station owners to raise advertising rates.
3. The amount of advertising revenue controlled by one entity.
The following quote comes from Joe Klein in the Feb. 24th, 1997 issue of advertising
age. "If...a significant number of advertisers can no longer effectively 'by
around' a single owner...that merge would likely be anti-competitive."
The article went on to state that "Yet even as Mr. Klein was warning broadcasters
that the department would look at monopolization of advertising for a specific audience
- not just total market dollars - he acknowledged the Justice Department could still
approve deals giving two owners each more than 40 percent of a market."
This quote points to the fact that will be fairly hard to make a monopoly argument
with the DOJ, and also indicates a real need to reform ownership rules.
Letters to the DOJ can be sent to:
Dondo Cellini
Department of Justice
Anti-Trust Division, Merger Task Force
1401 H Street, NW, Suite 4000
Washington, DC 20005
The DOJ web site is at: http://www.usdoj.gov/
Formal Petition to Deny
Besides the informal objection the FCC allows what is called a Petition to Deny to
be filed. The Procedures for filing a 'petition to deny' are outlined in 47 C.F.R.
Section 73.3584. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) can be accessed through the
Web at http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html.
This Petition To Deny also has to be filled within the 30 day public comment period.
It is strongly suggested that you prepare a Petition to Deny as it will carry more
legal weight than the informal objections.
You should attempt to secure voluntary legal council to prepare the Petition to Deny.
We also suggest following the guidelines when preparing the Petition to Deny.
Petition Drive
Finally we suggest that you start a petition drive. These petitions can be used
to protest the sale and more importantly can be used to convince a future investor
to start a similar station.
The petition should clearly state the signer does not support the sale of the station
and would like to see a similar station returned to the air in that community. On
the petition obtain the person's name and address. Obtaining e-mail addresses on
these petitions can be used to build an e-mail list for updates on pertinent issues
or actions. Also, obtain the signer's age. This can be used as demographic information
when these petitions are presented to potential investors. Try to post a petition
on-line that users can print out and include instructions on how the signed petitions
can be returned to you. Good places to obtain signatures include music clubs, independent
record and book stores, and coffee shops.
It may seem like a stretch that these petition signatures can make a difference but
they can. Case in point: in Minneapolis a petition drive, started after local station
Modern Rock KJ104 went off the air, was the driving force behind the start of Revolution
Radio, REV 105, in 1994.
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Public Comment | Informal Objection | Letter Writing Campaign | Letter Writing Guide |
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