OR IGINALDOCKET FltE COpy ORIGIN!~L Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AECI2IVED Washington, DC 20554 MAY 3 02000 In the Matter of ) Amendment of Section 73.202(b), ) Table of Allotments ) FM Broadcast Stations ) (Tullahoma, Tennessee and Madison, ) Alabama) ) To: Chief, Allocations Branch COMMENTS OF STG MEDIA, LLC STG Media, LLC ("STG"), pursuant to Section 1.420 of the Commission's Rules and by its attorneys, hereby files its Comments in the above-captioned proceeding. I The FCC should deny Tennessee Valley Radio, Inc. 's ("TVR") rule making petition to change the community of license for WPZM(FM) from Tullahoma, Tennessee to Madison, Alabama because it does not represent a preferential arrangement of allotments under the FCC's FM allotment priorities. The reallocation of Station WPZM from Tullahoma to Madison will provide only a second local service to Madison, triggering the lowest priority for changing an allotment, other public interest matters. The proposed change does not serve the public interest because: (1) no gain in area or population will occur; (2) Tullahoma has a greater need for local nighttime service than Madison; (3) Madison is a smaller community than Tullahoma; and (4) Madison receives significantly more radio services than Tullahoma. The petition does not comply with Section 73.315(b) of the Commission's Rules because it fails to take into consideration the mountainous terrain that prevents Station WPZM's transmitter site I The Notice of Proposed Rule Making authorizes the filing of comments by May 30, 2000. Thus, these comments are timely filed. No. oj Copies rec'd cJ f 4: UstA Be 0 E from providing line of site coverage to the city of Madison. In support thereof, the following is hereby shown. Introduction TVR is the licensee of Station WPZM, licensed to Tullahoma, Tennessee. The only other radio station licensed to Tullahoma is WJIG(AM). On May 30, 1997, TVR filed a petition for rule making requesting a change in the FM Table of Allotments, Section 73.202(b), to reallocate Channel 227Cl from Tullahoma to Madison, Alabama and modify the authorization for Station WPZM to specify Madison as its new community of license. One radio station is already licensed to Madison, WUMP(AM). TVR did not propose any change in the transmitter site for Station WPZM. On April 7, 2000, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making proposing the reallocation of Station WPZM from Tullahoma to Madison, Tennessee. 2 The FCC Staff stated in the NPRM that it could not determine whether the proposed reallocation of Station WPZM to Madison was a preferential arrangement of allotments pursuant to the FM allotment priorities and requested TVR to demonstrate the public interest benefits in the proposed reallocation. I. THE REALLOCATION OF STATION WPZM DOES NOT SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST The reallocation of Station WPZM from Tullahoma to Madison does not qualify as a preferential arrangement of allotments under the FM allotment priorities. As the FCC acknowledges in the NPRM, reallocation of Station WPZM to Madison would provide that 2 community with a second local aural service,3 but only at the cost of Tullahoma losing its second aural service. The FCC therefore must consider the proposed reallocation under priority 4, public interest matters. 4 In determining whether retention of Station WPZM at Tullahoma or reallocation of the station to Madison better serves the public interest, any comparison of the two communities for allotment purposes must take into account several factors, including the number of aural services received in the proposed service area, the number of local services, and other matters such as the relative size of the proposed community and their growth rate. 5 A comparison of Madison and Tullahoma under the public interest criteria requires retaining Station WPZM in Tullahoma. Because no change in transmitter site for Station WPZM will occur, many of the potential public interest benefits that traditionally would be associated with a change in community of license are not present here. For example, no gain in area or population will occur from changing the station's community of license. Station WPZM already provides service to Madison and will continue to do so even without a change in the station's community of license. Station WPZM does not provide any specialized service to Madison that would be impaired by retaining Station WPZM in Tullahoma. Thus, no technical improvements will occur from changing the community of license for Station WPZM. Tullahoma, on the other hand, would lose its sole viable local nighttime service. In addition to Station WPZM, Tullahoma receives local service from Station WJIG. If the FCC " Tullahoma. Tennessee and Madison, Alabama, DA 00-782 (Chief, Alloc. Sr.) (released April 7, 2000) (the ·'NPRM'). 1 NPRMat 3. 4 The FM allotment priorities are: (I) First full-time aural service; (2) Second full-time aural service; (3) First local service; and (4) Other public interest matters. [Co-equal weight given to priorities (2) and (3)]. Revision olFM Assignment Policies and Procedures, 90 FCC 2d 88, 91 (1982). 3 changes the community of license for Station WPZM, Station WJIG would be the sole local service for Tullahoma. Station WHO operates with 250 watts daytime and 11 watts nighttime. 6 The nighttime service of the station reaches only 444 persons and does not place an interference free city-grade signal over Tullahoma. 7 Conversely, Station WUMP, the sole AM service for Madison, operates with 1,000 watts daytime and 123 watts nighttime. The nighttime service for Station WUMP provides an interference-free city grade signal over most, if not all, of Madison and reaches approximately 16,963 persons. 8 The removal of Station WPZM would deprive Tullahoma of its sole local nighttime service with no commiserate benefit to Madison, which already has significant local nighttime service from Station WUMP. The public interest mandates retention of Station WPZM in Tullahoma as the community's only viable local nighttime service. Madison is a well-served radio market, receiving the signals of at least 13 FM radio 9 stations. Tullahoma receives the signals of only 4 FM radio stations. 10 When the AM stations for each community are considered, Madison receives significantly more radio service than Tullahoma. II , See Faribault, Bluoming Prairie, Northfield and New Prague, Minnesota, 7 FCC Red 3937 (Chief, Pol. and Rules Div. 1992). () See Engineering Statement ofRichard Graham at 1-2 ("Graham Statement"). The Graham Statement is attached as Exhibit I. Id. at 2-4 8 Id. at 5-8. ') Id. at 9-10. This number includes Station WPZM. 1(1 !d. at 11-12. This number includes Station WPZM. II Because both Madison and Tullahoma each have a daytime AM station licensed to their communities, the number of aural services received in Madison is 14 and 5 in Tullahoma. Given that there are additional AM stations licensed to Huntsville, the total number of aural services that Madison can receive presumably is significantly higher than the total number of aural services that Tullahoma would receive. 4 Tullahoma is a larger community than Madison. Tullahoma has a population of 16,671 while Madison has a population of 14,904. 12 Moreover, Madison will continue to receive service from Station WPZM since no change in transmitter site is proposed. Madison is part of the Huntsville urbanized area, whereas Tullahoma is not part of the urbanized area of a larger city. Although it may be possible that Madison is experiencing a larger growth rate than Tullahoma, this factor, standing alone, does not support a finding that the public interest will be served by removing Station WPZM from Tullahoma. 13 A review of the public interest factors demonstrates that a proposed change in community of license for Station WPZM does not serve the public interest and that Tullahoma is more deserving of retention of its only licensed local PM service than Madison in gaining the same service. The proposed change will not provide any new opportunity for additional service not already available. The only apparent benefit would be identifying Station WPZM as licensed to Madison instead of Tullahoma, which is more than offset by the loss to Tullahoma. The FCC has denied similar rule making petitions in the past. In Bronson and Cross City, Florida, 10 FCC Red 8102 (Chief, Alloc. Br. 1995), the FCC denied a petition for rule making proposing to change the community of license for an FM station from Cross City to Bronson. The FCC denied the petition, concluding that the reallocation would not serve the pubic interest because Bronson had a smaller population than Cross City, was located closer to an urbanized area, Bronson would continue to receive service from the FM station, and the 12 Source: 1990 U.S. Census. 13 See Sumter, Orangeburg and Columbia, South Carolina, II FCC Rcd 6376 (Chief, Alloc. Sr. 1996) (faster growth rate not sufficiently compelling factor upon which to grant reallotment of station from one 5 radio station did not provide specialized service to Bronson. No change in transmitter site was proposed. The FCC further determined that Bronson received more radio stations than Cross City. The FCC concluded that these factors, combined with the fact that Cross City would lose its first local FM service, meant that the public interest favored retaining the FM service in Cross City and against reallocating the station to Bronson. In Bay Springs, Ellisville and Sandersville, North Carolina, 14 FCC Rcd 21339 (Chief, Alloc. Br. 1999), the FCC rejected a petition to reallocate an FM station from Bay Springs to Ellisville. Each community already had a daytime AM station. The FCC concluded that the reallocation would not serve the public interest.