Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC 20554
In the Matter of ) ) ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA TRUST, DENNIS ) MB Docket No. 19-156 J. WATKINS, TRUSTEE ) ) Applications to Renew License: ) ) KFTK(AM) (formerly WQQX(AM)), East St. ) Facility ID No. 72815 Louis, Illinois ) File No. BR-20120709ACP ) WQQW(AM), Highland, Illinois ) Facility ID No. 90598 ) File No. BR-20120709ACO ) KZQZ(AM), St. Louis Missouri ) Facility ID No. 72391 ) File No. BR-20120921AAW ) KQQZ(AM), DeSoto, Missouri ) Facility ID No. 5281 ) File No. BR-20120921ABA ) Application for Consent to Assignment of ) Licenses: ) ) KFTK(AM) (formerly WQQX(AM)), East St. ) Facility ID No. 72815 Louis, Illinois ) File No. BAL-20160919ADH ) WQQW(AM), Highland, Illinois ) Facility ID No. 90598 ) File No. BAL-20160919ADI ) KZQZ(AM), St. Louis, Missouri ) Facility ID No. 72391 ) File No. BAL-20160919ADJ ) KQQZ(AM), DeSoto, Missouri ) Facility ID No. 5281 ) File No. BAL-0160919ADK ) Application for Permit to Construct New Station: ) ) W275CS, Highland, Illinois ) Facility ID No. 200438 ) File Nos. BNPFT-20170726AEF ) BNPFT-20180314AAO
To: Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary Attn: The Commission PROPOSAL OF MARK A. KERN
Mr. Mark A. Kern, by his attorneys, hereby submits a proposal for how the Commission should proceed in the above-captioned matter now that the presiding ALJ has dismissed the above-captioned applications.
BACKGROUND
Mr. Kern is a party in this proceeding. His petitions to deny, filed on November 1, 2012 and Oct. 21, 2016, led to the Commission investigation of Entertainment Media Trust, Dennis J.
Watkins, Trustee (“EMT”), which in turn resulted in the Hearing Designation Order.1 Based on his filings, Mr. Kern was named a party to the proceeding. Mr. Kern timely filed a Notice of
Appearance and has participated in the proceedings fully.
The result of the ALJ’s Order of Dismissal in this proceeding is the termination of the licenses for the four above-captioned AM broadcast stations in the St. Louis, Missouri area.
However, that does not mean that there must be a permanent loss to the community of four AM stations. The Commission can provide a means for replacement licenses for equivalent facilities and can do so both quickly and consistent with existing rules and policies. With this background, Mr. Kern, as a concerned local resident and a party in this proceeding, offers the following proposal for the Commission’s consideration.
MR. KERN’S PROPOSAL
Mr. Kern proposes that the Commission:
(1) Order EMT to cease operations of all four stations within twenty days.
(2) Delete the stations’ call signs but issue an order stating that:
a. No facilities change applications for other stations may be submitted that would encroach on the previously-authorized
1 Hearing Designation Order, 34 FCC Rcd 4351 (MB 2019).
-2- facilities of the four stations. That is, the previously authorized facilities of the four stations would remain protected in the Commission’s databases.
b. Applicants for the facilities will receive the benefits of all current grandfathering that applies to the current stations under the Commission’s AM engineering rules.
c. Applications for replacement stations would not be treated as applications for new stations under the Commission’s rules. 2
(3) Commence an auction proceeding as soon as possible for the four stations’ facilities and limit the number of facilities for which a party may bid, perhaps to one or two.
(4) Require bidders to demonstrate that none of the alleged wrongdoers, such as Mr. Romanik, will benefit from any transactions related to the facilities, such as profiting from the sale or lease of towers and station equipment.
(5) Include in the auction for the facilities now occupied by WQQW, Highland, Illinois a construction permit for that station’s companion FM translator W275CS.
Respectfully submitted,
MARK A. KERN
By: /s/ Robert G. Kirk Howard M. Liberman Robert G. Kirk WILKINSON BARKER KNAUER, LLP 1800 M Street, NW, Suite 800N Washington, DC 20036 Telephone: (202) 783-4141 His Attorneys
March 13, 2020
2 The stations’ current facilities are summarized in Attachment A hereto.
-3- ATTACHMENT A
KFTK, East St. Louis, IL 1490 kHz Daytime: 1 kW ND Nighttime: 1 kW ND
WQQW, Highland, IL 1510 kHz Daytime: 1 kW-D (4 towers) Nighttime: None. A daytime-only station.
KZQZ, St. Louis, MO 1430 kHz Daytime: 50 kW-D (4 towers) Nighttime: 5 kW-D (4 towers)
KQQZ, Fairview Heights, IL (formerly DeSoto, MO) 1190 kHz Daytime: 10 kW-D (5 towers) Nighttime: 0.65 kW-D (2 towers)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Annetta Washington, do hereby certify that on this 13th day of March 2020, the foregoing Proposal of Mark A. Kern was served by email and first-class mail, postage prepaid, on the following:
Chairman Ajit Pai Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
Commissioner Brendan Carr Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
Commissioner Michael O’Rielly Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
David S. Senzel Office of the General Counsel Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
The Honorable Jane H. Halprin Administrative Law Judge Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
John B. Adams Office of the Administrative Law Judge Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
Jeffrey Gee, Esq. Pamela Kane, Esq. Anya Baez, Esq. Enforcement Bureau Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
Albert Shuldiner, Chief Media Bureau, Audio Division Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 [email protected]
Dennis J. Watkins, Trustee* Entertainment Media Trust 6500 West Main Street, Suite 315 Belleville, IL 62223
David Honig, Esq. MMTC 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite725 Washington, DC 20006 [email protected]
/s/ Annetta Washington Annetta Washington
* Via first-class mail only