Bhag S. Khela

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In Re ) ) Application of BBC Broadcasting, Inc. ) For Renewal of License, ) File No. BR-20130927AJA Station KRPI(AM), ) Facility ID No. 21416 Ferndale, Washington ) To: Secretary, Federal Communications Commission Attn: Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau CONSOLIDATED OPPOSITION TO PETITION TO DENY AND INFORMAL OBJECTION Mark N. Lipp Ari S. Meltzer WILEY REIN LLP 1776 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 (202) 719-7000 Counsel to BBC Broadcasting, Inc. February 14, 2014 i SUMMARY The Petition to Deny and the corresponding Informal Objection lack any factual basis and appear to represent a scorched earth, “not in my backyard” reaction from persons living near KRPI’s proposed new tower site who seek to derail the proposal at all costs. BBC Broadcasting, Inc. (“BBC”) properly applied for permission to relocate KRPI’s transmitter to Point Roberts, Washington, properly provided notice of the proposal pursuant to the FCC’s rules, and the Commission properly granted BBC’s application on May 24, 2012. Neither the Point Roberts Taxpayers Association (“PRTA”) nor the Cross Border Coalition (“CBC”) sought reconsideration of the grant, and it is now final. With no options left to obtain reversal of the grant of the construction permit (and no valid reasons for the Commission to do so), opponents of the plan now have contrived an alternative strategy and are seeking denial of KRPI’s license. If there was any doubt about the objectors’ motives, it was erased in a blog post by Arthur Reber, the filer of the CBC Objection, which states, “We will, if the moment is right, have our lawyers approach their lawyers with a[sic] offer: cancel the plan to build the towers and we’ll call off the dogs.”1 Using a license renewal proceeding as a backdoor way to object to a final grant of a construction permit is clearly inappropriate and a waste of Commission resources. Accordingly, the Commission should summarily deny the Petition to Deny and the Informal Objection and grant KRPI’s license renewal application. Contrary to PRTA’s and CBC’s claims, BBC provided ample notice of its application to move to Point Roberts, consistent with the FCC’s rules. While the opponents might have preferred that BBC had published notice in the local All Point Bulletin, they recognize that the APB is a monthly newspaper, which would not have complied with the Commission’s public 1 Arthur S. Reber, Stopping Radio Station KRPI – An Exercise in Local, National and International Politics, http://arthurreber.com/home/stopping-radio-station-krpi-an-exercise-in-local-national-an.html (Dec. 20, 2013), attached hereto as Exhibit A. ii notice requirement. Moreover, BBC’s omission of Canadian populations from its FCC application was consistent with standard engineering practices, as the Canadian populations were not relevant to the Commission’s consideration of BBC’s application. BBC has acted in good faith throughout the process, and the suggestion that BBC has been dishonest or hidden any material information is inaccurate, not grounded in fact, and far too speculative to support a prima facie case for denying the renewal of KRPI’s broadcast license. The other argument advanced by the opponents – that BBC somehow has been dishonest with the FCC regarding its ownership – is grounded in false assumptions and inaccurate speculation. As the Commission’s records reflect, BBC is controlled by Bhag Khela, a longtime resident of the State of Washington, who ultimately is responsible for the station’s finances, programming, and personnel. The opponents rely entirely on conjecture and conclusory allegations regarding the role of one of BBC’s programming sources, Sher-E-Punjab. However, nothing in the Commission’s rules prohibits a licensee from entering into a programming agreement with a foreign programmer, and the objectors have provided no credible evidence that Sher-E-Punjab controls BBC. To the contrary, the evidence demonstrates that BBC is in control of the station and that BBC is responsible for KRPI’s programming (which comes from numerous sources, including several in Whatcom County, Washington), financial, and personnel decisions. BBC chooses to carry programming from Sher-E-Punjab because it believes that the programming serves the needs and interests of its audience, as evidenced by the many letters of support that BBC has received from members of Washington’s Indo-American community. Because PRTA and CBC have failed to demonstrate any basis for denial of KRPI’s license renewal application, the Commission should dismiss their objections and grant the KRPI renewal application. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ ii I. STANDARDS FOR RENEWAL AND FOR CONSIDERATION OF PETITIONS TO DENY ...........................................................................................2 II. PRTA AND CBC HAVE RAISED NO SUBSTANTIAL QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE OUTSTANDING KRPI CONSTRUCTION PERMIT NOR BBC’S CANDOR IN DEALING WITH THE COMMISSION .............................4 A. BBC Provided The Notice Required By FCC Rules Of Its Proposed Move To Point Roberts ........................................................................................................5 B. BBC’s Exclusion Of Canadian Populations From Its Permit Application Was Consistent With The FCC’s Rules And Not Based On Any Malicious Intent, And The PRTA And CBC Concerns With Respect To Blanketing Interference Are Overstated And Premature. ...........................................................................6 C. BBC Properly Has Disclosed All Parties With Ownership Interests ...................8 D. BBC’s Programming Arrangements Are Consistent With FCC Rules And Policies ...............................................................................................................15 III. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................17 iv Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In Re ) ) Application of BBC Broadcasting, Inc. ) For Renewal of License, ) File No. BR-20130927AJA Station KRPI(AM), ) Facility ID No. 21416 Ferndale, Washington ) To: Secretary, Federal Communications Commission Attn: Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau CONSOLIDATED OPPOSITION TO PETITION TO DENY AND INFORMAL OBJECTION BBC Broadcasting, Inc. (“BBC”), licensee of Station KRPI(AM), Ferndale, Washington (Fac. ID No. 21416) (“KRPI” or “the Station”), by its attorneys and pursuant to Section 73.3584(b) of the Commission’s Rules, hereby files this Consolidated Opposition to the Petition to Deny filed by the Point Roberts Taxpayers Association (the “PRTA Petition”) and the Informal Objection filed by the Cross Border Coalition (the “CBC Objection”) (collectively, the “Objections”)1 in connection with the above-referenced license renewal application.2 As shown herein, neither PRTA nor CBC has raised any substantial question concerning BBC’s qualifications or its operation of the station during the prior license period. Accordingly, the 1 Although the PRTA and the CBC purport to be separate entities, there appears to be substantial overlap between them. The CBC pleading is signed by eight individuals, five of whom identify themselves as residents of Point Roberts. Of those five, at least two currently hold or recently have held leadership positions with the PRTA; as of 2011 (the most recent document available on the PRTA website), Mark Robbins was Chair and Arthur Reber was Vice President. See Point Roberts’ Association, Minutes, Annual General Meeting (July 27, 2011), attached hereto as Exhibit B. 2 On January 22, 2014, BBC requested an extension until and including February 13, 2014 to file its consolidated opposition to the PRTA Petition and the CBC Objection, which Bureau staff granted on January 23, 2014. Due to a snowstorm on February 13, 2014, the Commission was closed. This pleading was submitted on the next business day in accordance with the FCC’s rules. See 47 C.F.R. § 1.4(e). 1 Bureau should deny the PRTA Petition and the CBC Objection and grant the KRPI renewal application. I. STANDARDS FOR RENEWAL AND FOR CONSIDERATION OF PETITIONS TO DENY 1. Under Section 309(k) of the Communications Act, the Commission “shall grant” a license renewal application upon finding that: “(1) the station has served the public interest, convenience, and necessity; (2) there have been no serious violations of the Act or the Rules; and (3) there have been no other violations which, taken together, constitute a pattern of abuse.” See, e.g., In re WMAL(AM), Washington, DC, Opinion, 28 FCC Rcd. 14907, 14907-08 (2013) (“WMAL(AM)”); 47 U.S.C. § 309(k)(1). 2. Any interested party may file a petition to deny with the Commission. 47 U.S.C. § 309(d)(1). To the extent that the Objections concern the foreign ownership limit in Section 310(b), however, PRTA and CBC lack standing to raise these concerns. See Coal. for the Pres. of Hispanic Broad., 931 F.2d 73, 79-80 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (finding that while “viewers and listeners are among the intended beneficiaries of many Communications Act provisions, they are not the intended beneficiaries of Sec. 310(b)”). 3. Under the FCC’s two-step analysis for petitions to deny, the agency first must determine whether a petition to deny contains specific allegations of fact, supported by the affidavit of a person with knowledge of the facts alleged, that if true demonstrate that grant

Load more