Silent AM Station Designated for Hearing
The FCC Media Bureau designated the renewal application of Vandalia Media’s AM station WJEH Gallipolis, Ohio, for hearing, said a hearing designation order in Friday’s Daily Digest. The designation is "based on WJEH’s record of extended silence and operation at…
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significantly reduced power,” the HDO said. Vandalia bought the station from Sunny Broadcasting Dec. 31, 2019. WJEH was silent for 364 days in 2020 and operated at reduced power for the last two days of the year, the HDO said, and has continued at a reduced power level. “Because of the Station’s extended periods of silence and operation at significantly reduced power during the preceding term, we are unable to find that grant of the renewal application is in the public interest.” Vandalia Media CEO Tom Susman told us his company lost access to the transmission site shortly after buying the station. The site wasn’t included in the license deal, he said. COVID-19 complications also made it hard to address the situation, Susman said. “We’ll respect what the FCC decides.”