At approximately 5pm Eastern on Wednesday, April 11, a Cumulus Media-owned Alternative operation mainly heard in one of the nation’s largest markets received a bit of a jolt — courtesy of the FCC. An FM translator Cumulus used to bring this station, based on an HD2 signal, to the masses was to sign off at midnight. A tweet referred to the situation as “lame as heck news.”
Why did the signal used for Alternative “99X” go dark? The Commission acted on an interference complaint submitted by the owners of a Class A on the same signal, some 55 miles to the west.
Now, the Commission’s Associate General Counsel has issued a split memorandum opinion and order that finds Cumulus in violation of an FCC rule — and the petitioner at a loss for attempting to squelch a license renewal.
