It has 27 watts of power and serves the municipality of Marion, Ohio, one hour north of Columbus and home to the presidential home of Warren G. Harding.
And, it could be stripped of its license, as the FCC’s Media Bureau has designated for hearing its license renewal application. Why? Those in charge of this low-power FM may have lied with respect to its board members.
Spencer Phelps, who once was involved with another low-power radio station in Marion, Ohio, took notice of something truly odd about the board members associated with WWGH-LPFM.
A deceased woman was noted as an active board member, and Phelps brought this to the attention of the Commission.
There are other things Phelps noticed over the last two years, he tells RBR+TVBR, as well as oddities that have cropped up since the February 2021 rescission of the cancellation of WWGH-LPFM’s license.
The story of WWGH, at 107.1 MHz, begins with the July 28, 2019 birth of the facility that “proudly returned live morning radio” to the small city.
Fast-forward to February 12, 2021, when the FCC’s Audio Division Chief, Al Shuldiner, denied WWGH’s license renewal, preventing The Marion Education Exchange from continuing to operate the microstation. Why?
The licensee, led by Scott Spears (pictured, top left), failed to respond to an outstanding Letter of Inquiry (LOI) related to allegations made in an Informal Objection to the WWGH renewal application filed by Phelps. He is a former manager of another low-power station, WDIF-LPFM 97.5 in Marion. Shuldiner dismissed Phelps’ objection as moot. But, the cancellation came — until it was rescinded days later on the grounds that the e-mail address for Spears and for WWGH was incorrect.
“It was all a mistake,” Spears told RBR+TVBR in February 2021 upon sharing the news.
That said, a tale of rivalry between Spears and Phelps played out in local media.
On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, new questions regarding WWGH and the Marion Education Exchange arose at the Commission — this time from recently appointed Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer.
In one of her more forceful decisions since succeeding Michelle Carey, the Commission moved forward with commencement of a hearing proceeding before the Administrative Law Judge at the FCC. This will determine whether or not the Marion Education Exchange violated the Communications Act of 1934 by not only failing to respond to letters of inquiry, but also for misrepresentations and lying to the Commission.
Perhaps the biggest problem for MEE is that it filed an application to the pro forma assignment of the WWGH-LPFM license from former licensee Marion Midget Football. In doing so, MEE told the Commission that there are no changes in the board members.
This was done on May 2, 2019. The Bureau gave its blessing 19 days later.
Now, as part of the proceeding, it is acting on Phelps’ information that including Betty Compton as a board member in 2019 was problematic. In fact, it was a problem for Marion Midget Football as a former licensee, too, because Compton died on November 7, 2016.
Phelps also submitted information to the Commission suggesting that the MEE board was wholly different, and had supplied the names of four people not on the board member list given to the Commission. In a reply to the Commission, MEE disclosed that two other board members had since passed away since 2019; MEE’s response was also devoid of supply the documents the FCC had requested in its first letter of inquiry while taking time to share its community service benefits to Marion.
Further questions were asked by the Commission. Spears continued to explain its situation, while Phelps stated that he was being untruthful to the Bureau.
Given Phelps’ claims and the haziness surrounding just who is on the board, and MME’s candor regarding the board changes, Saurer finds “the record in this proceeding raises substantial and material questions of fact, and thus a hearing is required.”
With misrepresentation and lack of candor the key charges MME faces, losing the license is a strong possibility. That decision will ultimately come to the office of Jane Hinckley Halprin, the FCC’s ALJ.
