Both the FCC and Congress think that the time is ripe to open up third-adjacent FM channels to the new low power FM service. The FCC is looking in general into ways to facilitate new stations, and is now accepting comment on the topic. The item is MM Docket No. 99-25 Low Power FM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It is in fact a Third Report & Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It hit the Federal Register 3/6/08, and comments are due 4/7/08 with the deadline for reply comments set at 4/21/08. The FCC advises commenters to "follow the filing instructions provided in paragraphs 86 to 88 of the Second Further Notice," which is available on its website.

The 20M sale of WKCP-FM Miami FL (formerly WMCU-FM) from Trinity International Foundation to American Public Media Group back in 2007 sparked a storm of protest from local listeners, and the listeners fired off formal and informal complaints to the FCC in an effort to prevent it. In the end, the effort fell flat.

The deal was filed with the FCC 10/1/07, and a petition to deny from several listeners flowed in almost directly on its heels, on 11/2/07. In support, over 100 other filed informal objections. A laundry list of allegations was swept aside. * The station failed to give adequate notice: It didn’t broadcast announcements, since it obtained authority to go silent for a period, but it did publish the announcement in a local paper. Petitioners challenged how local it was, but Trinity was able to prove that it was published in Miami. * Numerous allegations that Trinity failed to properly disclose ownership were dispensed with for technical or other reasons. * Objections to an expected format change are outside the FCC’s authority. * Contracts were filed without all documents provided: All that are must-haves were in fact provided; others with proprietary or essentially irrelevant information were properly withheld.

There was one area where the FCC seemed to concede there may be wrongdoing. That was the allegation that Trinity continued to solicit listener donations even though it knew it was in negotiation to sell the station to a company that may well scrap the programming the contributors were intending to support. However, FCC claimed that was outside its jurisdiction, and was rather a matter for the judiciary to settle.

RBR/TVBR observation: Interested in when "non-FCC misconduct" becomes a matter in which the FCC will in fact intercede? There are three types: fraudulent statements to a government agency (the FCC often seems to detest lack of candor above all other acts); felony convictions; or anti-competitive/antitrust matters involving mass media companies. If you have a criminal or civil complaint against a broadcaster involving any other type of matter, you might just as well start looking for a judge.

The NAB Show in Las Vegas is on the calendars of FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein (D) and Deborah Tate Taylor (R). They’ll be the featured guests at the Regulatory Face-off pegged for Tax Day, 4/15/08. But you don’t need to wait until then to see them outside the walls of The Portals in SW Washington. This Friday, 3/14/08, they will be joined by colleagues Michael Copps (D) and Robert McDowell (R) at the American Women in Radio & Television 2008 Leadership Summit & Business Conference. That event kicks off Thursday 4/13/08 and runs through Saturday. Also on the playbill are Candy Crowley, Bonnie Press, Henry Rivera, Suze Orman and others.

RBR/TVBR observation: Perhaps they will use this forum to make a joint pitch to Congress from afar to just go ahead and process their renominations to the Commission. It looks like they are going to be hung up due to maneuvering tied to the possible changing of the guard at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. If Tate has any questions, she need only lean over and ask Adelstein, who has been there and done that more than once.

Saturday Night Live veteran Al Franken has had a major hurdle cleared en route to his attempt to challenge Norm Coleman (R-MN) for the Minnesota Senate seat opposite that of Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who was able to hold the seat of retiring Mark Dayton (D-MN) for her party over Mark Kennedy. Franken was facing a stiff challenge for the 2008 Democratic nomination from Mike Ciresi, but that is now a thing of the past due to Ciresi’s just-announced withdrawal. It had been a battle between Franken’s celebrity-fueled fundraising ability v. Ciresi’s own personal fortune, which Franken appeared to be winning. Franken was able to win the battle of union endorsements. He still has to contend with a college professor, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, before earning the right to take on Coleman.

RBR/TVBR observation: Democrats are starting to think they have a chance at getting a filibuster-proof 60-40 edge this year, and this will be a key race if they’re going to pull it off. At the moment, CQ Politics rates it "No Clear Favorite," another way of saying toss-up. Some Democrats in Minnesota fear that Franken’s long career as a television comedian will be a wellspring of quotes for Coleman to use; this is even more true of material which can be gleaned from his books, going back to "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot." Those looking for this contest to turn into an electoral version of late night topical comedy television have been disappointed, as Franken has been on his best behavior thus far.