HAT Files Reply to Beasley Media Complaint

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, August 27, 2015

Hispanic Arts of Tampa (HAT) is responding to an Informal Objection filed with the FCC by Beasley Media Group against 100w WVVF-LP in Town N' Country, FL. The document complained that the "station sounds too professional" and that it seeking to serve the Hispanic market in Tampa by naming itself "Viva FM," launching with a music format and distributing a media kit.

In a reply to the FCC, HAT says that Beasley "considers WVVF-LP, Town N' Country, Florida, to be a serious competitor for audience in the Tampa market (Town N' Country is a small section of Tampa) despite the fact that the interference-free contour of WVVF-LP is approximately 3.5 miles and has a difficult time penetrating most buildings." WVVF-LP also maintained that it had only been on the air for one month before the filing and it seemed logical to add the music programming first while the station attracted listeners.

"The first order of business after constructing the station," HAT wrote, "was to get it on the air and attract an audience. Music programming, the cultural foundation of the station, was made available, first. Music programming was one of the programming elements HAT pledged to provide." Even so, WVVF-LP does "brand" itself as "Viva FM," but such positioning and branding of a non-commercial station violate no FCC rules.

In the complaint, BMG urged the Commission to suspend the operational authority for WVVF-LP because, it claims, the station is operating in a manner inconsistent with the requirement that Low Power FM stations be used for the advancement of an educational program. However, BMG cited no law or Commission precedent to support its request for suspension until all of its programming elements are available for broadcast.

Features the station has pledged to include in its programming are:

1. Broadcast live poetry and short story reading.
2. Educational cultural programs daily.
3. Broadcast local news and weather reports.
4. Live broadcast of local Hispanic arts festivals and music events.
5. Daily community calendar.
6. Local history show.
7. Interviews with local citizens.
8. Political hour/civic participation.
9. Discussion round-table, variety of topics.
10. Music programming.

"WVVF-LP is a low-power FM station with a serious competitive disadvantage in that it operates with a tiny fraction of the power of all other stations in the market," HAT wrote. "BMG represents in its complaint that WVVF-LP distributes a media kit but completely avoids any mention of the station's non-commercial status or the educational programming that FCC rules require it to provide." However, the media kit written in Spanish disclosed, with examples, "the nature of its license and the restrictions imposed by that license on its underwriting messages."

The FCC replay concluded that "WVVF-LP is not some scratchy, unprofessional, hobby radio station as BMG probably hoped it would be. WVVF-LP is seriously trying, very hard, to engage the local Latino community in making this LP station a community success."

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