FCC Denies Stolz Again Over Entercom Sacramento Renewals

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, July 9, 2019

FCC

The FCC has denied a "Petition for Further Reconsideration" filed by Edward R. Stolz II in November, 2018 seeking reconsideration of the order dismissing in part and denying in part his prior Petition for Reconsideration filed in July, 2018. Stolz again sought the designation for hearing of the license renewal applications filed by a subsidiary of Entercom Communications or five radio stations in the Sacramento market. The agency dismissed the November, 2018 Petition due to lack of standing.

Throughout this proceeding, the Commission and the Media Bureau have held that Stolz lacks standing in this proceeding and Section 309(k) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, precludes designating the Renewal Applications for hearing based on conduct at a separate station formerly licensed to another subsidiary of Entercom, KDND-FM in Sacramento. The November, 2018 Petition does not address the Commission's or the Bureau's determination that Stolz lacks standing in the proceeding, nor does the November, 2018 Petition challenge the analysis.

Instead, Stolz stated that he had filed a Petition for Further Reconsideration seeking designation of the applications submitted in the Entercom and CBS Corporation (CBS) merger proceeding for hearing. Stolz argued that the Commission should at the same time designate the Renewal Applications for evidentiary hearing to determine whether Entercom possesses the character qualifications to hold a Commission license in light of Entercom's conduct at KDND.

The agency dismissed the November, 2018 Petition because, as it has repeatedly held, Stolz lacks standing in this proceeding. Under Section 405(a) of the Act, a petitioner for reconsideration must establish it is a "party" to the proceeding or "any other person aggrieved or whose interests are adversely affected thereby." Stolz, as an informal objector to the Renewal Applications, rather than as a filer of a valid petition to deny those applications,11 is not a "party" to the proceeding

The FCC concluded in the AFR Order and affirmed in the Order on Reconsideration that Stolz failed to show any direct causal connection between the Commission's grant of the applications and his alleged injury, which concerns his attempt to regain the license for station KUDL. The November, 2018 Petition does not challenge that conclusion or assert that Stolz is aggrieved or adversely affected. As a result, the Commission ruled he's not entitled to seek reconsideration.