Permission to transfer license for WABD-FM granted; petition against act denied

On Wednesday, January 2nd, the Federal Communications Commission denied a petition filed on behalf of ADX Communications of Escambia, the owners of WYCT-FM (98.7; licensed to Pensacola, Florida) and WNRP-AM (1620; licensed to Gulf Breeze, Florida), to deny an application filed on behalf of the Educational Media Foundation requesting permission to transfer the broadcast license for WABD-FM (97.5; licensed to Mobile, Alabama) from the foundation to Cumulus Media, Incorporated. By denying the petition, the FCC was free to grant the application.

Before January 2nd, Cumulus Media of Mobile, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media, Incorporated, was all ready providing programming to WABD-FM after having done so since Sunday, July 15th, 2012 as part of a brokerage deal made between Cumulus Media, Incorporated and the Educational Media Foundation on Friday, June 29th, 2012. By the time the deal was made, the station was called WLVM-FM and its programming was provided by the foundation (the station became WABD-FM on Monday, July 16th, 2012, according to the FCC).

On the same day the brokerage deal was made, the foundation agreed to give the broadcast assets for WLVM-FM to Cumulus Media in exchange of the broadcast assets for WRQQ-FM (licensed to Belle Meade, Tennessee) and purchase the broadcast assets for WDLT-FM (97.1; licensed to Chickasaw, Alabama) from Cumulus Media (WRQQ-FM became WLVU-FM on July 16th, 2012, according to the FCC). These deals allowed for Cumulus Media of Mobile to switch the programming for WABD-FM, along with its call letters, from 104.1 megacycles to 97.5 megacycles and the programming for WDLT-FM, along with its call letters, from 98.3 megacycles to 104.1 megacycles, thus allowing the foundation to switch the programming for WLVM-FM, along with its call letters, from 97.5 megacycles to 98.3 megacycles (on Friday, December 21st, 2012, the FCC granted an application filed on behalf of Cumulus Media requesting permission to transfer the broadcast license for the station formerly known as WDLT-FM).

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