NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, March 19, 2004

WJTM, a station reaching 1.2 million potential listeners on the northwestern outskirts of Baltimore and Washington, had been taken over by WYPR-FM, an NPR affiliate in Baltimore. The change, which has been challenged by two congressmen and dozens of listeners, reflects a battle being waged nationwide for ears at the lower end of the radio dial.

NPR affiliates and religious broadcasters, some of whom believe the public radio promotes a liberal agenda, are competitors for the relatively small number of noncommercial FM frequencies between 88.1 and 91.9 megahertz. College radio stations, the other sizable group of not-for-profit broadcasters, typically lack funds to fight aggressively for licenses.

Religious broadcasters have won some battles. In Lake Charles, La., the Christian broadcasting company American Family Radio knocked two NPR affiliates off the local airwaves in 2001 by obtaining a full-power license that overpowered the low-budget NPR translator stations, a tactic permitted by federal law.

"As the media markets have grown, the competition for those frequencies has increased, and those licenses represented by space on the broadcast dial are becoming more and more valuable," said the Rev. Frank Wright, president of National Religious Broadcasters, a 1,700-member association in Manassas, Va.

NPR spokeswoman Jenny Lawhorn said the competition had prompted initiatives by Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its supporters to help public broadcasters acquire frequencies and expand their offerings. She denied the charge of liberal bias.

Religious broadcasters have led in station numbers since a growth spurt in the 1990s, with more than 1,800 AM and FM outlets compared with National Public Radio's 772 mostly FM stations, according to Arbitron and NPR.

But NPR's affiliates have become more aggressive bidders for licenses since 2001, when the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting helped establish an organization to broker and finance station acquisitions.

That organization, Denver-based Public Radio Capital, helped negotiate the $5-million deal that created WYPR two years ago. It also was the intermediary in WYPR's agreement to buy WJTM from Joy Public Broadcasting Corp., a Wisconsin-based owner of stations devoted to Christian programming, for $1.2 million.

Joy sold WJTM "to solidify some of the financial condition of the rest of the corporation," said Thomas Bush, a member of Joy's board. The deal is awaiting Federal Communication Commission approval, but the purchase agreement has allowed WYPR to assume operations before the sale is completed.

Four for a Town of 53,000

The transaction has stirred protests because it replaces Frederick County's only locally based Christian station with programming that duplicates some material already heard in the area on three other NPR stations originating in Washington and West Virginia. Popular programs including "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered" and "Car Talk" can now be heard on four stations in Frederick, a city of 53,000 about 45 miles from Baltimore and the nation's capital.

"I don't think we need another NPR station because people can get it," said Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md. He and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., whose district is within WJTM's 40-mile range, have asked the FCC to meet with listeners to discuss the change in ownership.

Anthony Brandon, president and general manager of Your Public Radio Corp., WYPR's owner, noted that several Christian radio stations originating elsewhere also could be heard in Frederick. "This is not about us trying to displace Christian broadcasting," he said.

Brandon said the acquisition was in the public interest because WYPR was the area's only NPR station featuring an all-Maryland local news report. He called it "unrealistic" for lawmakers to interfere in the transaction, part of WYPR's plan for building a statewide public broadcasting network.

That's an unsettling prospect for Boni Buchanan of Boonsboro, who enjoyed WJTM's Christian programming and finds some public radio material offensive. Recently on an NPR station, she said, "they were talking about rock 'n' roll and people climbing into the back seat of the car and ... I had to turn it off. I don't want to hear that."

And although most NPR stations feature a mix of public affairs, news and music programs, some material broadcast on the afternoon of WJTM's changeover, including a discussion of the same-sex marriage debate from a homosexual perspective, probably fell into the category of material that some former WJTM listeners would rather tune out.

An FCC spokeswoman said that when considering license applications, her agency historically has not held meetings such as the one the congressmen are suggesting.

Wright, of National Religious Broadcasters, said he was nonetheless encouraged by the FCC's renewed emphasis on ensuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest.

To him, the takeover of WJTM raises a question: "How is it in the public interest to have duplication of services and have another group that is not being served? Radio stations are going to find an increasingly inquisitive FCC along those lines."

© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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