WRNR Dodges AM Revitalization Bullet

Back in September, we reported that Triple A WRNR/Annapolis, MD, owned by Steve Kingston‘s Empire Broadcasting, had received an unpleasant jolt when a listener informed them that the FCC had issued a license to a low-power FM translator in Baltimore on 103.1 — the same frequency as WRNR. That license would have rebroadcast the signal of Christian Talk WRBS-1230 AM/Baltimore, the sister station of 50,000-watt Contemporary Christian sister WRBS-FM (95.1 Shine FM)/Baltimore and would have seriously interfered with WRNR’s coverage in northern Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard and Harford counties.

We are relieved to report that the permit has apparently been rescinded. According to a Facebook post by Balto Media, a note said, in part, “WRNR has indeed won its complaint for reconsideration of WRBS-AM’s plan to put a low power FM on 103.1 to reach much of the Baltimore area. While the application passed the technical test, WRNR was easily able to prove listenership around Baltimore and impending financial damage from the new FM 103.1.” While that crisis has now been averted, Balto Media reports that the Commission is now considering an alternative proposal that would put a new 94.3 Baltimore signal on the air.” Kingston tells RAMP, “This is someone else’s headache now — First Media and the Washington Redskins both own stations on 94.3 in the Baltimore-Washington area. And the FCC calls this AM revitalization?”