DA 25-417 In Reply Refer to: 1800B3-JAC Released May 15, 2025 Casa de Adoracion Inc. c/o James E. Price, III P.O. Box 1877 LaFayette, GA 30728 (sent by electronic mail) Foxboro Cable Access c/o Donald Martin, Esq. P.O. Box 8433 Falls Church, VA 22041 (sent by electronic mail) In re: LPFM MX Group 49 Casa de Adoracion Inc. New LPFM, Taunton, Massachusetts Facility ID No. 782851 Application File No. 0000232187 Foxboro Cable Access New LPFM, Foxboro, Massachusetts Facility ID No. 788078 Application File No. 0000232640 Petition to Deny Dear Applicants and Counsel: We have before us the mutually exclusive applications filed by Casa de Adoracion Inc. (Casa) and Foxboro Cable Access (FCA) for construction permits for new low power FM (LPFM) stations in Taunton and Foxboro, Massachusetts, respectively. Application File Nos. 0000232187 (filed Dec. 11, 2023) (Casa Application) and 0000232640 (filed Dec. 13, 2023) (FCA Application) (collectively, the Applications). Casa amended its application on December 18, 2024, to update its board of directors. FCA amended its application on February 2, 2024, to submit a corrected exhibit regarding its qualifications for a point for established community presence. FCA’s exhibit was untimely and not considered. See Commission Identifies Tentative Selectees in 93 Groups of Mutually Exclusive Applications Submitted in the December 2023 LPFM Window, Public Notice, FCC 24-113 at Attach. A (Oct. 16, 2024) (Tentative Selectee Public Notice). We also have before us a Petition to Deny the Casa Application (Petition), filed by FCA. Pleading File No. 0000258110 (filed Nov. 15, 2024). Casa did not file an opposition to the Petition. For the reasons set forth below, we deny the Petition, dismiss the FCA Application, and grant the Casa Application. Background. Casa and FCA filed the Applications during the 2023 LPFM Filing Window. Media Bureau Announces Filing Procedures and Requirements for November 1 –November 8, 2023, Low Power FM Filing Window, Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd 6660 (MB 2023) (Procedures Public Notice). Based on a request from LPFM advocates, the Bureau subsequently delayed the window until December 6, 2023. Media Bureau Announces Revised Dates for LPFM New Station Application Filing Window, Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd 9589 (MB 2023). The Bureau subsequently extended the close of the window until December 15, 2023. Media Bureau Announces Extension of LPFM New Station Application Filing Window, Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd 11882 (MB 2023). The Media Bureau identified the Applications as LPFM MX Group 49. Media Bureau Identifies Groups of Mutually Exclusive Applications Submitted in the December 2023 LPFM Filing Window, Public Notice, 39 FCC Rcd 2355 (MB 2024). LPFM MX Group 49 initially included a third application, Application File No. 0000231820 (filed Dec. 7, 2023), filed by Broadcast Learning Group (BLG). Following an amendment, the BLG application was removed from MX Group 49 and granted. See Broadcast Learning Group, Letter Order, DA 24-1243, 2024 WL 5089162 (MB Dec. 11, 2024). The Commission conducted a point system analysis in which it awarded Casa a total of five comparative points and FCA a total of four comparative points, See Tentative Selectee Public Notice at Attach. A. Casa and FCA both received one point for each of the following criteria: (1) commitment to originate local programming; (2) commitment to maintain a main studio; (3) commitment to originate local programming and to maintain a main studio; and (4) diversity of ownership. Id. Casa also received one point for established community presence. Id. FCA was not awarded one point for established community presence because its supporting exhibit was found to be untimely. Id. FCA does not dispute that its exhibit was untimely. and identified Casa as the tentative selectee of the group. Id. Casa certifies in its Application that it is a nonprofit educational institution or organization and provides documentation showing that it has been incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 2008. Casa Application at Legal Certifications Section, Eligibility Certifications question, and Attach. “1079 Corp Info.pdf” (Corporate Information Exhibit). Casa also certifies that it qualifies as local because it is physically headquartered, and has 75% of its board members residing, within 10 miles of its proposed transmitting antenna site. Id. at Legal Certifications Section, Community-Based Criteria questions, and Attach. “1079 Established Community Presence.pdf” (ECP Exhibit). Furthermore, Casa certifies that it is eligible for a comparative point under the established community presence criterion. Id. at Point System Factors Section, Established Community Presence question, and ECP Exhibit. In the Petition, FCA argues that the Casa Application “must be denied because it has failed to demonstrate that it is entitled to” the established community presence point. Petition at 1 (citing 47 CFR § 73.853). FCA contends that the narratives in Casa’s supporting exhibit for established community presence “do not focus on the proposed antenna site” and instead describe the applicant’s relationship to Bristol County, Massachusetts, and Taunton, Massachusetts. Id. at 2. FCA claims that “[w]hether Casa’s board members’ residences or its headquarters are within a 10-mile radius of the proposed antenna site is definitely not ‘readily ascertainable’ from this exhibit.” Id. (citing Procedures Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd at 6667). FCA also argues that “[s]tripped of whatever value the Commission gave this exhibit, Casa’s claim to comparative points is no better than FCA’s.” Id. at 3. Discussion. Pursuant to section 309(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act), 47 U.S.C. § 309(d). petitions to deny and informal objections must provide properly supported allegations of fact that, if true, would establish a substantial and material question of fact that grant of the application would be prima facie inconsistent with the public interest. See, e.g., WWOR-TV, Inc., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 6 FCC Rcd 193, 197 n.10 (1990), aff'd sub nom. Garden State Broad. L.P. v. FCC, 996 F. 2d 386 (D.C. Cir. 1993), rehearing denied (Sep. 10, 1993); Gencom, Inc. v. FCC, 832 F.2d 171, 181 (D.C. Cir. 1987); Area Christian Television, Inc., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 60 RR 2d 862, 864, para. 6 (1986) (petitions to deny and informal objections must contain adequate and specific factual allegations sufficient to warrant the relief requested). As explained below, we deny the Petition and grant the Casa Application. To qualify for one point for established community presence, an applicant “must be able to certify that, during the two years prior to the application, (a) it has existed as a nonprofit educational organization, and (b) it has been physically headquartered, has had a campus, or has had 75% of its governing board members residing within 10 miles, for applicants in the top 50 urban markets, or 20 miles, for applicants outside the top 50 urban markets, of the coordinates of the proposed transmitting antenna.” Procedures Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd at 6667-8; see also 47 CFR §§ 73.853(b), 73.872(b)(1). The 10 mile standard applies here because Casa’s proposed community of license is in the Providence-Warwick-Pawtucket radio market, which is a top 50 market. See The Nielsen Company (US) LLC, Radio Market Survey Population & Information, Spring 2024, at 1 (2024) https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Populations_Rankings.pdf. An applicant awarded a point for this criterion must also submit evidence of its qualifications in an application exhibit that demonstrates (1) the date of commencement of applicant’s existence, and (2) the location of the applicant’s headquarters, campus, or governing board members’ residences during the two years prior to the application filing. Procedures Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd at 6668. In addition, “the basis for applicant point claims must be readily ascertainable from timely-filed application exhibits,” Id. at 6670. but “there is some flexibility in the type of documentation a nonprofit educational organization applicant may provide.” Id. Here, we reject FCA’s argument that, because Casa does not focus on its proposed antenna site in the ECP Exhibit, it is not entitled to one point for established community presence. Casa certifies in its application that it qualifies for the point for established community presence, Casa Application at Point System Factors Section, Established Community Presence question. provides documentation showing that it has been incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 2008, Id. at Corporate Information Exhibit. and lists the addresses of its four board members. Id. at Parties to the Application Section. It also includes the ECP Exhibit, which states “[t]he Applicant confirms 75% of the board members are located within 10 miles of Taunton, MA, and confirm[s] they have resided within that 10 mile radius previous to November 8, 2021.” Id. at ECP Exhibit. While FCA is correct that Casa refers to Taunton, Massachusetts, instead of its proposed antenna site in the ECP Exhibit, we disagree that this disqualifies Casa from the established community presence point. Taunton is the proposed community of license in the Casa Application, the city where Casa’s headquarters is located, and the city where three of Casa’s four board members reside. Taunton is also only four miles from Raynham, Massachusetts, See https://www.distance-cities.com/distance-raynham-ma-to-taunton-ma. where Casa’s proposed antenna site is located. See Casa Application at Attachs. “1079 Reasonable Assurance Letter.pdf” and “1079 Taunton, MA Allocation Study Exhibit.pdf”. As a result, Casa’s reference to Taunton, rather than the proposed antenna site in Raynham, does not hinder our comprehension of its justification for claiming the established community presence point. In other words, it is still “readily ascertainable” from the documentation Casa provides Procedures Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd at 6670. that at least 75% of its board members have resided within 10 miles of its proposed transmitting antenna site for at least two years before the application filing. Furthermore, an applicant is afforded “some flexibility in the type of documentation [it] . . . may provide,” and we find that such flexibility is warranted here regarding Casa’s reference to Taunton instead of its proposed antenna site. Id. at 6668; see also LPFM MX Group 79, Letter Order, DA 25-249, 2025 WL 885224, at *2 n.27 (MB Mar. 20, 2025) (finding documentation for the established community presence point in an application for LPFM construction permit sufficient where the applicant did not include street names in the addresses of its board members). We therefore find that the Commission correctly awarded Casa one point for established community presence. An applicant can qualify for the established community presence point based on either its headquarters address or board member residences. See Tentative Selectee Public Notice at 2; see also Creation of Low Power Radio Service, MM Docket No. 99-25, Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 2205, 2220-21, para. 33 (2000) (localism requirement may be met by relying on either headquarters or board member residences). Accordingly, because we find that Casa qualifies for the point based on board member residences, we need not consider FCA’s claim that Casa does not qualify for the point based on the description of its headquarters location in the ECP Exhibit. We also reject FCA’s contention that, if Casa’s documentation is sufficient for the established community presence point, then so is the information provided in the FCA Application. Petition at 3. Unlike Casa, FCA failed to submit a timely-filed exhibit supporting its claim of one point for established community presence and, as a result, the Commission was correct not to award FCA a point for this criterion. See Procedures Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd at 6668 (“no point will be awarded to an applicant that does not timely submit the required documentation”). Accordingly, we deny the Petition, affirm the sole tentative selection of the Casa Application, dismiss the FCA Application, and grant the Casa Application. Conclusion/Action. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the Petition to Deny filed by Foxboro Cable Access on November 15, 2024 (Pleading File No. 0000258110) IS DENIED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the application filed by Foxboro Cable Access on December 13, 2023, for a construction permit for a new low power FM station at Foxboro, Massachusetts (Application File No. 0000232640) IS DISMISSED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the application filed by Casa de Adoracion Inc. on December 11, 2023, for a construction permit for a new low power FM station at Taunton, Massachusetts (Application File No. 0000232187) IS GRANTED. Sincerely, Albert Shuldiner Chief, Audio Division Media Bureau cc: Ms. Edna Isaac Representative for Casa de Adoracion Inc. (sent by electronic mail) Mr. Michael Webber Representative for Foxboro Cable Access (sent by electronic mail) 2