Federal Communications Commission FCC 17-106
STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI
Re:   Application of Radioactive, LLC For Renewal of License, Station WRAX(FM), Lake Isabella, MI, 
MB Docket No. 17-198.
There are certain things that you typically do one day a year.  Celebrate your birthday.  Watch the 
Super Bowl.  Eat Thanksgiving dinner.  But if you have an FCC broadcast license, airing programming 
shouldn’t be on this list.
Unfortunately, this Hearing Designation Order addresses an FM radio station (WRAX) that has 
been on the air just one day a year for the last seven years.  The station’s licensee, Radioactive, has asked 
the FCC to renew its license.  But I’m not sure we should.
Under the Communications Act, the FCC must grant a broadcast station’s renewal application if, 
among other things, the station can demonstrate that it has served the public interest, convenience, and 
necessity.
1
  It’s hard to say that a station has served the public interest if it’s only been on the air one day 
a year during its license term.
The Communications Act further provides that if the licensee of a station fails to meet this 
standard, the Commission may deny the application for renewal after notice and opportunity for a 
hearing.
2
  And given the facts here, holding a hearing is clearly the right step to take.  But full hearings 
before an Administrative Law Judge can be lengthy, costly, and extremely resource-intensive for all 
parties.
So today, we are launching a streamlined procedure by which we will evaluate certain license 
renewal applications.  When a station has been off the air for a long period of time, the FCC itself will 
conduct a paper hearing.  This reform will help us cut down on the backlog of such applications while still 
giving licensees like Radioactive every opportunity to present their case for their licenses to be renewed.
The message the FCC is sending to broadcast licensees today is clear:  Broadcast stations must 
serve the public interest, and they must provide service to their local community.
I’d like to thank the Commission staff who worked on this Hearing Designation Order.  From the 
Media Bureau, thank you Michelle Carey, Peter Doyle, Tom Horan, Tom Hutton, and Holly Saurer.  And 
from the Office of General Counsel, thank you Jake Lewis, Keith McCrickard, Linda Oliver, Bill 
Richardson, and Marilyn Sonn.  We appreciate your efforts on behalf of the public interest—not just one 
day a year, but every day.
                                                     
1
Communications Act § 309(k)(1).
2
Communications Act § 309(k)(3).