FCC Approves WWOR License Renewal

The FCC has renewed Fox's license for WWOR TV Secaucus, N.J.

The license had been challenged—back in 2007 and in the intervening years—by groups arguing it did not serve the local New Jersey community.

But the FCC Friday said that it had "reviewed the applications, the petitions to deny, the informal objections, the modification request, the petition for reconsideration and all supplementary and related pleadings and filings," and ultimately concluded that "the applicant is fully qualified to hold the licenses and that grant of the applications, subject to the conditions set forth herein and with the waiver granted herein, will serve the public interest, convenience and necessity."

"After seven years of inaction, the Commission has whitewashed Fox's abject failure to meet the needs of Northern New Jersey despite the fact that Fox has a statutory duty to give special attention to the needs of Northern New Jersey," said Andrew Schwartzman, who is with the Institute for Public Representation, which represented the United Church of Christ and Rainbow/PUSH in their challenges to the license. He also provided counsel to and represents Voices for New Jersey, which also challenged the license.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.