. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .In reply refer to:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1800B1-JD

William W. Zawila, Esq.
12550 Brookhurst Street -- Suite A
Garden Grove, California 92640

Richard J. Hays, Jr., Esq.
13809 Black Meadow Road
Spotsylvania, Virginia 22553

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Re: Western States Broadcasting, Inc.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KWSA(FM), West Klamath, Oregon
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File No. BAL-960913EM

Dear Messrs. Zawila and Hayes:

We have on file Western States Broadcasting, Inc.'s (Western) and Sandra Ann Falk's September 13, 1996 Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station License (File No. BAL-960913EM) for KWSA(AM), West Klamath, Oregon. We also have on file Wynne Broadcasting Company, Inc.'s (Wynne) October 15, 1996 Petition to Deny, Western's October 30, 1996 Opposition, and Wynne's November 13, 1996 Response. We have given this case expedited consideration as requested by the applicant because KWSA(AM) is a silent station and the assignee seeks to return the station to the air before its license expires as a matter of law pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. For the reasons stated below, we grant the assignment application and deny the Petition to Deny.

KWSA(AM) has been silent since March 4, 1994. On October 23, 1996, we granted Western's request to extend special temporary authority to remain silent. Notwithstanding this grant of temporary authority, the broadcast license will expire as a matter of law if the broadcast operations do not resume on or before February 8, 1997. See 47 U.S.C. §312(g); Order, Silent Station Authorizations, FCC 96-218 (May 17, 1996).

Western agreed in a sales contract "to sell the Federal Communications Commission license and a list of all previous advertisers" to Sandra Ann Falk for $7,500. In its Petition to Deny, Wynne asserts that the sale is invalid because it is the sale of a bare license and because Western failed to specify an available site from which KWSA(AM) could resume broadcasting.

Generally, Commission policy prohibits payment or consideration for the sale or assignment of a bare license. Edward B. Mulrooney, 13 FCC 2d 946, 947 (1968). We will however allow a license transfer along with the sale of other station assets. The reason for this policy is to prevent speculation in broadcast licenses and to encourage prompt initiation or resumption of broadcast operations. In the present application for assignment the only asset other than the license is a list of previous advertisers, the most recent of which could be no less than two years old. The assignee states that it would find this list of value, but we find that the list may not add sufficient value necessary for the sale to rise above a bare license sale. We have cited physical assets transferred to the assignee separate from the license (Arecibo Radio Corp., 101 FCC 2d 545, n. 12 (1985)) and the presence of rights and commitments in addition to the license (KPAL Broadcasting Corp., 28 FCC 2d 46, 48 (1970)) as sufficient to outweigh allegations of a bare license sale. We have also dismissed an assignment application where the licensee had no assets to transfer beyond the license itself. Donald L. Horton, 10 FCC 2d 271, 273 (1967). A sale involving only an old list of previous station advertisers is most akin to the sale lacking additional assets in Horton.

Our policy prohibiting the sale of a bare license is not statutorily mandated and we may depart from it in appropriate circumstances. See Bill Welch, 3 FCC Rcd 6502, 6503 (1988) (cellular case allowing bare transfer to bring about prompt initiation of service to the public). We are, however, statutorily mandated to evaluate all assignments under the general public interest, convenience and necessity test. 47 U.S.C. §310(d). We find that it would serve the public interest to depart from the bare license policy given the particular facts in this case. Here, the purpose of the transfer is the prompt resumption of broadcast operations, the same purpose as that ordinarily served by the bare license policy. Due to a February 8, 1997 deadline by which the silent station must return to the air or lose its license, the assignee will have a large incentive to resume broadcasting promptly because it will lose its investment if it does not resume operations within two months. See Procedures Announced for Expedited Processing of Applications Filed by Silent Broadcasting Stations, 1996 WL 271977, D.A. 96-818 (May 22, 1996) [ 11 FCC Rcd 14356 ]; See generally Southwestern Broadcasting Corporation, 1996 WL 660995, FCC 96-443 (November 15, 1996) [ 11 FCC Rcd 14880 ]. Thus we find that this case provides safeguards against mere speculation in radio frequencies and presents an appropriate circumstance under which we should depart from our prohibition against bare licenses sales. We also note that the sale price of $7,500 is modest and the station license was not recently transferred to our current licensee, additional factors indicating that the transaction was more than mere speculation.

Accordingly, having found the applicants qualified and that the assignment would serve the public interest, the Application for Assignment of the KWSA(AM) license from Western States Broadcasting, Inc. to Sandra Ann Falk IS GRANTED WITH APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS including that the station return to the air on or before February 8, 1997. Failure to return to the air by that date will result in the automatic forfeiture of the station's license. Wynne Broadcasting Company, Inc.'s Petition to Deny the Application for Assignment of License IS DENIED.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sincerely,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Linda Blair, Chief
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Audio Services Division
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mass Media Bureau