UTICA/ROME -- The newest affiliate of the Syracuse-based Mars Hill Network, WMHU (91.1/Cold Brook) is now fully licensed by the FCC. The "License to Cover" was granted on July 11, but the FCC officially announced the approval today.
The approval comes much sooner than the typical 30-day waiting period from the time a License to Cover is "accepted for filing." A search of FCC records online shows there were no public comments received regarding the station's application.
UTICA/ROME -- The Mars Hill Network's newest full-power FM signal is one step closer to officially moving from "construction permit" status to becoming a fully-licensed station. As reported in the latest edition of NorthEast Radio Watch, a "license to cover" application for WMHU 91.1FM has been "accepted for filing" by the FCC.
This final step of licensing for WMHU has been more than two years in the making for the Syracuse-based Mars Hill Network. Plans for the new station were first announced in early 2009. WMHU was originally expected to sign-on that spring, but nearly a year later, Mars Hill had requested (and obtained) FCC approval to make some changes to the construction permit, after it was decided to move the location of the transmitter. The modified CP retained Cold Brook in Herkimer County as WMHU's community of license, though the station's location is primarily intended to improve the network's coverage of the City of Utica.
According to the Promethus Radio Project, "accepted for filing" basically means the FCC has reviewed the paperwork and they see nothing wrong with it, but they need to allow 30 days for public comment before formally approving the new status. But, as the same page explains, WMHU can continue broadcasting under program test authority while it waits for the final "license to cover" approval.
If you didn't click over to NERW at the top of the article, be sure to head over there and check out the photos Scott Fybush shot at the NYS Broadcasters Association awards ceremony, including some nice shots of WSYR-TV co-anchors Rod Wood and Carrie Lazarus.