FCC Terminates Hearing Proceeding; WQZS Revocation Fate Imminent

An FCC administrative law judge overseeing the future of a southern Somerset County-based radio station has stripped its owner of his final opportunity to try and save his license.

Judith Hinckley Halprin, who has presided over proceedings involving classic hits formatted WQZS (93.3 FM), today issued an order terminating a hearing proceeding for station owner Roger Wahl, thereby all but sealing the fate of the license that Wahl has held for more than three decades.

“Mr. Wahl, who is not an attorney, has chosen to represent himself in this hearing rather than retain counsel. For that reason, the Presiding Judge has repeatedly excused procedural deficiencies and has taken pains to explain to Mr. Wahl his responsibilities to respond fully to the Enforcement Bureau’s discovery requests and to orders issued by the Presiding Judge,” wrote Halprin in her order. “Mr. Wahl is not participating in this proceeding at the level necessary to render it a meaningful exercise of the opportunity for a hearing that has been afforded him, much less of the government’s time and resources. His repeated failure to produce required documents without explanation is particularly concerning. The Presiding Judge informed Mr. Wahl several times that lack of filing could cause him to lose his license.”

WQZS’ license status came into question after Wahl pleaded guilty in July 2020 to a felony charge of criminal use of a communication facility stemming from an investigation where he installed a hidden camera in the home of a woman known to him. Wahl used images taken from the camera to create a fake online dating profile, in which he would solicit men to rape the victim.

Under the FCC’s regulations regarding licensee character, a convicted felon cannot possess a broadcast license. As Wahl has pleaded guilty to the felony charge, this would disqualify him from retaining the license, which is set to expire later this month.

“Mr. Wahl has held the FCC license for WQZS(FM) for 30 years. He is therefore well-acquainted with the responsibilities of a radio licensee and should be cognizant of the gravity of having one’s license designated for a revocation hearing. He has chosen, however, to participate in this hearing only selectively,” continued Halprin in the order. “The Presiding Judge takes no pleasure in
causing a Commission license to be revoked without a full airing of substantive issues, but it is her duty to administer hearings “as will best conduce to the proper dispatch of business and the ends of justice. Given the direction this hearing has taken, as illustrated herein, the only logical course left to her is to find that Mr. Wahl has waived his opportunity to participate and, as a result, to terminate this proceeding.”

This order now clears the way for the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to revoke WQZS’s license, which could happen by the end of the month, concurrent with its expiration.