Judge Sends Stern Warning to WQZS Owner

The besieged owner of a classic hits station in southern Somerset County has until Friday to provide requested documents to the administrative law judge who holds to the key to his station’s future.

Roger Wahl, 71, faces the loss of his right to hold the license of Meyersdale-based WQZS (QZ 93.3), the FM station he founded in 1992. Upon his felony conviction in July 2020 on sex-related crimes, this affects Wahl’s legal ability to control the license. An attempt to transfer the license from himself to his daughter is still pending.

Judge Jane Hinckley Halprin issued a discovery order Friday, giving Wahl until Friday, May 6th to comply with a First Request For Production of Documents and Thing. Wahl had first been served this order on March 14th, and had been given ten days to respond. Twelve days later, Wahl claimed to have received an error message when trying to upload the documents electronically. He was extended another deadline until April 8th, but again failed to do so, and without responding to additional communications.

“As Mr. Wahl is operating without counsel,” wrote Halprin, “and now that his filing obligations have been further explained, he will be given a significant but reasonable amount of time to provide the additional information required by this order.”

Halprin further required that Wahl provide more complete responses to the FCC’s document request and interrogatories by May 25th.