Wahl Heeds FCC Revocation; WQZS Now Dark

Taken from the Wednesday, October 28, 1992 issue of The Daily American in Meyersdale.

More than three decades of locally-owned, operated and programmed radio in Somerset County drew to a close one week ago today.

It was on Thursday, April 4, 2024 when the FCC upheld the initial revocation last year for Meyersdale-based classic hits station WQZS (QZ 93.3). The action was an unclimactic end to five years of legal wranglings beginning with criminal charges against owner Roger Wahl and ending with his station’s license revocation due to his criminal record putting his character into question.

The small class A FM station operated quietly and with little fanfare over the course of its 32-year existence until charges were brought against Wahl in the summer of 2019. Wahl was accused of secretly placing a trail camera in the bathroom of a female acquaintance, and creating a fake online dating profile in which he would solicit responding men to rape the victim. The woman was never harmed.

Under the terms of a deal reached with prosecutors, Wahl pleaded guilty in 2020 to a felony charge of criminal use of a communications facility, plus several misdemeanors. His attorneys successfully argued that Wahl not serve jail time, but rather probation due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as his other health problems.

After Wahl’s criminal case had ended, the license of WQZS came under investigation by the FCC in 2020 to determine his fitness as a qualified licensee. Wahl had earlier attempted to transfer the license to his daughter Wendy Sipple in a token $10 transaction, which had initially been approved by the FCC. The commission, however, reversed course upon learning of Wahl’s criminal activities.

Wahl quickly ran afoul of the FCC administrative law judge appointed to oversee the legal proceedings concerning the WQZS license. Wahl initially acted as his own attorney, resulting in a chiding from Jane Hinckley Halprin, after Wahl had failed to respond to a preliminary contact a week before a scheduled status conference hearing. He then backed out of the hearing after a second attempt was made three days prior to that hearing, claiming a medical procedure the same day.

With the growing amount of publicity surrounding Wahl and the fate of WQZS, third parties began to emerge, claiming that they were shareholders of WQZS through an entity known as Target Broadcasting. Wahl claimed that Target Broadcasting was formed to acquire assets for the construction of WQZS, but that the entity didn’t actually do any business, and that he was the sole owner of the station.

Halprin also grew impatient with what she perceived as Wahl’s casual attitude towards the proceedings, including vague answers Wahl had given in a series of requested interrogatories surrounding his criminal case. She further stated that his decision to proceed as his own attorney did not excuse him from his ineptitude relative to following established procedures.

After a revocation order was issued in the fall of 2022, Wahl hired an attorney and filed an Application for Review in May 2023. While more forthcoming about his misdeeds, it was not enough to sway the decision to revoke his license, as the revocation was upheld April 4th. With it came the subsequent order to silence WQZS immediately or risk forfeiture. Wahl ceased operations later that same day.

Wahl, a Meyersdale native, began his radio career in Blair County back in the early 70’s. By the end of the decade, he had returned home to help care for his ill father. He was working in sales for a beer distribution company when one of his clients – a radio station owner – informed him of a “drop-in” license in Meyersdale at 93.3FM. After some hearings from a competing applicant, the new WQZS debuted in October of 1992.

While the departure of Somerset County’s only locally-owned and operated commercial radio station will be sad for some, a non-commercial license holder hopes to fill that void.

“Some will ask why we got involved in this matter at all and that we should have just minded our own business,” said Rob Kluver, of WHYU, also of Meyersdale. “We are obligated to serve our licensed community and that is exactly what we did without apology.”

WHYU had been a LPFM operating since 2017 at 102.3 until 2022, when it was issued a full-power license at the non-commercial end of the FM radio band at 89.1. The station is owned by the American Militia Association, of which Kluver is the owner and founder. The organization had made previous requests to the FCC to not allow Wahl to keep his license.

“We understand that many will be sad about the loss of a station which has served our community for more than 30 years,” said Kluver.  “While it would have been much worse if we hadn’t been able to convert our LPFM to a full power NCE station and provide better coverage and community service to Meyersdale, the hole on the radio dial will still impact fringe listeners of WQZS’s station we can’t reach.”