Fans of a popular Atlanta radio station began hearing the sound of silence after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered they shut off their signal.
99X, one of Atlanta's primary radio stations for alternative rock, was ordered to cease operation on public airways, Wednesday.
The decision comes after a complaint of signal interference by Tallapoosa, Georgia-based WWGA - the sister station of WKNG.
Federal law requires that an FM translator station "will not be permitted to continue to operate if it causes any actual interference to ... the direct reception by the public of off-the-air signals of any authorized broadcast station."
According to WKNG, numerous complaints to Cumulus, the owner of 99x, were met with responses that the situation was resolved or that those complaining weren't actually listeners. The station went on to accuse the radio-giant of refusing to respond to other complaints. Cumulus allegedly blamed the problems on distance and terrain.
The two stations, at first, reached an impasse but ultimately went on to conduct testing at six different locations based on where WWGA - known as Great Classics 98.9 - had received complaints. Testers looked at the reception for WWGA while 99X was broadcasting at different powers. They also tested the interference when the Atlanta station was completely shut off.
From there, the situation once again reached a tipping point as both radio companies released competing reports based off the tests.
WKNG claimed that their sister station's reception improved when 99X was at low or no power. Cumulus countered almost every test result on grounds that complainants either moved, couldn't prosecute the case, couldn't be reached by their own station for questions or had changed their mind on the cause of the interference.
They also requested that one test site be disqualified since an additional signal appeared to be part of the problem.
Over the course of the legal battle, responses from both sides have become particularly heated with attorneys representing WKNG at one point claiming that Cumulus had submitted "34 pages of pixie dust" to obfuscate the problem - even as their data allegedly corroborated that there was an interference issue.
All of this came to a head on Wednesday when the west Georgia station's complaint was granted and the FCC ordered 99X to shut down operations on the airways. But it appears the battle isn't over just yet.
Both on its website and on social media, 99X has posted a message that they intend to fight the ruling.
"We've been bought and sold. We've been moved around the dial. We've been shoved on the web. We've been taken off. And it's been done again," the station posted on their Facebook account. "But this time, we’re not taking this s*@!."
They also directed listeners to a special website where they list the names and e-mail addresses of every member of the FCC.
"This is not the end of 99x! We’ll continue to program the station with the passion, the love and the effort we have," the site states.
As alluded to in the post, 99x is no stranger to big changes. The station first debuted in 1992 but was dropped in 2012. It came back - but on a different spot on the dial - at the end of 2015.
