Commissioners Renew WWOR, WNYW Licenses Over Groups' Opposition, Rosenworcel Concurrence

Commissioners renewed licenses of Fox Television Stations' WWOR-TV Secaucus, New Jersey, and WNYW New York over a concurrence from Jessica Rosenworcel, despite opposition from some groups to those stations. The licenses now expire June 1, 2023, FCC records show. An order published in Friday's Daily Digest denied applications by Free Press, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Voice for New Jersey and United Church of Christ for review of a Media Bureau 2014 order renewing WWOR's license (see 1408110046) and petitions by the last two of those groups to deny renewals for both stations (see 1411040061) over concerns of a Fox inaccurate report to the agency and WWOR not serving the needs of its audience, specific obligations the station uniquely faces. Thursday, the agency released letters dated June 28 Chairman Ajit Pai wrote New Jersey's two Democratic senators saying he circulated a draft to resolve WWOR's then-pending renewal application. "The Bureau acted reasonably in finding that inaccurate statements made by Fox in the context of ex parte communications did not warrant further review or nonrenewal of Fox’s license," said the new order. "Because of our action in the 2014 Quadrennial Recon repealing the NBCO [Newspaper/Broadcast Cross-Ownership] rule, Fox’s joint ownership of these properties is now permissible under our current [cross-ownership] rules and the challenge to the Bureau’s grant of a temporary waiver is therefore moot." The bureau had given Fox temporary waiver to own both stations and the New York Post. Friday, the company declined to comment, and some of the challengers didn't comment. The order didn't contain a statement from Rosenworcel, whose office didn't comment further; an agency official noted the commissioner hadn't issued such a response. The offices of Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, the senators who had written Pai, also didn't comment Friday. Booker and Menendez wrote Pai in January asking him to consider WWOR’s “persistent refusal” to “abide by its legal obligations to provide the people of Northern New Jersey with local news and information.”