They built a station. The FCC pulled the plug. They fought back.

By Candace J. Semien
Contributing Writer

(Special from Jozef Syndicate) — In a story of resilience and determination, the owners of a small Louisiana radio station have emerged victorious in their battle with the Federal Communications Commission. The victory is not just about a license or translator, but about ensuring that an important voice continues to be heard in a community that needs it.

Tony Brown and Martin Johnson, owners of Radio Two, have long been a fixture in the broadcast media landscape of central Louisiana. Their KTTP-1110AM in Pineville, Louisiana, is the only Black American and locally-owned station in the area.

Five years ago, they received a construction permit to build an FM translator for KTTP which was a daytime-only gospel station. “We got it completed within nine months,” Johnson said on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster . They made more than $50,000 investment to construct the station and upgrade the tower and transmitter site, Brown said. The FM translator would allow the station to broadcast 24 hours a day on the FM dial, thereby, expanding its reach across central Louisiana, where there was a lack of diverse radio programming.

Despite finishing the translator on time, miscommunications with the FCC – compounded by COVID-19 pandemic remote work – led to confusion about the necessary licensing paperwork. Johnson said they believed all steps had been completed and they continued paying licensing fees. Then, an FCC field inspector discovered the station was operating the translator without authorization. The license was canceled in 2022.

“We were very comfortable going in believing that we had done everything right,” Johnson said.

Radio Two argued that they had completed the construction two years before the permit expired,, but a misunderstanding had led to a missed deadline. Still, the FCC Media Bureau declined Radio Two’s request for a waiver.

However, when Radio Two appealed directly to the full FCC Commission earlier this year, attorney Donald Martin managed to convince the Commission to reconsider the Bureau’s decision.

While upholding some of the Bureau’s decisions against Radio Two, the FCC acknowledged the need for clearer procedural guidelines for small broadcasters. In a 10-page decision, the Commission found that the Bureau had applied an incorrect standard in denying the waiver for Radio Two’s FM translator license. For the first time in its 91-year history, the FCC took the rare step of overruling a decision made by the Bureau, which could signal a shift in how the FCC handles similar cases in the future. It emphasized that flexibility should be allowed for stations that operate in good faith, even if they miss deadlines due to misunderstandings or procedural errors.

“The entire full commission heard our case and they unanimously agreed,” Brown said. “One of the sticking points of them to consider us again is that we were providing a service that wasn’t being provided in central Louisiana.”

The ruling is a significant win for Radio Two who now has to file another license application with a waiver request. It is also a landmark moment for small broadcasters in similar predicaments.

For Brown and Johnson, this victory isn’t just about the FM translator and the station’s ability to broadcast; it’s about continuing to offer a unique perspective missing in the region.

In 2002, Brown established a two-hour news program called “Eyes Open with Tony Brown” which is a staple on air, through the KTTP1110AM App, and on Facebook. In 2012, Johnson, who is a business developer, launched Radio Two, LLC, and with Brown – an award-winning broadcast journalist – KTTP 1110 AM has grown reach to more than 75,000 listeners.

“When I started 23 years ago, I said, our audience deserves more than song and dance, because when you hear radio nowadays they may play urban music but they’re not owned by African Americans, so we are the exception to the rule,” Brown said. “It’s been not only an uphill battle to keep the station on the air, but from an advertisement standpoint.”

Today, KTTP 1110AM continues to offer balance and facts to a community often dominated by one-sided narratives, where community voices are often drowned out.

“I’m in the heart of central Louisiana where they had more lynchings between 1900 and 1950 than any other place in the state of Louisiana, so despite all of that God has allowed us–with just being prayerful, just being grateful–to persevere. And here we have another case where we preserved despite all the odds,” Brown said.

For small broadcasters like Radio Two, this is a victory worth celebrating, especially “when you’re on the right side, and you don’t give up,” said Brown.

This article originally published in the May 26, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.