FCC judge rules that Knoxville's only Black-owned radio station can keep its license

Joe Armstrong, the owner of WJBE, is shown outside the station. A Federal Communications Commission judge rejected an effort by the agency to strip the license of WJBE 99.7 FM/1040 AM — whose call letters pay tribute to the original WJBE's owner, the Godfather of Soul, James Brown — Knoxville's only Black-owned radio station. (Institute for Justice)

A Federal Communications Commission judge rejected an effort by the agency to revoke the broadcast license of WJBE 99.7 FM/1040 AM, Knoxville, Tennessee's only Black-owned radio station — allowing the station to continue broadcasting.

In a ruling handed down on Sept. 14, a judge ruled that WJBE's owner, Joe Armstrong, should not have his broadcast license revoked — despite the agency's concerns over Armstrong's old felony conviction for a tax crime, one that occurred years before he took ownership of the station in 2012.