For starters, the station’s FCC license is still in limbo from the 2007 non-renewal. While Ellen Goodman, a law professor at Rutgers University and co-director of the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law, agrees that it’s ordinarily “a safe bet that the FCC won’t take action with regards to content,” she notes that the special circumstances of the station’s license—congressional involvement and the specific conditions put on the license—suggest in the other direction. In addition, the FCC is slated to get a new chairman soon who could shift priorities and practice. And the upcoming incentive spectrum auctions, where spectrum voluntarily given up by broadcasters are auctioned to wireless operators, might play a role. Goodman speculates that low interest from broadcasters in giving up spectrum might embolden the FCC to squeeze a relatively vulnerable station, like WWOR, to either better live up to its community service requirements or participate in the auction.

Still, Goodman points out that all this hinges on whether the FCC considers Chasing New Jersey a news program. After all, the station technically has the same amount of local, New Jersey-focused content at 10pm on weeknights. Even though the FCC’s localism guidelines prioritize news over other “local” content, to say that WWOR has run afoul of its license in this situation would be tantamount to ruling that Chasing is not news.

For their part, WWOR declined to respond specifically to questions about the program’s content, instead referencing a statement from Dianne Doctor, the VP and station manager of WWOR, who called the show a “news program immersed in all aspects of the state,” and referred to it as “enterprise journalism that no one else is doing.” It is clear that many politicians and public interest groups would disagree, but what the FCC has to say on the matter remains an open question.

Abraham Moussako is an intern at CJR.