FCC Upholds Two Fines, Cancels One

Fines Two, Cancels One

The FCC has slapped a $20,000 fine on ETHICS, INC. for the unauthorized transfer of control of low power FM WHYR-LP/BATON ROUGE, LA, which it no longer controls.  The Commission rejected ETHICS President ELAINE C. ROUGEAU's appeal that the fine would cause her financial hardship, noting that she did not supply tax returns or other objective documentation to prove the company's financial situation.

In another case, the FCC has upheld a proposed $9,000 fine against SUDBURY SERVICES, INC. for public file violations at Talk KLCN-A/BLYTHEVILLE, AR.   The Commission rejected SUDBURY's appeal, which argued that the violations were neither willful nor repeated, that the fine was disproportionate to those meted out in similar or more egregious cases, and that the Commission failed to comply with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement and Fairness Act of 1996.

But the Commission canceled a proposed $14,000 fine against STEIN BROADCASTING, COMPANY, INC. for late license renewal applications and unauthorized operation of Country KXOX-A-F/SWEETWATER, TX, instead tacking a 25% late fee penalty onto the late filing.  The Commission found that the station had filed its application on time but that its credit card payment had failed.

« see more Net News