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Audio Division Revisits Two-Year-Old CP Grant While Denying Two FM Stations’ Applications to Modify Community of License; Proposes Modifying One Station’s Current CP to Effectively Rescind Prior Grant November 8, 2024

By recent Memorandum Opinion and Order and Order to Show Cause (the “Order” and “Show Cause Order,” respectively), the Media Bureau’s Audio Division (the “Division”) denied two unbuilt FM stations’...

LPFM Station Agrees to $9,000 Penalty for Ownership and Associated Reporting Violations, Failure to Comply with Local Public Notice Requirements, and Failure to Maintain Accuracy of Information in Pending Application November 8, 2024

By recent Order, the FCC entered into a Consent Decree with a California low-power FM station licensee (the “Licensee”) resolving an ongoing FCC investigation into third-party allegations that the Licensee had...

FCC Proposes $16,000 Fine for AM and FM Radio Station Licensee’s Apparent Unauthorized Transfer of Control November 8, 2024

By recent Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (the “Order”), the FCC proposed a $16,000 fine for an Oregon AM and FM radio station licensee’s (the...

FCC Proposes $146,976 Penalty Against ESPN for Transmitting EAS Tones in Absence of Actual Emergency or Authorized Test November 8, 2024

A recent FCC Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (the “Notice”) once again places ESPN, Inc. (“ESPN”) in the Commission’s crosshairs for apparently violating the FCC’s rules prohibiting the transmission...

Stations Continue to Receive License Renewal Penalties for Failure to Timely Upload OPIF Documentation September 20, 2024

Although a meaningful amount of time has now passed since the last radio and television station license renewal deadlines (which fell in 2022 and 2023, respectively), penalties continue to roll...

Georgia and Texas FM Stations Face Potential $3,000 Fines for Late-Filed Renewal Applications September 20, 2024

In two recently released Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (the “NALs”), the FCC proposed $3,000 fines against the licensees of Georgia and Texas radio stations (the “Licensees”), respectively, for...

Pennsylvania LPFM Station Receives Notice of Violation from FCC for Allegedly Broadcasting from an Unauthorized Location September 20, 2024

A Pennsylvania low power FM station (the “Station”) recently found itself in receipt of an FCC Notice of Violation (the “NOV”) for allegedly broadcasting from an unauthorized location. According to...

Media Bureau Requests Additional Evidence to Support Alabama AM Station’s Application to Modify Community of License September 20, 2024

By recent Letter Request (the “Letter”), the FCC’s Audio Division has asked the licensee of an Alabama AM station (the “Station”) for more evidence to support the Station’s application to...

Several Radio Licensees Agree to Compliance Plans and/or Fines for Unauthorized Transfers of Control September 20, 2024

By two recent Orders (the “First Order” and the “Second Order”), the Media Bureau’s Audio Division (the “Bureau”) entered into consent decrees with several radio station licensees to resolve issues...

Idaho TV Translator Licensee Saves Displacement CP, But Found Apparently Liable for $1,000 Fine September 20, 2024

By recent Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (the “Order”) the FCC’s Video Division simultaneously: (1) reinstated an expired displacement construction permit for an Idaho...