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Cumulus To Pay Largest Sponsorship ID Fine Ever

frankberry

frankberry

Administrator
Inactive User
The FCC's enforcement bureau says it has reached a $540,000 settlement with Cumulus over a sponsorship identification issue at WOKQ (97.5 FM) in Dover, New Hampshire. The station broadcast 178 announcements in support of the Northern Pass hydro-electric energy project without identifying the sponsor of those announcements, in this case a company with a financial interest in the project. This is the largest payment in FCC history for a single-station violation of the Commission's sponsorship identification laws.

http://radioink.com/2016/01/07/cumu...ICATE+ME+-+Radio+Ink+-+Breaking+News+Templatehttp://streamlinepublishing-radio.emsend7lnk.com/lt.php?i=7A13A2A549
 
TheBigA said:
Probably more money than that station took in last year.
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Somebody asleep at the wheel. Wow. Top management needs to always be aware of rules when it comes to political. This was an early lesson for me in radio. I'm not certain, but I believe these type of complaints are being treated very seriously by the FCC due to potential lawsuits. Miss a legal ID, say a swear word, minor infraction but only if someone complains. Don't ID a political spot, and watch out!
 
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My question is: will heads roll over this?

Losing slightly over $500k when you're Stern, Bubba, or O&A may get you a bit of pass when you produce millions in revenue for a company. Even then, we saw that both were not long for terrestrial radio when the rules changed in regards to how fines were meted out.

Losing $500k in revenue in market rank #1xx is going to cause at least one person to go bye-bye.

Who is responsible for ensuring this didn't happen and/or who will take the fall?

The GM? PD? Or, since we're dealing with a major company's cluster, the market manager? They're the ones ultimately responsible for the profitability, billing, and programming.
Sales/Traffic? They took the cash for the ad, and are frequently the ones who determine when a commercial plays along with what wording goes into commercials (usually getting help from the client)
Production team? They should have, at the worst, a rudimentary idea about what needs to be (or not be...ex: sirens)in a commercial. However, production folks will say "I strictly go by the production order sales gives me"

This won't go unpunished. Cumulus has to be seeing who is responsible for botching this...this is far more than a dumb mistake. I haven't been in commercial radio since 2008, and I still know that anything even remotely political has to have a sponsorship tag and a note in the public file. I would've hoped folks who have jobs in the field would've known this and mentioned something to a higher-up when they heard it P.D.Q.!

Radio-X
 
Radio-X said:
My question is: will heads roll over this?
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You would think, but that doesn't seem to be what they're doing right now. This new CEO took over a few months ago, and from everything I've read, she's just focused on the future. They settled this case, they paid down some of their debt, they're using the cash on hand to tidy up all the loose ends so they can move forward. Contrary to all the predictions, there have been no layoffs, no salary cuts, and in fact, they seem to be adding staff in some places. Very different approach.
 
Radio-X said:
My question is: will heads roll over this?
Click to expand...

Why would heads roll? This infraction dates back to the Citadel ownership of the station. And the station was later sold to Townsquare so Cumulus does not even own it anymore.

The non-compliant spots were broadcast between May and October of 2011. Cumulus closed on the acquisition of Citadel in September of 2011, so they had barely walked in the front door when this happened.
 
TheBigA said:
Probably more money than that station took in last year.
Click to expand...

That FM bills nearly $5 million a year. But it is presently (and since 2013) owned by Townsquare.
 
DavidEduardo said:
That FM bills nearly $5 million a year. But it is presently (and since 2013) owned by Townsquare.
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Aha! Interesting...one of the group of small stations it sold to them that year. Another explanation why heads won't roll.

Sort of makes me wonder how much potential revenue they lost by selling those stations, given they used that money to buy Westwood One, which has consistently lost money since they bought it.
 
Stupid mistake by management at that time. I'm sure opponents of the dam are the ones that brought this to the attention of the FCC, but it's good that the enforcement mechanisms for such requirements still function.
 
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