FCC Complaint

[spindoctor1]

I know of a station that has no working phones, no fax, no business license for 3 years, no articles of incorporation for at least 2 years on the license, not paid ANY taxes since 2007, no ownership report for years etc, etc, etc. Why is this station permitted to keep it's FCC license?
Please someone help me here.

 

[knoxbob]

The same reason some stations operate at below licensed power or above and some stations stay on past their licensed sign off. If you are relying on the FCC web site for updated info on station licenses don't bet on that being correct.

 

[secondchoice]

As long at the station is on the air, technically doesn’t cause enough interference for somebody to complain, pays it renewal fees, has a working EAS, a control point that an “inspector” can visit during business hours, a copy of public flies can be in the library the FCC is satisfied. There was even a case of payola several years ago, that should have IMHO resulted in someone going to jail or a license forfeiture in NYC. There was a settlement with a station “agreeing” to give some play to a couple of independent labels's tunes once in a while. Welcome to the world of 80 / 90 deregulated radio, where ownership "controls" is a joke. The commission allows big operators put stations they should have to sell into trusts.

 

[boogiecheck]

I know of a station that has no working phones, no fax, no business license for 3 years, no articles of incorporation for at least 2 years on the license, not paid ANY taxes since 2007, no ownership report for years etc, etc, etc. Why is this station permitted to keep it's FCC license?
Please someone help me here.

A "station" isn't required to have working phones, a fax machine (has anyone actually used these since the 90s?) or anything else except for an actual pubic file which can be viewed, and the poster above correctly stated that many stations place theirs at the library these days. They would need a point of contact, but that could be an email addy or cell phone. Business licenses are controlled at the local (read: City/County) level and most times are not needed. Taxes for 2007 wouldn't have to have been filed yet, and maybe they were filed, just under a different DBA or Corp. name or they're working through an extension.

 

[abccbsnbcfox]

I know of a station that has no working phones, no fax, no business license for 3 years, no articles of incorporation for at least 2 years on the license, not paid ANY taxes since 2007, no ownership report for years etc, etc, etc. Why is this station permitted to keep it's FCC license?
Please someone help me here.

Everybody's missing the single, most important item the FCC regards as important to a station's operation.

The station's transmitter log and transmission facility.

Don't automatically put interference blame on the station.. the interference on the frequency may be caused by another station, not this one. Is the station's carrier "on frequency?" When was the last transmitter inspection by the FCC? (FCC field inspectors still make surprise visits to broadcast stations.. if you ever see a Chevy or Ford Van or Surburban with lots of antennas, receiver whips and a short mast, parked in some store parking lot, it's an FCC field inspection van from Atlanta)... What is the RF modulation? Is the tower lighted properly? Is the carrier wave clean? Are the transmission lines tuned correctly?

Nothing triggers a surprise inspection quicker, than any small deviation in the transmission signal detected by that field inspection unit.

Believe me.. those guys don't miss a trick.

The other stuff (name, address, contact information, public inspection file, etc) are all important, but nothing is more important than a station's transmission signal, its transmitter condition, and its transmitter log.

Nothing will put you off the air quicker than shoddy transmissions and outdated records (even by a few minutes).

 

[romer979fm]

I know of a station that has no working phones, no fax, no business license for 3 years, no articles of incorporation for at least 2 years on the license, not paid ANY taxes since 2007, no ownership report for years etc, etc, etc. Why is this station permitted to keep it's FCC license?
Please someone help me here.

where is this station located? you posted the same qustion 6 minutes ago on the Kentucky board:
is it perhaps on the state line...maybe Jellico?

 

[spindoctor1]

Just over the Kentucky / TN border.

 

[rtetro]

A "station" isn't required to have working phones,

Not true. Section 73.1125(e) of the FCC rules states: "Each AM, FM, TV and Class A TV broadcast station shall maintain a local telephone number in its community of license or a toll-free number." According to several FCC inspectors and attorneys, cell phones are not acceptable since they may (and often are) located outside of the community of license and may involve charges.

A station is also required to have a "meaningful fulltime management and non-management presence" at the main studio location during normal business hours. (Section 73.1125 and 73.1225). This is required for several reasons such as the ability of an FCC inspector or member of the community to show up and find someone there; perform EAS tests; etc. That being said, the main studio must be located within the community of license, within its principle signal contour, or at a convenient location within 25 miles of the community of license (in case of station clusters, etc).

It is true that the public file may be located in a locations other than the "main studio" and libraries are often used - but those locations must be within the community of license.

 

[spindoctor1]

I knew those statutes existed but could never find them. Thanks so much. By the way, the station WAS a heritage station located in Middlesboro Ky. 1490 WFXY

 

[Tennessee Cowboy]

There was a guy on the Tennessee side near there with his own AM and, so far as I could tell, no license. He passed away this year. Harrogate? Tazewell?