• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

In the Matter of Radio Station KDEE-LP

NOTICE OF VIOLATION Released: September 12, 2019 By the Regional Director, Region Three, Enforcement Bureau:

1. This is a Notice of Violation (Notice) issued pursuant to section 1.89 of the Commission’s rules (Rules) to California Black Chamber of Commerce (CBCC), licensee of radio station KDEE-LP in Sacramento, California. Pursuant to section 1.89(a) of the Rules, issuance of this Notice does not preclude the Enforcement Bureau from further action if warranted, including issuing a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture for the violations noted herein.

2. On April 25, 2019, an Agent of the Enforcement Bureau’s San Francisco Office conducted an inspection and observed the following violations:

a. 47 CFR § 11.52(d)(1): “With respect to monitoring for EAS messages that are formatted in accordance with the EAS Protocol, EAS Participants must monitor two sources. The monitoring assignments of
each broadcast station and cable system and wireless cable system are specified in the State EAS Plan and FCC Map Book. They are developed in accordance with FCC monitoring priorities.” According to the State of
California Emergency Alert System Plan, Version 2.0 Dated October 11, 2017, the two sources of monitoring assignments in the Sacramento - Sierra Metro Operational Area include: KFBK-AM (1530 kHz) as LP1
and KEDR (88.1 MHz) as LP2. During the inspection the Agent noted that KDEE-LP monitored only one source, LP1 KFBK-AM (1530 kHz).

b. 47 CFR § 73.875(b)(2): “The following changes may be made only after the grant of a construction permit application on FCC Form 318. …Any change in station geographic coordinates, including coordinate
corrections and any move of the antenna to another tower structure located at the same coordinates.” At the time of inspection, the Agent found that the coordinates of the actual location of the transmitting
antenna were not the same as the coordinates on the station license.

3. Pursuant to section 308(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, section 403 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and section 1.89 of the Rules, we seek additional
information concerning the violation and any remedial actions taken. Therefore, CBCC must submit a written statement concerning this matter within twenty (20) days of release of this Notice. The response
(i) must fully explain each violation, including all relevant surrounding facts and circumstances, (ii) must contain a statement of the specific action(s) taken to correct each violation and preclude recurrence, and
(iii) must include a time line for completion of any pending corrective action(s). The response must be complete in itself and must not be abbreviated by reference to other communications or answers to other
notices.

4. In accordance with section 1.16 of the Rules, we direct CBCC to support its response to this Notice with an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury, signed and dated by an authorized
officer of the CBCC with personal knowledge of the representations provided in the response, verifying the truth and accuracy of the information therein, and confirming that all of the information requested by
this Notice which is in the CBCC’s possession, custody, control, or knowledge has been produced. To knowingly and willfully make any false statement or conceal any material fact in reply to this Notice is
punishable by fine or imprisonment under Title 18 of the U.S. Code.
 
They should pay attention to the “underwriting” KDEE-LP produces. Multiple “calls to action”, phone numbers and websites mentioned galore. Probably not an actionable offense, but not classy.

In addition, they have range that most LP stations dream of. KYDS has 3x the power (and arguably) a more advantageous transmitter site on paper. Yet I don’t hear them from 60 miles out. I do get KDEE fairly well, though.

Those are the most glaring mistakes I could think of right off the bat. The fact that they only monitor one EAS source seems to be slightly more trivial than a different tx site location (I’d be curious if the FCC agent got to review the unauthorized, current site.)

That being said, they provide music that is lacking in Sacramento and it sounds slickly produced. A big plus for a LPFM...
 
Last edited:
Phone numbers and websites are allowed in underwriting. While not specifically stated in Underwriting Rules, multiple repetition of information is deemed as sounding more commercial than non-commercial. I'd say a phone number twice is right there on that line in the sand and three times is leap frogging over that line.

Calls to action is specifically defined as a 'no no'. Do you have an example of a call of action you heard? There's a fine line, it seems, as to whether it is or not.

I always took the attitude of trying to color s well within the lines I never caused any attention my way.
 
Calls to action is specifically defined as a 'no no'. Do you have an example of a call of action you heard? There's a fine line, it seems, as to whether it is or not.

I always took the attitude of trying to color s well within the lines I never caused any attention my way.

A good example heard a couple weeks ago (voiced by a KDEE jock):

“Come to Thunder Valley Casino this Saturday evening to watch Parliament Funkadelic live, in concert! (Describes PFunk). Tickets are $35 at the door and $29 advance purchase through xxx.com.

Enjoy the groovin’ sounds of Parliament Funkadelic this Saturday! Tickets available by calling the amphitheater box office at xxx or visit xxx.com Produced by LiveNation Concerts (it wasn’t LiveNation but they included a similar sounding promotion)”

I figured “Come to” and “Enjoy the groovin’ sounds” would be calls to action. I will make an attempt to listen more after work to see if I can find any other good examples.
 
Your example of underwriting definitely not within the rules. There are calls to action and prices. It sounds like a full fledged commercial to me.
 
From what I observe, the FCC allows a fix for violations via fines and short license terms. It is when the licensee flat out lies or attempts to deceive that puts a station in jeopardy of being shut down. The wrong tower site, wrong power, even commercial versus underwriting triggers fines and such. Lack of candor means you are not meeting the qualifications of an entity to hold a station license. With the FCC nabbing them once, they are on the FCC's radar and might be checked for compliance in the future.
 
This notice is their second. IIRC, KDEE received a notice last year for running over power. Not really a surprise, given their signal gets out like a Class A. The latest notice says their xmtr is at the wrong coordinates. I think they are currently using the old KROY STL tower on Arden Way. There is a Jampro array hanging off that tower.
 
IIRC, KDEE received a notice last year for running over power. Not really a surprise, given their signal gets out like a Class A.

Still does. I get a listenable signal out of them driving in Valley Springs...they tend to come in better than the *actual* class A in Merced on 97.5 at about the same distance!

They have a good sounding local product (which is unusual in a lot of LPFMs), but they're clearly flaunting the rules of non-commercial operation and the technical aspects of LPFM. I'd argue an unannounced visit by enforcement right now will still produce a high power reading well over 250w TPO. Not good if you want to keep a license...
 
The licensee has yet to correct the coordinates that the FCC show as incorrect. They are off by about 400ft. The FCC inspected them in April and issued the notice of violation in September. I wonder if they even replied back to the FCC letter. They were also cited by the FCC in 2017 for running excessive power.
 
They'd better get serious about their license. Turning down the TPO and fixing the coordinates are simple corrective actions. 97.5 is arguably the best open channel for LPFM or translator in this market. Many others would love that dial position if it became available!
 
Still does. I get a listenable signal out of them driving in Valley Springs...they tend to come in better than the *actual* class A in Merced on 97.5 at about the same distance!

They have a good sounding local product (which is unusual in a lot of LPFMs), but they're clearly flaunting the rules of non-commercial operation and the technical aspects of LPFM. I'd argue an unannounced visit by enforcement right now will still produce a high power reading well over 250w TPO. Not good if you want to keep a license...

Indeed! I would like to see their written responses to the FCC, but I don't know how to locate them. Anyone? Probably too early for the recent notification, but their response for the one last year should be available..
 
Indeed! I would like to see their written responses to the FCC, but I don't know how to locate them. Anyone? Probably too early for the recent notification, but their response for the one last year should be available..

Replies to the Enforcement Bureau are not public. I would of thought that they would have corrected the technical issues by filing an application to do so but they have not. The FCC deleted KDLZ-LP recently. There are a few other LPFM stations in Sacramento that are silent.
KBQS-LP 98.9 SACRAMENTO BICYCLE KITCHEN Silent since March 19, 2019.
KQPT-LP 106.1 SACRAMENTO AREA PEACE ACTION Silent since June 16, 2019.
KUGA-LP 95.7 UBUNTU GREEN Silent since December 18, 2018
KZAC-LP 106.1 SACRAMENTO FRENCH CULTURAL SOCIETY Silent since December 11, 2018
 
Replies to the Enforcement Bureau are not public. I would of thought that they would have corrected the technical issues by filing an application to do so but they have not. The FCC deleted KDLZ-LP recently. There are a few other LPFM stations in Sacramento that are silent.
KBQS-LP 98.9 SACRAMENTO BICYCLE KITCHEN Silent since March 19, 2019.
KQPT-LP 106.1 SACRAMENTO AREA PEACE ACTION Silent since June 16, 2019.
KUGA-LP 95.7 UBUNTU GREEN Silent since December 18, 2018
KZAC-LP 106.1 SACRAMENTO FRENCH CULTURAL SOCIETY Silent since December 11, 2018

Well, that will explain why I can't find the response. Thanks for that. KDEE-LP received the over power notice well over a year ago. It appears they never corrected that issue.

As for the other LPFMs listed, I question whether some of these were ever built. I couldn't find their facilities and never heard them on air.
 
Well, that will explain why I can't find the response. Thanks for that. KDEE-LP received the over power notice well over a year ago. It appears they never corrected that issue.

As for the other LPFMs listed, I question whether some of these were ever built. I couldn't find their facilities and never heard them on air.

I wonder if you call the contacts on the applications if they even know about the stations? I have seen many stations where the contact had no idea the station was even filed for. Seems some so called "consultants" have filed fraudulent applications using fake paperwork on non profits.
 
I wonder if you call the contacts on the applications if they even know about the stations? I have seen many stations where the contact had no idea the station was even filed for. Seems some so called "consultants" have filed fraudulent applications using fake paperwork on non profits.

Good question. At least one of those signed on the day before the permit expired. I doubt it was ever built.
 
Still does. I get a listenable signal out of them driving in Valley Springs...they tend to come in better than the *actual* class A in Merced on 97.5 at about the same distance!

They have a good sounding local product (which is unusual in a lot of LPFMs), but they're clearly flaunting the rules of non-commercial operation and the technical aspects of LPFM. I'd argue an unannounced visit by enforcement right now will still produce a high power reading well over 250w TPO. Not good if you want to keep a license...

YES!
 
Still does. I get a listenable signal out of them driving in Valley Springs...they tend to come in better than the *actual* class A in Merced on 97.5 at about the same distance!

They have a good sounding local product (which is unusual in a lot of LPFMs), but they're clearly flaunting the rules of non-commercial operation and the technical aspects of LPFM. I'd argue an unannounced visit by enforcement right now will still produce a high power reading well over 250w TPO. Not good if you want to keep a license...

Yes! I would get 97.5 KABX Merced real good in Galt, and even Elk Grove on the 99. That is until they added this new LP out of Sac, which totally ruined it!
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom