KPIR/Granbury gets hit with $10K FCC fine

[MikeShannon914]

Per http://news.jimroseremembersradio.com today, "KPIR-1420 (The Pirate) L.R. Radio Group News/Talk Granbury, TX public file doesn't satisfy FCC inspector receives $10K fine."

Musta been a slow day over at the FCC office.

 

[jd]

So they suspect that the station never maintained a public file and it's been around for over 30 years? So what!

It's time for the FCC to take a break from things like auctioning off spectrum, allowing IBOC noise generators and increased interference from new or altered facilities on the dying AM band, adding more stations to an already cluttered FM band and continuing the ruse that requires serving "the public interest, convenience, and necessity."

It's a business, for Pete's sake. Drop the public file requirement and be done with it.

 

[dfaulkner]

I thought they were only fining for wardrobe malfunctions nowadays. ;D

 

[Jay Weaver]

I'm surprised FFC knows about KPRI. The signal on that little station is almost non-existent. The numbers have to immeasurable.

 

[jd]

Imagine this scenario, since it has happened innumerable times: the FCC hadn't given "K_ _ _" a second thought until someone said, "Hey, you might want to check them out (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)."

 

[MikeShannon914]

Sure, but I'd like to think there are bigger fish to fry out there. For example, the recent bloodletting at KRLD could perhaps make a disgruntled ex-employee ask the Powers That Be how the station got $9 mil knocked off the property value of the Garland tower site a few recent years back, cutting their property tax bill there by 75%. I know if I still lived in Garland, I'd be apt to suggest that the city force KRLD to relocate by making it too "unaffordable" to remain there, and replacing the tower site with a few hundred homes owned by "real" taxpaying citizens.

But that's just if I was disgruntled, and had been let go by CBS. Oh, wait...

 

[idiggraves]

Can always count on you Mike to give me a chuckle.

I hate to hear this as we really like that little station. It's a down home, red neck, thoughtful community station that I find to be a refreshing break from the now corporate run (into the ground) option. These small/medium market stations to become a target maybe?

 

[KTN Corp]

I know if I still lived in Garland, I'd be apt to suggest that the city force KRLD to relocate by making it too "unaffordable" to remain there, and replacing the tower site with a few hundred homes owned by "real" taxpaying citizens.

KBME's transmitter site is being encroached by suburban development. Harris County built a small segment of T.C. Jester Road that separates the site to service the new subdivision across the street from it. I'm betting that the buyers, the real estate agents, and the builder's salespersons didn't know that 790 kHz is being broadcast (@ 5,000 watts) from those towers across the street. Most people would think those are cell phone or private communication towers. To top it off, KILT (AM) is right behind the neighborhood Fry's Electronics and The Dump, 3 km away. Talk about buyer beware!

Another reason to get rid of the AM band and keep high RF from FM and TV isolated in Missouri City and Cedar Hill. Those AM sites are at its highest and best use as home developments.

 

[Lancer]

Are we really surprised the FCC fined someone called "The Pirate?"

Gotta be a joke in there somewhere... ;D

 

[317C50KW]

I don't know if KTN Corp has ever been to the KRLD transmitter site in Garland.....it's not what I would consider prime real estate.

And it's been there since 1939. We could safely assume that all the development at Miller and Saturn Roads came after those towers went up.

I find the development around the 1190 night site in Rockwall interesting though.

 

[billyg]

I hate to hear this as we really like that little station. It's a down home, red neck, thoughtful community station that I find to be a refreshing break from the now corporate run (into the ground) option. These small/medium market stations to become a target maybe?

I agree, unlike so many of the plug-and-play AM's here, they were serving the community. Too bad they didn't take care of it.

I worked for so many small stations where the public file hadn't been upgraded in years. One day while I was on the air the FCC came by and the guy wanted to see the Public File, which wasn't in the control room. Luckily I was able to contact the owner and we finally found the file in the program directors office under a pile of papers.

 

[newsmark]

Drop the public file requirement and be done with it.

It's hard to argue with that. Most of the stuff in the public file concerns programming that NO ONE listens to, and the FCC *knows* no one listens to. It's just supposed to somehow make everyone feel better that we're serving the public interest, even if the public isn't interested.

 

[dfwupallnight]

Drop the public file requirement and be done with it.

It's hard to argue with that. Most of the stuff in the public file concerns programming that NO ONE listens to, and the FCC *knows* no one listens to. It's just supposed to somehow make everyone feel better that we're serving the public interest, even if the public isn't interested.

Whether it's a stupid requirement or not, having a properly maintained public file available to anyone who asks for it
IS THE LAW. I couldn't get out of a speeding ticket by arguing that everyone speeds. I think the station got what they deserved; how hard is it to maintain a file of paperwork?? The FCC even tells you what needs to be in it!

 

[Lazy J]

Every 3 years we pay for an ABIP inspection. The inspector comes in and digs through our stations with a fine tooth comb. Often he finds little thing we've neglected, occasionally he finds big thing. Once we correct the problems, we get a pretty little certificate to put on the wall and the inspector notifies the FCC that we are compliant. We avoid the FCC and the FCC avoids us.

Best $300 you can spend.

 

[billyg]

It's hard to argue with that. Most of the stuff in the public file concerns programming that NO ONE listens to, and the FCC *knows* no one listens to. It's just supposed to somehow make everyone feel better that we're serving the public interest, even if the public isn't interested.

I agree, most public interest programming gets buried on early Sunday morning. Some stations run it after midnight. Clear Channel when they owned the Tyler cluster, ran the same local interview program on all 5 of their stations at the same time (5 am).

 

[BBontheRadio]

Can always count on you Mike to give me a chuckle.

Yup, we laugh at Mike all the time!

 

[milton77]

If they were bored, the FCC should have gone after the whole KKVI translator fiasco a couple years back (was extensively discussed on this board then).

 

[Sgt. Hans G. Schultz]

If they were bored, the FCC should have gone after the whole KKVI translator fiasco a couple years back (was extensively discussed on this board then).


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K240DS and KYFA are STILL operating illegally.

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=203839.msg1818206#msg1818206

K240DS is originating and feeding programming to KYFA. KYFA is supposed to be
originating the programming and K240DS is supposed to be receiving and repeating
the KYFA air signal. Last time I checked (about 4 months ago),
KYFA's 200W at 48 meters (157 feet) HAAT does NOT go 53 miles,
the distance from the KYFA transmitter to the K240DS transmitter!

Map of KYFA to K240DS:

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=32.86750,+-95.75111+(KYFA-FM)&daddr=32.90346,-96.12567+to:32.84333,+-96.56333+(K240DS-FM)&hl=en&ll=32.886507,-96.231995&spn=1.351553,1.766052&sll=32.953368,-96.118011&sspn=0.675273,0.883026&geocode=FayE9QEdOvRK-g%3BFSQR9gEdGj1F-il3TnOcE19JhjHeHkMS1He6aA%3BFUIm9QEdfo8--g&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=10&via=1&t=m&z=9

Map of KYFA signal:

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KYFA&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

They still can and SHOULD shut this thing down. At least until Mr. Wright gets a
station that is close enough to the K240SD transmitter on I-30 at Bobtown that
be can received there to be the parent signal.

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[jd]

One other thing about the translator that hasn't been mentioned is how it got there in the first place, since it was originally licensed to Canton. An application was filed by the previous owner to change the location to Garland and despite some of the required documentation not being included the FCC approved the application without hesitation. But if push came to shove an inquiry could be made into the history of the move to Garland. [That may be taken as a not so subtle hint.] It's been shown that the FCC can and does reverse its decisions and rescind grants; enough evidence exists in this case to do just that.

 

[longtimelistener]

Are we really surprised the FCC fined someone called "The Pirate?"

Gotta be a joke in there somewhere... ;D

The reason the station is named the Pirate is because that's the nickname for the Granbury H.S. football & basketball teams.
I know the guy that owns the station, he's a hard-working young guy that does a live morning show focused on stuff going on in Granbury, broadcasts the h.s. teams' games, sells time on the station, broadcasts from community events and works part-time at one of the big Dallas stations to earn a few extra bucks.

In other words, he's one of the good guys and is doing his best to actually serve the community his station is licensed to and is just scraping by while doing so. With all the other issues the FCC could be focusing on (like voice-tracking & automation going on at stations in large & small markets during emergencies) the FCC fining him $10K because they didn't like his public file is just flat wrong.