FCC Daily Digest 2024-01-17

[nor...@info.fcc.gov]

(Note: Only FCC actions for the Bay-Area are shown below.)
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[fcclogo]
Daily Digest
Federal Communications Commission
45 L Street NE
Washington, DC 20554

Vol. 43 No. 11
News media information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
ASL Video Call: 1-844-432-2275


January 17, 2024
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Released: 2024-01-17. APPLICATIONS. MB. DOC-399838A1.pdf<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-399838A1.pdf> DOC-399838A1.txt<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-399838A1.txt>

(Note:

Call Letters or Unlicensed and Company or Place Name match found in contents linked at URL:


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0000196366 | Renewal of License Amendment | DTV | KPIX-TV | 25452 | Main | 560.0 | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | CBS BROADCASTING INC. | | | 01/16/2024 | Received

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0000235284 | License To Cover | FM | KREV | 36029 | Main | 92.7 | ALAMEDA, CA | Bankruptcy Estate of Golden State Broadcasting, LLC | | | 01/11/2024 | Accepted For Filing

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NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE, SHELBY BROADCAST ASSOCIATES, LLC, STATION W252BE, TARRANT, ALABAMA. Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $16,500 to Shelby Broadcast Associates, LLC, licensee of Station W252BE, Tarrant, Alabama, for unauthorized operation, failure to file for STA, and false application certifications . Action by: Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 2024-01-17 by NALF. (DA No. 24-51). MB. DA-24-51A1.docx<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-51A1.docx> DA-24-51A1.pdf<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-51A1.pdf> DA-24-51A1.txt<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-51A1.txt>

(Note:

Call Letters or Unlicensed and Company or Place Name match found in contents linked at URL:

18. Section 312(g) Expiration. We reject Marble City’s claim that the Station’s unauthorized operation triggers automatic expiration of the Station’s license under section 312(g) of the Act. Section 312(g) provides that if a broadcast station fails to transmit broadcast signals for any consecutive 12-month period, then the station license granted for the operation of that broadcast station expires at the end of that period, notwithstanding any provision, term, or condition of the license to the contrary, except that the Commission may extend or reinstate such station license to promote equity and fairness. 47 U.S.C. § 312(g).
The Commission has also held that, in cases involving operation from an unauthorized site or on an unauthorized frequency, such operation is “no better than silence” for section 312(g) purposes; therefore, consecutive periods of both silence and operation from an unauthorized site or on an unauthorized frequency are considered in the aggregate when calculating a consecutive 12-month period under the Act. See Eagle Broad. Group, Ltd., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 23 FCC Rcd 588, 592, para. 9 (2008) (Eagle), aff’d by Eagle Broad. Group, Ltd. v. FCC, 563 F.3d 543 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (“Under the statute, unauthorized and unlicensed transmissions are no better than silence”); Absolute Broad. LLC, Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC-23-38 at 8, para. 18 (2023) (Absolute).


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Taking into consideration all of the factors required by section 503(b)(2)(E) of the Act and the Forfeiture Policy Statement, we will reduce the forfeiture for these apparent violations from the base amount of $10,000 for unauthorized service to $5,000, and from $3,000 for the late-filed STA applications, to $1,500 because, as a translator station, the Station is providing a secondary service. See, e.g., Corning Christian Radio Corp., Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, DA 22-1084 (MB Oct. 12, 2022); Virginia Center for Public Press, Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice for Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, 34 FCC Rcd 9312 (MB 2019) (each reducing forfeiture for untimely filed renewal application for LPFM station due to secondary service status).
Finally, based on the gravity of the section 1.17(a)(2) violations, and Shelby’s history or prior offenses, we propose a forfeiture amount of $10,000 for submitting false certifications in its Renewal Application. See E-String Wireless, Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, 31 FCC Rcd 133, 139, para. 16 and n.50 (MB 2016) (proposing $5,000 forfeiture to licensee of translator that made false certifications in license to cover application, and noting a higher forfeiture would be appropriate for licensees of full-service stations); see also San Francisco Unified School District, Hearing Designation Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, 19 FCC Rcd 13326, 13334, para. 19, n.40 (2004) (false certifications are abuses of Commission processes which waste Commission resources and which may not only violate 47 CFR § 73.1015 but may subject the applicant to a monetary forfeiture as well as criminal liability under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (citing Financial Certifications by Applicants for Broadcast Station Permits, Public Notice, 2 FCC Rcd 2122 (1987)).
Considering the record as a whole, we propose a total forfeiture of $16,500.
28. Character Issues. Marble City has not established that Shelby lacks the character qualifications necessary to be a Commission licensee. Marble City has not made a prima facie case that Shelby submitted misrepresentations A misrepresentation is a false statement of fact or false certification made with intent to deceive the Commission. Fox River Broad., Inc., Order, 93 FCC 2d 127, 129 (1983); San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., Hearing Designation Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, 19 FCC Rcd 13326, 13334 nn.40-41 (2004) (subsequent history omitted). Intent to deceive is established if a licensee or applicant knowingly makes a false statement (or false certification) and can also be inferred when the surrounding circumstances clearly show the existence of intent to deceive. Leflore Broad. Co., Inc. v. FCC, 636 F.2d 454, 462 (D.C. Cir. 1980); American Int’l Dev., Inc., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 86 FCC 2d 808, 816 n.39 (1981), aff'd sub nom. KXIV, Inc. v. FCC, 704 F.2d 1294 (D.C. Cir. 1983). In a case where all of the allegations are a matter of public record on file with the Commission, there is no logical basis to infer a motive to deceive unless there is other probative evidence of intent to deceive. KAXT, LLC, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 32 FCC Rcd 9638, 9646, para. 16 and n.69 (2017) (KAXT).
in the form of false statements to the Commission regarding the Station’s operational status. We also conclude that Marble City has not made a prima facie case that Shelby made a false certification regarding “character issues” in the Renewal Application or the Assignment Application when it indicated that it was not a party to a broadcast application “where character issues were left unresolved or were resolved adversely against the applicant.” KAXT, 32 FCC Rcd at 9646, para. 16 (“[u]ntil such [character] allegations are determined to have merit and are designated for hearing, no ‘unresolved’ issue is pending ‘against’ the applicant, so there is nothing to report.”).


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