Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
******************************************************** 
                      NOTICE
********************************************************

This document was converted from Microsoft Word.

Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.

All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.

Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.

If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.

*****************************************************************




                           Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of                     )
                                     )
Pilgrim Communications, Inc.         )  File Number:  EB-01-DV-300
                                     )
Licensee of Station KWYD(AM)         )            NAL/Acct.       No. 
Colorado Springs, Colorado           200332800005
Facility ID # 51816                  )  FRN  0006-1472-19
                                     )


           NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

                                          Released:  November 
20, 2002

By the District Director, Denver Office, Enforcement Bureau:

                        I.   INTRODUCTION

     1.   In this  Notice of  Apparent Liability  for  Forfeiture 
("NAL"),  we  find  Pilgrim  Communications,  Inc.   ("Pilgrim"), 
licensee of AM radio station KWYD in Colorado Springs,  Colorado, 
apparently liable  for a  forfeiture in  the amount  of  nineteen 
thousand dollars ($19,000) for willful and repeated violation  of 
Sections 11.35,  73.1125(a),  73.1560(a) and  73.1745(a)  of  the 
Commission's Rules  ("Rules").1   Specifically, we  find  Pilgrim 
apparently liable  for failing  to  have Emergency  Alert  System 
("EAS") equipment operational, failing to maintain the  requisite 
main studio presence,  failing to maintain  power levels  between 
90% and  105%  of  authorized  power  levels  and  exceeding  the 
authorized nighttime power level at station KWYD.  

                         II.  BACKGROUND

     2.   During routine station  inspections in  the spring  and 
summer of  2001, agents  from the  Commission's Denver,  Colorado 
Field  Office  ("Denver  Office")  inspected  several  AM   radio 
stations in  Colorado owned  and  operated by  Pilgrim.   Several 
Notices of Violation ("NOVs") were issued to Pilgrim for  various 
rule violations  discovered at  the stations.   In this  NAL,  we 
address the most serious violations discovered at station KWYD. 

     3.   Station KWYD  in  Colorado  Springs  is  authorized  to 
operate with 10,000 watts  of power during  daytime hours and  67 
watts of  power during  nighttime hours  on frequency  1580  kHz.  
According to  the terms  of  the license,  the average  hours  of 
sunset to sunrise for August 2001,  were 8:00 p.m. to 6:15  a.m., 
MDT.  On  August  21,  2001,  an agent  from  the  Denver  Office 
monitored the on-air  signal of station  KWYD, and  specifically, 
from 7:10 p.m.  to 9:00  p.m. MDT, the  agent conducted  numerous 
field strength measurements near KWYD's transmitter and  observed 
no  power   level  changes   as   required  by   KWYD's   station 
authorization.  During this  entire period, KWYD  appeared to  be 
operating  with  a  daytime  power  level  of  10,000  watts  and 
specifically from 8:00 p.m. to  9:00 p.m. exceeded the  nighttime 
authorized power level by over 14,925%.  According to the station 
authorization,  KWYD  should  have   switched  from  daytime   to 
nighttime power at 8:00 p.m.   Sometime between August 21,  2001, 
at 9:00  p.m. MDT  and the  subsequent inspection  on August  22, 
2001, KWYD switched power levels from 10,000 watts to 225  watts.  
On August 22, 2001,  from 5:40 a.m. to  9:30 a.m. MDT, the  agent 
again conducted numerous field strength measurements near  KWYD's 
transmitter and observed  no power level  changes as required  by 
KWYD's  authorization.   Based  on  actual  transmitter  readings 
observed at the KWYD transmitter  site during the FCC  inspection 
on August 22,  2001, KWYD had  been operating with  approximately 
225 watts.  Specifically  from  5:40  a.m.  to  6:15  a.m.,  KWYD 
exceeded the nighttime  authorized power level  by over 336%  and 
from 6:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. exceeded the daytime authorized power 
level by over 4,444%.

     4.   On the  morning  of August  22,  2001, when  the  agent 
initially attempted to inspect the KWYD main studio at 490 Willow 
Springs Road, Fountain, Colorado, the main studio was closed  and 
unstaffed.  A sign on  the door provided  the name and  telephone 
number of the  general manager, but  stated that as  of July  15, 
2001, the station was open by appointment only.  After contacting 
the  general  manager,  the  agent  was  able  to  complete   the 
inspection.  During the inspection of KWYD, the agent also  found 
that while EAS equipment  was installed, the  EAS system was  not 
fully operational because the EAS system was not programmed.   In 
addition, the  agent found  no logs  in existence  from March  to 
August 2001, reflecting the  receipt or transmission of  required 
weekly or monthly tests.

     5.   On December 12, 2001, the Denver Office issued a NOV to 
Pilgrim for the violations discovered on August 21 and 22,  2001, 
at station KWYD,  including, among other  violations, failing  to 
have  functionally  operable   EAS  equipment  (Section   11.35), 
operating at power  levels less than  90% and more  than 105%  of 
authorized power (Section  73.1560(a)), and  failing to  maintain 
the required  main  studio  presence  (Section  73.1125(a)).   On 
January 4, 2002, Pilgrim responded, stating in part that the Sine 
Remote Control  system was  not  programmed after  KWYD's  studio 
relocation, which occurred  in March 2001.   While the  station's 
power had  been  manually  changed  over  this  time  by  station 
personnel, Pilgrim did not know  why the station's power was  not 
raised or lowered at the proper  time on August 21 and 22,  2001.  
In addition, Pilgrim stated that  the HollyAnn EAS equipment  was 
also not  properly programmed  following the  studio  relocation.  
Pilgrim further stated that someone has  now been hired to be  at 
the main studio between 9:00  a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday  through 
Friday.

                      III.      DISCUSSION

     6.   Section 503(b) of  the Communications Act  of 1934,  as 
amended, ("Act"),  provides  that  any person  who  willfully  or 
repeatedly fails  to  comply  substantially with  the  terms  and 
conditions of any  license, or willfully  or repeatedly fails  to 
comply with any  of the  provisions of the  Act or  of any  rule, 
regulation or order issued by the Commission thereunder, shall be 
liable for a forfeiture penalty.2  The term "willful" as used  in 
Section 503(b) has been interpreted to mean simply that the  acts 
or omissions are committed knowingly.3  The term "repeated" means 
that the violation occurred on more than one day.4

     7.   The EAS  provides the  President  and state  and  local 
governments  with  the  capability   to  provide  immediate   and 
emergency communications and information to the general  public.5  
Section 11.35 of the Rules  provides that broadcast stations  are 
responsible for  ensuring that  EAS  Encoders, EAS  Decoders  and 
Attention Signal generating and receiving equipment used as  part 
of the EAS are installed so that the monitoring and  transmitting 
functions are available during the times the stations and systems 
are  in   operation.   Between   March  and   August  2001,   and 
specifically on August 22,  2001, the EAS  equipment at KWYD  was 
not programmed so as to ensure that the requisite monitoring  and 
transmitting functions were available.   

     8.   Section  73.1560(a)  of  the  Rules  provides  that  AM 
stations must  be  maintained  as  near  as  practicable  to  the 
authorized antenna input power and may  not be less than 90%  nor 
more than 105%  of the authorized  power.  Section 73.1745(a)  of 
the Rules  states  that no  broadcast  station shall  operate  at 
times, or with  modes or  power, other than  those specified  and 
made a part of the license unless otherwise permitted by Part  73 
of the Rules.  On August 21 and August 22, 2001, Pilgrim  station 
KWYD did not reduce the nighttime power and increase the  daytime 
power at the  appropriate times  to conform to  the power  levels 
specified by the station authorization and operated at less  than 
90% and  more than  105%  of authorized  power, in  violation  of 
Sections 73.1560(a) and 73.1745(a) of the Rules.

     9.   Section 73.1125(a)  of  the  Rules  generally  requires 
broadcast stations  to  maintain a  main  studio at  one  of  the 
following locations:   (i)  within  the  station's  community  of 
license; (ii)  at any  location  within the  principal  community 
contour of  any AM,  FM,  TV broadcast  station licensed  to  the 
station's community of license; or (iii) within twenty-five miles 
from the reference coordinates of the center of its community  of 
license.  The  station's main  studio must  serve the  needs  and 
interests of the residents of the station's community of license.  
To fulfill this  function, a  station must,  among other  things, 
maintain a meaningful management and  staff presence at its  main 
studio.6  The  Commission  has  defined  a  minimally  acceptable 
"meaningful presence" as full-time managerial and full-time staff 
personnel.7  In  addition, there  must be  "management and  staff 
presence" on a full-time basis during normal business hours to be 
considered "meaningful."  Although management personnel need  not 
be "chained to  their desks" during  normal business hours,  they 
must "report to work at the main studio on a daily basis, spend a 
substantial amount of  time there  and ...  use the  studio as  a 
'home base.'"8  From July 15 to  August 22, 2001, Pilgrim had  no 
management or staff presence during normal business hours at  the 
main studios of station KWYD  in violation of Section  73.1125(a) 
of the Rules. 

     10.  Based on the evidence before  us, we find that  Pilgrim 
apparently failed to  have operational EAS  equipment at  station 
KWYD from  March  2001,  through  August  2001,  in  willful  and 
repeated violation of  Section 11.35  of the  Rules.  We  further 
find that Pilgrim  apparently exceeded  the authorized  nighttime 
power level  on August  21, 2001,  and failed  to maintain  power 
levels between 90% and 105% of authorized power levels at station 
KWYD on August 21  and August 22, 2001,  in willful and  repeated 
violation of  Sections 73.1560(a)  and 73.1745(a)  of the  Rules.  
Additionally,  we  find  that  Pilgrim  failed  to  maintain  the 
required management and staff presence at station KWYD from  July 
15, 2001, to August 22,  2001, in willful and repeated  violation 
of Section 73.1125(a) of the Rules.

     11.  Pursuant  to   The   Commission's   Forfeiture   Policy 
Statement  and  Amendment  of  Section  1.80  of  the  Rules   to 
Incorporate  the  Forfeiture   Guidelines,  ("Forfeiture   Policy 
Statement"),9  and  Section  1.80   of  the  Rules,10  the   base 
forfeiture is $8,000 for not having operational EAS equipment  in 
violation of Section 11.35,11  $4,000 for exceeding power  limits 
at nighttime in violation  of Sections 73.1560(a) and  73.1745(a) 
of the Rules;12 and $7,000  for failing to maintain the  required 
main studio presence  in violation of  Section 73.1125(a) of  the 
Rules.13  In assessing  the monetary forfeiture  amount, we  must 
also take into account the statutory factors set forth in Section 
503(b)(2)(D) of the Act  which include the nature,  circumstance, 
extent and gravity of the  violation(s), and with respect to  the 
violator,  the  degree  of  culpability,  and  history  of  prior 
offenses, ability to pay, and  other such matters as justice  may 
require.14  Applying  the  Forfeiture Policy  Statement  and  the 
statutory factors to  the instant case,  a $19,000 forfeiture  is 
warranted.

                      IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

     12.  Accordingly, IT IS  ORDERED THAT,  pursuant to  Section 
503(b) of  the  Act  and  Section  1.80  of  the  Rules,  Pilgrim 
Communications,  Inc.,  is  hereby  NOTIFIED  of  this   APPARENT 
LIABILITY FOR A  FORFEITURE in  the amount  of nineteen  thousand 
dollars ($19,000) for willfully and repeatedly violating Sections 
11.35, 73.1125(a),  73.1560(a), and  73.1745(a) of  the Rules  at 
station KWYD. 

     13.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of 
the Commission's Rules, within thirty days of the release date of 
this NAL, Pilgrim Communications, Inc., SHALL PAY the full amount 
of the  proposed forfeiture  or SHALL  FILE a  written  statement 
seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

     14.  Payment may  be  made by  mailing  a check  or  similar 
instrument, payable to  the order of  the Federal  Communications 
Commission, to the Forfeiture Collection Section, Finance Branch, 
Federal  Communications  Commission,  P.O.  Box  73482,  Chicago, 
Illinois  60673-7482.    The  payment   must  include   the   FCC 
Registration Number (FRN) and the NAL/Acct. No. referenced in the 
caption.  Requests for  payment of  the full amount  of this  NAL 
under an installment plan should be sent to:  Chief, Revenue  and 
Receivables Operations Group, 445 12th Street, S.W.,  Washington, 
D.C. 20554.15

     15.  The response, if any, must  be mailed to the Office  of 
the  Secretary,  Federal  Communications  Commission,  445   12th 
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554, ATTN: Enforcement Bureau  - 
Technical and Public Safety  Division and must include  NAL/Acct. 
No. referenced in the caption.

     16.  The Commission will not consider reducing or  canceling 
a forfeiture in response  to a claim of  inability to pay  unless 
the petitioner submits:   (1) federal  tax returns  for the  most 
recent  three-year  period;  (2)  financial  statements  prepared 
according to generally accepted accounting practices ("GAAP"); or 
(3)  some  other  reliable   and  objective  documentation   that 
accurately reflects  the petitioner's  current financial  status.  
Any claim  of inability  to pay  must specifically  identify  the 
basis for the claim by  reference to the financial  documentation 
submitted.  

     17.  Under the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of  2002, 
Pub L. No.  107-198, 116 Stat.  729 (June 28,  2002), the FCC  is 
engaged in  a two-year  tracking process  regarding the  size  of 
entities involved  in forfeitures.   If you  qualify as  a  small 
entity and  if you  wish to  be  treated as  a small  entity  for 
tracking purposes, please  so certify  to us  within thirty  (30) 
days of this  NAL, either in  your response  to the NAL  or in  a 
separate  filing  to  be  sent  to  the  Federal   Communications 
Commission,  Enforcement  Bureau,   Technical  &  Public   Safety 
Division.   Your  certification  should  indicate  whether   you, 
including your parent  entity and its  subsidiaries, meet one  of 
the definitions  set forth  in  the list  provided by  the  FCC's 
Office of  Communications Business  Opportunities (``OCBO'')  set 
forth in Attachment A of this Notice of Apparent Liability.  This 
information will  be  used  for  tracking  purposes  only.   Your 
response or  failure to  respond to  this question  will have  no 
effect on your  rights and responsibilities  pursuant to  Section 
503(b)  of  the  Communications  Act.   If  you  have   questions 
regarding any  of  the  information contained  in  Attachment  A, 
please contact OCBO at (202) 418-0990.

     18.  IT IS FURTHER  ORDERED THAT  a copy of  this NOTICE  OF 
APPARENT LIABILITY shall  be sent by  regular mail and  certified 
mail number 7001 0320 0002  9702 9592, return receipt  requested, 
to Pilgrim Communications, Inc.,  54 Monument Circle, Suite  250, 
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204.


                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Leo E. Cirbo
                              District Director, Denver Office

Enclosure:  Attachment A
_________________________

     1 47 C.F.R. §§ 11.35, 73.1125(a), 73.1560(a) and 73.1745(a).
     2 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).
     3 Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1), which 
applies to violations  for which forfeitures  are assessed  under 
Section 503(b) of the Act,  provides that "[t]he term  'willful', 
when used with  reference to  the commission or  omission of  any 
act, means the conscious and deliberate commission or omission of 
such act, irrespective of any intent to violate any provision  of 
this Act or any rule  or regulation of the Commission  authorized 
by this Act...."  See Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 FCC 
Rcd 4387 (1991).  
     4 Section 312(f)(2) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(2), which 
also applies to Section 503(b), provides: "[t]he term 'repeated', 
when used with reference to the commission or omission of any 
act, means the commission or omission of such act more than once 
or, if such commission or omission is continuous, for more than 
one day."
     5 47 C.F.R. § 11.1.
     6 See Main Studio and Program Origination Rules, 3 FCC Rcd 
5024, 5026 (1988).
     7 Jones Eastern of the Outer Banks, Inc., 6 FCC Rcd 3615, 
3616 and n.2 (1992), clarified, 7 FCC Rcd 6800 (1992).
     8 Jones Eastern of the Outer Banks, Inc., 7 FCC Rcd 6800, 
6802 (1992).
     9 12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 
(1999).
     10 47 C.F.R. § 1.80.
     11 See, e.g., Maria L. Salazar, 17 FCC Rcd 14090 (Enf. Bur. 
2002); Arnold Broadcasting Company, Inc., 16 FCC Rcd 13600, 13602 
(2001) (both imposing $8,000 forfeitures for not having EAS 
equipment installed and operational.) 
     12 See, e.g., Buchanan Broadcasting Company, Inc., 15 FCC 
Rcd 24363 (2000) (upholding a $4,000 forfeiture for exceeding 
nighttime power limits).
     13 See, e.g., American Broadcasting Educational Foundation, 
15 FCC Rcd 8630, 8630 (Enf. Bur. 2000) (imposing a $7,000 
forfeiture for violation of the main studio rules).
     14 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).
     15 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.