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


In the Matter of                   )     File Number EB-02-OR-274
                                     )
Metropolitan Radio Group, Inc.     )    NAL/Acct. No.200332620003
Licensee of FM Broadcast Station   )
KTKC located                       )             FRN 0007-0069-84
   in Springhill, Louisiana        )
Springfield, Missouri

           NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

                                     Released:  November 19, 2002 

By the Enforcement Bureau, New Orleans Office:

                        I.  INTRODUCTION

     1.   In  this Notice  of Apparent  Liability for  Forfeiture 
(``NAL''),   we    find    Metropolitan   Radio    Group,    Inc. 
(``Metropolitan''), licensee of  radio station KTKC,  Springhill, 
Louisiana, apparently liable  for a forfeiture  in the amount  of 
twelve  thousand  dollars  ($12,000)  for  willful  violation  of 
Sections 73.1125(a) and 73.3526(a)(2)  of the Commission's  Rules 
(``Rules'').1   Specifically,  we  find  Metropolitan  apparently 
liable for failing to maintain  a presence at the station's  main 
studio and failing to  maintain all of  the required material  in 
the station's public inspection file.

                         II.  BACKGROUND

     2.    On  September  10,  2002,   an  agent  from  the   FCC 
Enforcement  Bureau's  New  Orleans  Office  inspected  broadcast 
station KTKC(FM) licensed to Springhill, Louisiana.  At the  time 
of inspection,  the main  studio (located  at 924  Plain  Dealing 
Road,  Springhill,   Louisiana)   was  unoccupied.    The   agent 
subsequently interviewed  the  station's operations  manager  who 
stated that no staff presence  was maintained at the main  studio 
and that station personnel visited the main studio twice each day 
only to perform transmitter readings.  In addition, an inspection 
of the  station's public  inspection file  revealed that  it  was 
missing much of the required  material including the most  recent 
ownership report, the Public and Broadcasting Manual, letters and 
comments from the public, and the Issues and Programs Lists.

                        III.  DISCUSSION

     3.   Section 73.1125(a)  of the Rules  states that each  AM, 
FM, or TV broadcast station shall maintain a studio at one of the 
following  locations:  (1)  within  the  station's  community  of 
license; (2)  at  any  location within  the  principal  community 
contour of any AM,  FM, or TV broadcast  station licensed to  the 
station's community of license;  or (3) within twenty-five  miles 
from the reference coordinates of the center of its community  of 
license  as  described  in   §73.208(a)(1).   In  addition,   the 
station's main studio must serve  the needs and interests of  the 
residents of  the station's  community of  license.2  To  fulfill 
this function, a  station must,  among other  things, maintain  a 
meaningful presence  at its  main  studio.3  The  Commission  has 
defined a minimally acceptable  ``meaningful presence'' as  full-
time managerial  and full-time  staff personnel.4   In  addition, 
there must be  ``managerial and staff  presence'' on a  full-time 
basis   during   normal   business   hours   to   be   considered 
``meaningful.''5   Although  management  personnel  need  not  be 
``chained to  their desks''  during normal  business hours,  they 
must ``report  at the  main  studio on  a  daily basis,  spend  a 
substantial amount of time there and ...use the studio as a  home 
base.''6  On September 10, 2002, the KTKC studio was not  staffed 
during normal business  hours and station  personnel stated  that 
the main studio was not routinely staffed.

     4.   Section 73.3526(a)(2)  states that  every permittee  or 
licensee of  an  AM,  FM,  TV,  or Class  A  TV  station  in  the 
commercial broadcast services shall maintain a public  inspection 
file containing the material, relating to that station, described 
in paragraphs  (e)(1) through  (e)(10) and  paragraph (e)(13)  of 
this section.  Additionally,  every permittee or  licensee of  an 
AM, or FM  station shall  maintain for public  inspection a  file 
containing the material, relating  to that station, described  in 
paragraphs (e)(12) and (e)(14) of this section.  On September 10, 
2002, an  inspection of  station  KTKC's public  inspection  file 
revealed that much of the required material was missing including 
the most  recent ownership  report, the  Public and  Broadcasting 
Manual, letters and comments from the public, and the Issues  and 
Programs Lists.

     5.   Based on the evidence  before us, we find  Metropolitan 
willfully7 violated Sections 73.1125(a) and 73.3526(a)(2) of  the 
Rules by failing  to maintain  a presence at  the station's  main 
studio and  failing  to maintain  all  required material  in  the 
station's public inspection file.

     6.   Pursuant to Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules,8 the  base 
forfeiture amount  for  violation  of the  main  studio  rule  is 
$7,000, and  the  base forfeiture  amount  for violation  of  the 
public  file  rules  is   $10,000.  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  Communications 
Act of  1934, as  amended (``Act''),  which include  the  nature, 
circumstances, extent,  and gravity  of the  violation, and  with 
respect to the violator, the  degree of culpability, any  history 
of prior  offenses, ability  to pay,  and other  such matters  as 
justice may require.9  In this  case, we  consider that  although 
many items were missing,  overall, approximately one-half of  the 
station's public inspection  file was  available at  the time  of 
inspection.  Therefore, we access  the forfeiture amount for  the 
public file violation at  $5,000.  Considering the entire  record 
and applying  the  factors listed  above,  this case  warrants  a 
$12,000 forfeiture.

                      IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

     7.   Accordingly, IT  IS ORDERED THAT,  pursuant to  Section 
503(b) of the Act,10  and Sections 0.111, 0.311  and 1.80 of  the 
Rules,11 Metropolitan  Radio Group,  Inc. is  hereby NOTIFIED  of 
this APPARENT  LIABILITY FOR  A FORFEITURE  in the  amount of  in 
twelve  thousand  dollars  ($12,000)  for  willful  violation  of 
Sections 73.1125(a) and 73.3526(a)(2) of the Rules by failing  to 
maintain a presence at the  station's main studio and failing  to 
maintain all required material in the station's public inspection 
file.

     8.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of 
the Rules, within thirty  days of the release  date of this  NAL, 
Metropolitan Radio Group, Inc. SHALL  PAY the full amount of  the 
proposed forfeiture  or SHALL  FILE a  written statement  seeking 
reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

     9.   Payment  of the  forfeiture 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 should note the 
NAL/Acct. No. and FRN referenced above.  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. 20554.12

     10.  The  response,  if  any,  must  be  mailed  to  Federal 
Communications Commission,  Office  of the  Secretary,  445  12th 
Street  SW,  Washington  DC  20554,  Attn:  Enforcement   Bureau-
Technical & Public Safety Division and MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. 
No. referenced above.  

     11.  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.  

     12.  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  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.
 
     13.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this NAL shall  be 
sent by regular mail and Certified Mail Return Receipt  Requested 
to Metropolitan  Radio Group,  Inc.,  318 East  Pershing  Street, 
Springfield, Missouri, 65806.   


                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION





                         James C. Hawkins
                         District Director, New Orleans Office
                         Enforcement Bureau

Attachment
_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.1125(a), 73.3526(a)(2).

2 See Main Studio and Program Origination Rules, 2 FCC Rcd 3215, 
3217-18 (1987), clarified, 3 FCC Rcd 5024, 5026 (1988).

3 Id.

4 Jones Eastern of the Outer Banks, Inc., 6 FCC Rcd 3615, 3616 
(1991), clarified, 7 FCC Rcd 6800 (1992).

5 Id., 6 FCC Rcd at 3616, n.2.

6 Id., 7 FCC Rcd at 6802.

7 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 . . . .''  See Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 
FCC Rcd 4387-88 (1991).

8 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(4).

9 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).

10 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).

11 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80.

12 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.