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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.