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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Southern Media Communications, )
Inc., ) File No. EB-02-AT-304
Licensee of Station WBCA(AM) ) NAL/Acct. No. 200232480021
and, ) FRN 0004-9603-58
Owner of Antenna Structure )
located at )
30?52?10? North Latitude by
87?46?09? West Longitude in,
Bay Minnette, Alabama
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Adopted: September 15, 2004 Released: September
17, 2004
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order (``Order''),
we grant, to the extent noted, the petition for
reconsideration of the Forfeiture Order,1 filed by Southern
Media Communications, Inc. (``Southern Media''), licensee of
Station WBCA(AM), and owner of an antenna structure located
at 30?52?10? North Latitude by 87?46?09? West Longitude,
located in Bay Minnette, Alabama. The Forfeiture Order
imposed a monetary forfeiture in the amount of eleven
thousand dollars ($11,000) for willful violation of the
Emergency Alert System (``EAS'') and antenna structure
registration requirements of Sections 11.35(a) and 17.4(a)
of the Commission's Rules (``Rules''). In this Order, we
lower the forfeiture to $9,000.
2. In its petition for reconsideration, Southern
Media does not deny that, when the Commission's Atlanta,
Georgia Field Office (``Field Office'') inspected the
station's facilities in August of 2002, its EAS equipment
was not operational and its antenna structure was not
registered. Southern Media nevertheless seeks cancellation
or reduction of the imposed forfeiture on the basis of its
remedial and good faith efforts. In this regard, Southern
Media claims, and provides supporting documentation to show,
that after the Field Office's inspection, it promptly
ordered a replacement part and repaired its EAS equipment so
that it was fully operational. Additionally, Southern Media
claims, and provides supporting documentation to show, that
prior to the Field Office's inspection, it had initiated
efforts to register its antenna structure.
3. It is expected that violations observed during
inspections and/or subject to enforcement actions will be
corrected.2 Such post-corrective actions, however, do not
mitigate or negate past violations and do not warrant
reduction or cancellation of forfeitures.3 We thus do not
find that Southern Media's subsequent equipment repairs
warrant cancellation or reduction of the $8,000 base
forfeiture imposed for its violation of the EAS
requirements.
4. In contrast, good faith efforts undertaken to
comply with applicable requirements, prior to on-site
inspections, have been considered mitigating factors that
warrant reduction or cancellation of forfeitures.4 In the
instant case, we find that the record establishes that
Southern Media sought to register its antenna structure
prior to the Commission's on-site inspection of its
facilities. Specifically, the record contains Southern
Media's president's sworn declaration, as well as paid
invoices, which establish that Southern Media engaged a
contractor to coordinate reports and register the antenna
structure more than a year prior to the Commission's on-site
inspection.5 Under the circumstances, we believe a
reduction of the $3,000 base forfeiture for that violation
to $1,000 is warranted.6
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to
Sections 503(a) and (b) of the Act,7 and Sections 0.111,
0.311 and 1.80(f)(4) of the Rules,8 Southern Media
Communications, Inc., IS LIABLE FOR A MONETARY FORFEITURE in
the amount of nine thousand dollars ($9,000) for its willful
violation of the EAS and antenna registration requirements
set forth in Sections 17.4(a) and 11.35(a) of the Rules.
6. Payment of the forfeiture must be made by check or
similar instrument, payable to the order of the Federal
Communications Commission. The payment must include the
NAL/Acct. No. and FRN No. referenced above. Payment by
check or money order may be mailed to Forfeiture Collection
Section, Finance Branch, Federal Communications Commission,
P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. Payment by
overnight mail may be sent to Bank One/LB 73482, 525 West
Monroe, 8th Floor Mailroom, Chicago, IL 60661. Payment by
wire transfer may be made to ABA Number 071000013, receiving
bank Bank One, and account number 1165259. Requests for
full payment under an installment plan should be sent to:
Chief, Revenue and Receivables Group, 445 12th Street, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20554.9
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order
shall be sent by First Class and Certified Mail Return
Receipt Requested to Southern Media Communications, Inc.,
1318 South Main Street, Atmore, Alabama 36502 and its
counsel, John C. Trent, Esq., Putbrese, Hunsaker & Trent,
P.C., 100 Carpenter Drive, Suite 100, Sterling, Virginia
20167.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1Southern Media Communications, Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 24008
(Enf. Bur. 2003).
2See AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., 17 FCC Rcd 7891 (2002),
forfeiture ordered, 17 FCC Rcd 21866, 21875-76 ¶¶ 26-28
(2002); Seawest Yacht Brokers, 9 FCC Rcd 6099, 6099 ¶ 7
(1994); see also TCI Cablevision of Maryland, Inc., 7 FCC
Rcd 6013, 6014 ¶ 8 (1992).
3Id.
4See, e.g., Radio One Licenses, Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 15964,
15965 ¶ 4 (2003), recon. denied, 18 FCC Rcd 25481 (2003);
Petracom of Texarkana, LLC, 19 FCC Rcd 8096, 8097-97 ¶¶ 5-6
(Enf. Bur. 2004); Barinowski Investment Co., 18 FCC Rcd
25067, 25069 ¶ 7 (Enf. Bur. 2003); Max Media of Montana,
LLC, 18 FCC Rcd 21375, 21378 ¶ 11 (Enf. Bur. 2003);
Rotifeco, Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 14629, 14631 ¶ 7 (Enf. Bur.
2003); Tidewater Communications, Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 5524,
5525 ¶¶ 5-6 (Enf. Bur. 2003).
5As licensee, Southern Media is responsible for compliance
with the antenna registration requirements, and thus is not
absolved from liability because its contractor failed to
complete the antenna registration in 2001. See, e.g., Eure
Family Partnership, 17 FCC Rcd 21861, 21863-64 ¶¶ 6-7
(2002); Sonderling Broadcasting Corp., 69 FCC 2d 289, 290-
91 ¶ 6 (1977); Wagenvoord Broadcasting Co., 35 FCC 2d 361,
361-62 ¶ 3 (1972); Charter Communications VI, LLC, 17 FCC
Rcd 16516, 16518-19 ¶¶ 8-9 (Enf. Bur. 2002).
6In this connection, Southern Media also claims that, after
the on-site inspection, it undertook efforts to and
ultimately did register the antenna structure. Commission
records reflect that Southern Media's antenna structure, in
fact, is registered (Antenna Structure No. A0370195,
30?52?12.2? North Latitude by 87?46?08.1? West Longitude in,
Bay Minnette, Alabama). However, as discussed herei
7
8
9