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                                   Before the

                       Federal Communications Commission

                             Washington, D.C. 20554


                                             )                               
                                                                             
                                             )                               
     In the Matter of                                                        
                                             )   File No. EB-08-IH-5190      
     Shop at Home Holdings, Inc.                                             
                                             )   NAL/Acct. No. 201032080015  
     Licensee of Various Satellite Earth                                     
     Stations                                )   FRN No. 0017977729          
                                                                             
                                             )                               
                                                                             
                                             )                               


                  NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

   Adopted: January 4, 2010 Released: January 4, 2010

   By the Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau:

   I. INTRODUCTION

   1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL"), we find
   that Shop at Home Holdings, Inc. ("Shop at Home Holdings" or the
   "Company") acquired the licenses for, and operated, two satellite earth
   stations, without obtaining prior Commission consent, in apparent willful
   and repeated violation of Sections 310(d) of the Communications Act of
   1934, as amended (the "Act"), and 25.119 of the Commission's Rules. Based
   on our review of the facts and circumstances surrounding this matter, we
   find that Shop at Home Holdings apparently is liable for a forfeiture in
   the total amount of $16,000.

   II. BACKGROUND

    2. Section 310(d) of the Act provides that no station license may be
       "transferred, assigned, or disposed of in any manner, voluntarily or
       involuntarily, directly or indirectly, or by transfer of control of
       any corporation holding [the] license," without prior Commission
       consent. Section 25.119 of the Commission's rules imposes similar
       requirements with respect to satellite earth stations.

    3. On June 21, 2006, Shop at Home Holdings, a subsidiary of America's
       Collectibles Network, Inc., acquired the licenses for satellite earth
       stations E980222 and E980223 from Shop at Home Network, LLC, a
       subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company, as part of a larger corporate
       transaction between the entities. The parties did not seek Commission
       consent to the assignment of the two station licenses prior to
       consummating the transaction, and Shop at Home Holdings subsequently
       operated the stations from June 21, 2006, through March 7, 2008. From
       March 7, 2008 until August 2008, Shop at Home Holdings maintained the
       two earth stations as emergency back-up facilities, but did not
       operate them.

    4. Shop at Home Holdings states that it learned for the first time in
       early July 2008 of the need to obtain prior Commission consent to the
       assignment of the earth stations, more than two years after acquiring
       the two station licenses and in the course of preparing license
       renewal applications for the licenses. The company thereafter filed an
       appropriate remedial application belatedly seeking Commission consent
       to the assignment of the two station licenses. The International
       Bureau subsequently granted the application on January 5, 2009, and
       referred the matter to the Enforcement Bureau which commenced an
       investigation.

   III. DISCUSSION

   5. Under Section 503(b)(1) of the Act, any person who is determined by the
   Commission to have willfully or repeatedly failed to comply with any
   provision of the Act or any rule, regulation, or order issued by the
   Commission shall be liable to the United States for a forfeiture penalty.
   Section 312(f)(1) of the Act defines willful as "the conscious and
   deliberate commission or omission of [any] act, irrespective of any intent
   to violate" the law. The legislative history to Section 312(f)(1)
   clarifies that the definition of "willful" applies to both Sections 312
   and 503(b) of the Act, and the Commission has so interpreted the term in
   the Section 503(b) context. The Commission may also assess a forfeiture
   for violations that are repeated.  "Repeated" means that the act was
   committed or omitted more than once, or lasts more than one day.

   6. Turning to the instant case, Shop at Home Holdings concedes that it
   failed to timely apply for Commission consent to the assignment of the
   satellite earth station licenses. Moreover, the record reveals that Shop
   at Home Holdings operated the two stations for nearly two years without
   authority. It is of no consequence that Shop at Home Holdings may have
   been unaware of the Commission's requirements at the time it acquired the
   two station licenses in 2006. Under the circumstances and particularly in
   light of Shop at Home Holdings' admission of wrongdoing, we find that Shop
   at Home Holdings failed to obtain Commission consent to the assignment of
   the two earth station licenses, in apparent willful and repeated violation
   of Section 310(d) of the Act and 25.119 of the Commission's Rules.

   7. Section 503(b)(1) of the Act provides that any person that willfully or
   repeatedly fails to comply with any provision of the Act or any rule,
   regulation, or order issued by the Commission shall be liable to the
   United States for a forfeiture penalty. Section 503(b)(2)(B) of the Act
   authorizes the Commission to assess a forfeiture of up to $150,000 for
   each violation or each day of a continuing violation, up to a statutory
   maximum of $1,500,000 for a single act or failure to act. In determining
   the appropriate forfeiture amount, we consider the factors enumerated in
   section 503(b)(2)(E) of the Act, including "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 such other matters as justice may require."

   8. The Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and implementing rules
   prescribe a base forfeiture of $8,000 for an unauthorized assignment of a
   Commission license. Such forfeiture amount may be adjusted upward or
   downward depending upon the existence of aggravating or mitigating
   factors. In the instant case, we have taken into consideration Shop at
   Home Holding's failure over a period of more than two years to file
   corrective applications. On balance and after applying the factors set
   forth in Sections 503(b)(2)(E) of the Act and 1.80 of the Commission's
   Rules, we find that a forfeiture in the amount of $16,000 is appropriate
   in this instance.

   IV. ORDERING CLAUSES

   9. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to section 503(b) of the
   Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. S: 503(b), and section
   1.80 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. S: 1.80, that Shop at Home
   Holdings, Inc. is hereby NOTIFIED of its APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A
   FORFEITURE in the amount of $16,000 for willfully and repeatedly violating
   the Act and the Commission's rules.

   10. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to section 1.80 of the
   Commission's Rules, within thirty days of the release date of this NOTICE
   OF APPARENT LIABILITY, Shop at Home Holdings, Inc. SHALL PAY the full
   amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement
   seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

   11. 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 Federal Communications
   Commission, P.O. Box 979088, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000. Payment by
   overnight mail may be sent to U.S. Bank - Government Lockbox #979088,
   SL-MO-C2-GL, 1005 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63101. Payment by wire
   transfer may be made to ABA Number 021030004, receiving bank Federal
   Reserve Bank of New York, and account number 27000001. For payment by
   credit card, an FCC Form 159 (Remittance Advice) must be submitted.  When
   completing the FCC Form 159, enter the NAL/Account number in block number
   23A (call sign/other ID), and enter the letters "FORF" in block number 24A
   (payment type code). Shop at Home Holdings, Inc. will also send electronic
   notification within forty-eight (48) hours of the date said payment is
   made to Hillary.DeNigro@fcc.gov.

   12. The response, if any, to this NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY must be
   mailed to Hillary S. DeNigro, Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division,
   Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street,
   S.W., Room 4-C330, Washington, D.C. 20554 and must include the NAL/Acct.
   No. referenced above.

   13. 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.

   14. Requests for payment of the full amount of this Notice of Apparent
   Liability under an installment plan should be sent to: Chief Financial
   Officer -- Financial Operations, Federal Communications Commission, 445
   12th Street, S.W., Room 1-A625, Washington, D.C. 20554. For answers to
   questions, please contact the Financial Operations Group Help Desk at
   1-877-480-3201 or Email: ARINQUIRIES@fcc.gov.

   15. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY
   FOR FORFEITURE shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested,
   to Joseph E. Dunne III, Counsel for Shop at Home Holdings, Inc., P.O. Box
   9203, Durango, CO 81302-9203.

   FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

   Hillary S. DeNigro

   Chief, Investigations & Hearings Division

   Enforcement Bureau

   47 U.S.C. S: 310(d).

   47 C.F.R. S: 25.119.

   47 U.S.C. S: 310(d).

   47 C.F.R. S: 25.119.

   See Letter from Joseph E. Dunne III, Counsel to Shop at Home Holdings,
   Inc., to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, dated Sept. 10, 2009 ("LOI
   Response") at Tabs 4, 5, 6. America's Collectibles Network, Inc. and the
   E.W. Scripps Company are not related entities. See Letter from Kathleen A.
   Kirby, Counsel to Shop at Home Network, LLC, to Karl Kensinger and
   Jeanette Spriggs, International Bureau, Satellite Division, FCC, dated
   August 26, 2008, at 2.

   LOI Response at Tab 6.

   Id. at Tab 7.

   Id. at Tab 6.

   Application for Assignment of Earth Stations from Shop at Home Network,
   LLC to Shop at Home Holdings, Inc., File No. SES-ASG-20080724-00987.

   Public Notice, Report No. SES-01101 (rel. Jan. 7, 2009) (File No.
   SES-ASG-20080724-00987).

   Letter from Trent B. Harkrader, Deputy Chief, Investigations and Hearings
   Division, Enforcement Bureau, FCC, to Charles A. Wagner, Shop at Home
   Holdings, Inc., dated July 29, 2009.

   47 U.S.C. S: 503(b)(1)(B); 47 C.F.R. S: 1.80(a)(1).

   47 U.S.C. S: 312(f)(1).

   H.R. Rep. No. 97-765, 97th Cong. 2d Sess. 51 (1982).

   See, e.g., Application for Review of Southern California Broadcasting Co.,
   Memorandum Opinion and Order, 6 FCC Rcd 4387, 4388 (1991) ("Southern
   California Broadcasting Co.").

   See, e.g., Callais Cablevision, Inc., Grand Isle, Louisiana, Notice of
   Apparent Liability for Monetary Forfeiture, 16 FCC Rcd 1359, 1362, P: 10
   (2001) ("Callais Cablevision") (issuing a Notice of Apparent Liability
   for, inter alia, a cable television operator's repeated signal leakage).

   Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 FCC Rcd at 4388, P: 5; Callais
   Cablevision, 16 FCC Rcd at 1362, P: 9.

   LOI Response at Tab 6.

   47 U.S.C. S: 503(b)(1)(B); 47 C.F.R. S: 1.80(a)(2).

   47 U.S.C. S: 503(b)(2)(B); see also 47 C.F.R. S: 1.80(b)(2); Amendment of
   Section 1.80(b) of the Commission's Rules, Adjustment of Forfeiture Maxima
   to Reflect Inflation, Order, 15 FCC Rcd 18221 (2000).

   See 47 C.F.R. S: 1.80; Matter of the Commission's Forfeiture Policy
   Statement and Amendment of Section 1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the
   Forfeiture Guidelines, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 17087, 17113 (1997)
   ("Forfeiture Policy Statement").

   See 47 C.F.R. S: 1.1914.

   See id.

   Federal Communications Commission DA 10-3

   5

   1

                                  Federal Communications Commission FCC 99-xx