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

In the Matter of                 )
                                )
EL MUNDO BROADCASTING            )
CORPORATION                      )    File No. EB-00-IH-0160
                                )    TH
Licensee of Stations             )    NAL/Acct. No. 200132080002
WKAQ-AM, San Juan, Puerto Rico   )
WUKQ-AM, Ponce, Puerto Rico      )


           NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

   Adopted:  October 23, 2000           Released:   October   24, 

2000                                           

By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:

                        I.   INTRODUCTION

     1.   In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, we 
find that El Mundo Broadcasting Corp. (``El Mundo'') has 
apparently violated Section 73.1206 of the Commission's rules, 47 
C.F.R. § 73.1206, by recording and broadcasting a telephone 
conversation without first informing the party to the 
conversation of its intention to do so.  We conclude that El 
Mundo is apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of six 
thousand dollars ($6,000).

                         II.  BACKGROUND

     2.   On June 19, 2000, the Commission received a complaint 
from Mr. Bernardo Vazquez-Santos.  Mr. Vazquez-Santos alleged 
that, on May 8, 2000, Mr. Luis Francisco Ojeda, an on-air 
personality for El Mundo's WKAQ-AM, called the Office of the 
Legal Counsel for the Governor of Puerto Rico, where Mr. Vazquez-
Santos serves as Legal Counsel to the Governor.  According to the 
transcript submitted with the complaint1, the following exchange 
took place:

     Secretary:                         Legal Counsel.

     Luis Francisco Ojeda (LFO):        Yes, good afternoon, 
                                   (sic) with attorney 
                                   Bernardo Vazquez-Santos.

     Secretary:                         Who's calling him?

     LFO:                          From WKAQ, from the 
     newsroom.

     Secretary:                         Don't go (hold on).

     LFO:                          Uh jum. (sic)

     Mr. Bernardo Vazquez-Santos (BVS): Hello.

     LFO:                          Attorney Vazquez-Santos?

     BVS:                          To serve you.

     LFO:                                              Good 
                                   afternoon.  This is Ojeda 
                                   from WKAQ.

     BVS:                          Ah, how are you?2

The transcript indicates that Mr. Ojeda then engaged Mr. Vazquez-
Santos in a discussion about allegations that Mr. Vazquez-Santos 
had used a facsimile machine in the Office of Legal Counsel to 
send invitations to various government agency heads for a 
cocktail party fundraiser in honor of the wife of a Puerto Rican 
gubernatorial candidate.  Mr. Vazquez-Santos also alleges that, 
on May 8, 2000, El Mundo broadcast portions of this conversation 
on two separate occasions on multiple broadcast stations.

     3.   On July 18, 2000, the Investigations and Hearings 
Division, Enforcement Bureau, sent El Mundo a letter of inquiry 
regarding the complaint.  In its August 3, 2000 response, El 
Mundo states that it broadcast a conversation with Mr. Vazquez-
Santos on May 8, 2000 two separate times without informing him of 
its intention to record and broadcast the conversation.3 See 
Letter Dated August 3, 2000 from Huberto E. Biaggi, Executive 
Vice President & General Manager, El Mundo Broadcasting 
Corporation (El Mundo Response), p. 1.  

                      III.      DISCUSSION

     4.   Section 73.1206 of the Commission's rules provides 
that, before recording a telephone conversation for broadcast or 
broadcasting such a conversation simultaneously with its 
occurrence, a licensee shall inform any party to the call of its 
intention to broadcast the conversation, except where such party 
is aware, or may be presumed to be aware from the circumstances 
of the conversation, that the conversation is being or likely 
will be broadcast.  The Commission clearly intended this rule to 
protect the called party to the conversation4 and warned 
licensees that Section 73.1206 requires the licensee to inform 
the other party that the conversation will be recorded for 
broadcast purposes before a telephone conversation is recorded 
for later broadcast.5

     5.   El Mundo admits that, on May 8, 2000, it broadcast the 
conversation referenced in the complaint on four stations at 4:34 
p.m. and 5:15 p.m.  El Mundo also admits that Mr. Ojeda did not 
inform Mr. Vazquez-Santos prior to the recording of the 
conversation that he intended to broadcast the conversation.  
However, El Mundo claims that, while Mr. Vazquez-Santos was not 
told that the conversation would be recorded or broadcast, he 
should have presumed that El Mundo would record and broadcast the 
conversation.  According to El Mundo, Mr. Ojeda is a recognized 
on-air personality in Puerto Rico known for reporting on the 
activities of the Puerto Rican government.  Because, according to 
El Mundo, Mr. Vazquez-Santos was ``familiar with'' Mr. Ojeda, El 
Mundo assumed Mr. Vazquez-Santos would know that the conversation 
would likely be recorded and broadcast.  Despite its admission 
that it did not inform Mr. Vazquez-Santos of its intention to 
record and broadcast this conversation, El Mundo apparently 
argues that because Mr. Vazquez-Santos should have presumed his 
conversation with Mr. Ojeda was going to be recorded and 
broadcast, El Mundo did not violate Section 73.1206 of the 
Commission's rules.  

     6.   We reject El Mundo's argument.  El Mundo concedes in 
its response that Section 73.1206 of the Commission's rules 
requires licensees to notify a party to a conversation of the 
licensee's intention to broadcast the conversation before it 
commences recording.  However, it also asks the Commission to 
recognize an exception, absent in the Commission's rules, that a 
licensee may fail to inform a party to a conversation of the 
licensee's intention to record and broadcast the conversation 
where the on-air personality is well known and the other party is 
a government official.  

     7.   We decline to find that such an exception exists in the 
Commission's rules.  In Section 73.1206, a licensee may fail to 
inform a party of the licensee's intention to broadcast a 
conversation only where the party is ``aware or may be presumed 
to be aware from the circumstances of the conversation'' that the 
conversation likely will be broadcast.  The licensee may make 
such a presumption only when the party to the call is 
``associated with the station,'' such as an employee or part-time 
reporter, or when the party originates the call and it is obvious 
that the call is ``in connection with a program in which the 
station customarily broadcasts telephone conversations.''  We 
find that neither of these exceptions is present in this case.  
First, the parties do not dispute that Mr. Vazquez-Santos is 
employed by the Governor of Puerto Rico and therefore not 
affiliated with or employed by the licensee.6  Additionally, the 
transcript indicates that Mr. Ojeda originated the phone call to 
the Office of Legal Counsel and asked to speak with Mr. Vazquez-
Santos.  El Mundo, in its response, does not dispute the 
transcript or this apparent fact.  

     8.   Since we find that the exception El Mundo seeks is not 
viable and neither of the other exceptions to Section 73.1206 
applies, we cannot find that El Mundo was excused from informing 
Mr. Vazquez-Santos of its intention to record and broadcast the 
conversation.  The record demonstrates that El Mundo never told 
Mr. Vazquez-Santos that it intended to record and broadcast the 
conversation on May 8, 2000 and that it recorded and broadcast 
this conversation over four stations and on two different 
occasions.  We thus conclude that El Mundo apparently violated 
Section 73.1206 of the Commission's rules.

     9.   Section 503(b) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 
503(b), and Section 1.80(a) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. 
§ 1.80(a), each state that any person who willfully or repeatedly 
fails to comply with the provisions of the Communications Act or 
the Commission's rules shall be liable for a forfeiture penalty.  
For purposes of Section 503(b) of the Communications Act, the 
term ``willful'' means that the violator knew it was taking the 
action in question, irrespective of any intent to violate the 
Commission's rules.  See Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 
FCC Rcd 4387 (1991).  In addition, a violation is ``repeated'' if 
it occurs more than once.  Id. at 4388.

     10.   Based on the evidence before us, we find that El Mundo 
broadcast a recorded telephone conversation on two occasions over 
four stations on May 8, 2000, in apparent willful and repeated 
violation of Section 73.1206 of the Commission's rules.  The 
Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement sets a base forfeiture 
amount of $4,000 for the unauthorized broadcast of a telephone 
conversation.  The Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and 
Amendment of Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules, 12 FCC Rcd 
17087 (1997), recon. denied  FCC 99-407 (released December 28, 
1999).  We have reviewed El Mundo's response to our letter of 
inquiry in which it admits that it recorded and later broadcast 
the conversation two times over multiple stations.  Since the two 
different broadcasts originated from one recorded conversation, 
we decline to adjust the forfeiture amount based on the muliple 
broadcasts.7  However, since the conversation was broadcast over 
two separate stations for which El Mundo was the licensee, we 
apply an upward adjustment of $2,000 to the base forfeirture 
amount. In total, based on all of the evidence before us, we find 
that El Mundo is apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount 
of six thousand dollars ($6,000).

                      IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

     11.  ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED pursuant to Section 503(b) 
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 
503(b), and Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80 of the Commission's 
rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80, that El Mundo 
Broadcasting Corp. is hereby NOTIFIED of its APPARENT LIABILITY 
FOR FORFEITURE in the amount of six thousand dollars ($6,000) for 
willfully violating Section 73.1206 of the Commission's rules, 47 
C.F.R. § 73.1206.

     12.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to Section 1.80 of the 
Commission's rules, that within thirty days of the release of 
this Notice, El Mundo SHALL PAY to the United States the full 
amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written 
statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed 
forfeiture.

     13.  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. referenced above.

     14.  The response, if any, must be mailed to Charles W. 
Kelley, Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement 
Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, S.W, 
Room 3-B443, Washington DC 20554 and MUST INCLUDE the file number 
listed above.

     15.   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.

     16.  Requests for payment of the full amount of this Notice 
of Apparent Liability under an installment plan should be sent 
to: Chief, Credit and Debt Management Center, 445 12th Street, 
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.  See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.

     17.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Notice shall 
be sent, by Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested, to Huberto 
E. Biaggi, Executive Vice President and General Manager, El Mundo 
Broadcasting Corporation, P.O. Box 364668, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 
00936-4668.

          FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



          David H. Solomon
          Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________

1  Transcript of ``Ojeda Sin Limite'' Radio Broadcast'' (Attached 
as Exhibit to Complaint).  The transcript is a translation from 
Spanish to English done by Mr. Vazquez-Santos.  In addition, Mr. 
Vazquez-Santos enclosed tape recordings in Spanish of the two 
separate broadcasts.

2  See Transcript, p. 1.

3  El Mundo broadcast the recorded conversation over the 
following stations:  WKAQ-AM, San Juan, WKJB-AM, Mayaguez, WUKQ-
AM, Ponce, and WABA, Aguadilla.  El Mundo is the licensee for 
WKAQ-AM, San Juan and WUKQ-AM, Ponce.

4 See Amendment of Section 73.1206: Broadcast of Telephone 
Conversations (Report and Order), 3 FCC Rcd 5461, 5463 (1988).  

5 Station-Initiated Telephone Calls Which Fail to Comply with 
Section 73.1206 of the Rules, 24 RR 2d 1814 (1972).

6  See Complaint ¶ 1 and El Mundo Response ¶ 3b.

7 See Noble Broadcast Licensees, Inc., Notice of Apparent 
Liability for Forfeiture, 15 FCC Rcd 8530 (EB 2000) and Nassau 
Broadcasting Partners, Inc., Notice of Apparent Liability for 
Forfeiture, 15 FCC Rcd 1367 (EB 1999).