The FCC upheld a $7,000 fine against S G Communications for not filing its license renewal application on time and operating WHEW(AM), Franklin, Tenn., after its authorization expired.
The agency said in its decision the renewal paperwork was due in April 2012, four months before the station’s license would expire. Later that month, agency staff wrote to WHEW, telling personnel its license was expired and its authority to operate the station was terminated and the call letters were deleted from the commission’s database.
On Aug. 30, 2012, S G Communications sent the FCC a license renewal application and sought a Special Temporary Authority to continue station operations. The FCC granted the STA, which expired on March 30, 2013. However the licensee didn’t seek an extension, according to the commission.
WHEW didn’t tell the commission why its renewal paperwork was late, nor did it respond to the initial proposed $7,000 fine, according to the agency.
That’s why the agency upheld the fine, which WHEW must pay before the FCC will approve its license renewal.
