The FCC levied a $25,000 fine against Vision Latina Broadcasting for apparently violating the main studio staffing rule and public inspection file requirements at KBPO(AM), Port Neches, Texas.
In 2010 in response to a complaint, an agent from the FCC’s Houston Enforcement Bureau tried to inspect KBPO’s main studio several times that Dec. 2 but it said the main entrance was locked and no employees were around. The agent tried again Dec. 10, but only one announcer was there, according to the agent’s account. The agent did review the public file and found several documents were missing, including a current copy of the station FCC authorization, service contour map, the most recent ownership report and any issue/program lists.
The DJ said the company president would provide the documents when he returned from Mexico. Relying on that, the field agent tried a third time to inspect the station on Dec. 13. The field agent saw three people in the studio; one told the agent the company president was still in Mexico. None of the DJs would make any part of the public file available for an inspection, according to the FCC.
The FCC defines an acceptable “meaningful presence” at the main studio as full-time managerial and full-time staff. The FCC’s Houston office said KBPO’s main studio had no managerial staff during normal business hours during the inspections and proposed a $10,000; For an incomplete public inspection file, the agency originally proposed a $15,000 penalty — for a total proposed $25,000 fine.
Vision has 30 days to either pay the fine, or seek to have it cancelled or reduced. The licensee also needs to submit a statement verifying that KBPO’s main studio is staffed full-time by FT managerial and staff and that its public inspection file is complete. Failure to send the statement could subject Vision to “additional penalties,” according to the commission.
