The FCC slightly reduced a fine against the L.R. Radio Group for public file violations at KPIR(AM), Granbury, Texas.
The original fine was $10,000, levied by the Dallas office of the Enforcement Bureau for the station’s failure to maintain and make available a complete public inspection file.
L&R had asked for the fine to be reduced or cancelled based on its past good compliance with FCC rules. The licensee doesn’t dispute that issues and program lists were missing from the file and that it didn’t make the file available during an inspection in May 2011.
The licensee says that happened because of several reasons, including a language barrier, the brevity of the inspection and insufficient main studio staffing. The FCC says the inspection took 15 minutes, while L&R says it was more like 10 minutes. The company president was still on the air when the agent came.
L&R says the file was there, the agent just didn’t find it in the file cabinet. The commission says the company president told the agent he didn’t know where the missing information was.
The FCC was not persuaded by L&R’s arguments, saying in its decision L&R didn’t provide evidence that its issues programs lists really exist, having failed to provide copies either after the inspection or as an attachment to its response to the proposed fine.
During an inspection, the licensee must make the public inspection file available, said the commission, noting that it’s not the agent’s job to hunt for the file.
The agency agreed that L&R had a past good history of compliance with FCC rules and that’s why it reduced the fine to $8,000. The licensee has 30 days to pay.
