The Federal Communications Commission has cancelled the license of a low power FM station in Clearlake, Calif., after a complainant alleged the station had ceased operations a decade ago.
KMOB(LP) was licensed to Minds of Business, Inc., or MOB. The FCC sent a letter to the licensee this March, seeking information on its operational status.
The letter went unanswered, according to the FCC’s notification of license cancellation.
(Read the FCC’s cancellation letter sent to KMOB.)
Records maintained by the California Secretary of State show that the California Franchise Tax Board suspended MOB on Sept. 2, 2003, according to the FCC. The business had an address in Clearlake, which is located approximately 120 miles north of San Francisco.
According to FCC filings, the station’s construction permit was granted in June 2003, with subsequent renewals granted in 2007 and 2013. The most recent license renewal application was filed in 2021. The application was prepared by LPFM engineering consultant John Broomall.
The FCC issued a forfeiture order for $1,500 against MOB in 2022 for failing to timely file a license renewal application for KMOB. It’s not clear from FCC records if the forfeiture amount was ever paid.
Broomall told Radio World that he fell out of communication with KMOB officials after the 2021 renewal application was filed. The station’s application was subsequently dismissed the same day as the license revocation, according to the FCC database.
In its letter of operational status inquiry sent earlier this year, the FCC asked MOB to provide a “narrative statement” to indicate the station’s operational status between Nov. 26, 2021, and the date of the letter, which was March 12, 2026.
For the same time period, MOB also was asked to submit copies of all leases (i.e., tower, land or building leases necessary to operate the station), personnel records, engineering records and station records, including EAS logs.
In addition, MOB was told to provide copies of monthly accounting records relating to the station’s operation, as well as copies of all utility bills.
The FCC also asked for dated pictures of the station’s transmission facilities during that timeframe. The commission asked the licensee to provide an affidavit from the person who took the photographs that describes what is depicted in each photograph, the date and location of each photo.
MOB’s failure to respond within 45 days of the FCC’s inquiry triggered the LPFM’s license cancellation.
KMOB operated at 100.3 MHz, according to a Facebook page that appears affiliated with the radio station. The 100-watt radio station had an urban format and served the communities of Clearlake and Ukiah. The most recent Facebook post was dated March 29, 2012.
The FCC told the licensee that it is “imperative to the safety of air navigation that any prescribed painting and illumination of the station’s tower be maintained by its owner until the tower is dismantled.”
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