The Federal Communications Commission sent an inquiry earlier this year to a southwest Montana radio station owner over its failure to pay four years worth of regulatory fees. Sixty days passed without a response, according to the FCC, and as a result, the commission has revoked the owner’s license to broadcast.
On Tuesday, the FCC revoked the license of 100-watt 100.9 KBOQ(FM) in Lima, Mont., for owner Southwest Montana Media’s failure to pay the station’s fiscal year 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 regulatory fees.
The station is licensed to Southwest Montana Media, which is owned by Ted Austin. The total amount that the licensee owes to the commission as of Aug. 7 is approximately $6,750.
The licensee also has outstanding regulatory fees for the now deleted KANA(AM) in Anaconda, Mont., and K264CZ(FM) in Butte, Mont. Southwest Montana Media surrendered those licenses in 2023.
This past April, as we reported, the FCC issued an order to pay or show cause to Southwest Montana Media. That order required the licensee to provide evidence of full payment or to explain why fees were inapplicable or should be deferred. The Media Bureau requested a response within 60 days.
To date, Southwest Montana Media has not paid the debt, nor has it filed a written response, according to the commission’s account.
As a result, the FCC revoked KBOQ’s license. The station must immediately stop broadcasting and those KBOQ call letters will be listed as deleted (with the prefix “D”) in the commission’s LMS database.
The revocation order does not relieve Southwest Montana Media for its obligation to pay the outstanding debts.
