An AM station in Lynchburg, Va., may lose its license if it doesn’t pay about $19,000 in late regulatory fees and penalties.
The Federal Communications Commission has initiated a proceeding to revoke the license of Hubbard’s Advertising Agency for station WLLL. It said the station owes fees for seven of the last nine fiscal years, dating to 2014. The FCC said it sent demand letters to the licensee and notified it by email.
In 2019 the station also was issued a $15,000 forfeiture for public file violations.
According to a local TV news story published in late March, WLLL’s founder Fletcher Hubbard Sr. died recently at age 96.
It quoted his daughter Bridgette saying Fletcher Hubbard founded WLLL in the 1960s at a time when it wasn’t popular for a Black man to be on the radio. “My father faced a lot of opposition that he overcame with kindness and with his faith.”
The TV news report stated that “Hubbard never retired, working in his radio station until the day he died.” The news article indicated that, as of late March, his daughter planned to continue operating WLLL.
The station has a 9 kW daytime non-directional signal on 930 kHz. The commission said Hubbard’s has 60 days to submit evidence of payment or explain why the payments should be waived or deferred.