The FCC issued fines totaling more than $26,000 to radio licensees for various infractions.
Robert J. and Katherine M. Bohn received the bulk of the fines — a $14,000 forfeiture for KVLI(FM), and KQAB(AM), both of Lake Isabella, Calif., as well as a $7,000 forfeiture for KCNQ(FM), Kernville, Calif. — for not filing their license renewal applications on time and engaging in “unauthorized operation,” according to the FCC.
The Bohns asked for the fines to be cancelled and/or reduced, blaming the lapses on administrative errors and saying they didn’t understand the commission’s electronic filing system. The agency says confusions about its electronic filing system are not grounds for reduction or cancellation; hence the agency upheld its earlier Notices of Apparent Liability and converted the NAL’s into a forfeiture.
The agency upgraded a $5,600 Notice of Apparent Liability to a Forfeiture for Applied Life Ministries, licensee of KALR(FM), Hot Springs, Ark. for filing its renewal application late. The licensee argued the fine should be reduced or cancelled because the late filing was inadvertent, due to management changes and destruction of the studio and station records in a fire.
The FCC had already cut the fine from the original $7,000 based on past good compliance with agency rules, but says the $5,600 penalty still stands.
