Costly failure to oversee LMA partner

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FCCA company may be brokering time on station – but it falls on the licensee to make sure the station is in compliance with FCC rules and regulations, a fact that is going to cost a well-known multimedia group.


The owner is News-Press & Gazette, and the station is KESQ-AM Indio CA, serving parts of the Palm Springs CA market. NPG uses the licensee name Gulf-California Broadcasting Company for the station.

The FCC violation involved the station’s public file. According to the FCC, there are no issues/program lists for the entire license period.

NPG said it had a TBA with another party for the station, which had recently come to an end, and the station’s operator under the TBA could not locate any of the missing lists.

The normal fine for a public file violation is $10K, but since this violation spanned the entire license period, the FCC jacked it up to $15K.

KESQ-AM is a Class C on 1400 kHz with 1 kW-U, ND. It is oriented to the eastern side of the Palm Springs market. NPG also operates ABC KESQ-TV, KUNA-FM and low power television stations in the Palm Springs area.