What happens when you fail to pay your regulatory fees associated with an AM radio station for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2022 and 2023, and it’s nearly halfway through 2025? You pay up or show cause as to why you can’t.
A station owner in Kentucky had 60 days to do just that, but did neither. Now, the station’s license has been lost.
As RBR+TVBR first shared on April 30, Pedro Arce was given until June 30 to write a check to the Commission totaling $9,261.41 to settle his debt, associated with six years of unpaid regulatory fees associated with WCND-AM in Shelbyville, Ky., serving Frankfort and an area sandwiched between Lexington and Louisville.
Arce didn’t respond the Order to Pay or Show Cause from acting Media Bureau Chief Erin Boone (pictured, top left) and Mark Stephens, Managing Director of the FCC. As such, WCND’s renewal application, originally filed in 2020, has also been dismissed as the station’s license has been revoked.
This may not be the end for La Pantera, though. In June, the FCC reinstated the licenses and renewal applications for Texas Thunder Radio stations KYKM and KTXM, reversing a May 31 revocation over more than $14,000 in unpaid regulatory fees.
Arce operated WCND as “La Explosiva 940,” airing a regional Mexican format targeting first-generation immigrants who have been attracted to Kentucky for agricultural jobs, across the 2010s. In late January 2022, it was rebranded as “La Pantera.”
WCND’s past owners include Sima Birach-led Birach Broadcasting and Forever Broadcasting, led by Donald Alt, Kerby Confer and Christine Hilliard.
— Archival reporting by Carl Marcucci
