KRSF-TV San Francisco had a reason that it was not in full compliance with certain screen display requirements on its children’s educational/informational programming: The letters required do not exist in Korean writing.
The violation pertained to digital side channels broadcasting Korean content, with much of the programming originating from there.
The specific omission was displaying the symbol E/I on-screen whenever children’s programming in that category was being broadcast.
The fine for the omission, which occurred for a period of thirteen months beginning in February 2012, was $8K.
The station’s licensee, Lincoln Broadcasting Company, tried to extricate itself from the fine.
It said since the programs originated in Korea, the symbol was not part of the productions. And it lacked the equipment to add them itself.
Further, it noted that Roman alphabet characters do not exist in the written form of the Korean language, rending the symbol meaningless to many of its viewers. If cited an exemption from providing closed captioning on language grounds as a basis for getting out of displaying the E/I symbol.
The FCC said that all of these arguments do not absolve the station from displaying the symbol, nor is there any application of closed captioning rules to this situation, other than that if it wanted a waiver from the E/I requirement, it should of applied for it just as it did for closed captioning.
In the end, the FCC took the situation as a whole and downgraded the fine to $3K.
