It isn’t every day that a company regulated by the FCC has a public file that is in perfect order but nonetheless manages to run afoul of the public file rules. But that was the case for Allen’s TV Cable Service in Morgan City LA.
An FCC agent asked to see the file 10/26/11, but as a matter of coincidence, the company’s compliance officer was out of the office and the file was not produced. The agent did gain access the next day and found it to be in order.
A notice of apparent liability was sent to ATCS 2/13/12, whereupon the FCC noted that ATCS counsel approached the FCC requesting an exploration of the possibility of entering into a consent decree to settle the matter.
The decree enables the issue to be addressed to the satisfaction of both parties without a black mark going on ATCS’s record.
In this case, the company is required to develop a compliance plan to make sure public file rules are being followed correctly, institute a training program so employees are all on the same page, and to report to the FCC on compliance.
It is also making a voluntary $8K contribution to the US Treasury which will go to defray the national debt.
RBR-TVBR observation: Cool. All we need is a few billion more FCC consent decrees and the national debt will be history!
