A TV translator licensed to Wichita Falls, Tex., that brings programming to the city from North Texas’ primary PBS Member station could be on the hook for a FCC forfeiture for failing to timely file its license to cover application.
The Media Bureau has proposed a fine of $3,250 for North Texas Public Broadcasting for its transgression, which resulted in the unauthorized operation of K26NK-D.
The facility rebroadcasts KERA-TV in Dallas, and on December 18, 2020 vandals created problems to the TV translator’s broadcast tower. As such, the tower fell, and the transmitter was impacted. NTPB suspended broadcasts on K26NK-D and filed a special temporary authority request to go dark as it sought a resolution.
Simultaneously, NTPB requested an engineering STA to continue operating the translator TV station from a temporary tower location. That request was granted on January 25, 2021, and expired on July 25, 2021.
NTPB maintains that the TV translator station resumed operations from the temporary tower location on April 21, 2021. The KERA owner subsequently filed an application for minor modification specifying the temporary tower site for its permanent operation. The minor modification was granted on May 6, 2021.
Despite the fact that K26NK-D was already operating from the temporary tower site, it failed to submit a license to cover its facility. Why? “Administrative oversight” was the reason, and that never passes muster with the Media Bureau.
In fact, it was not until April 5, 2024, in response to a staff inquiry from the Video Division of the Media Bureau, that NTPB submitted a very late-filed license to cover the Minor Mod CP and its Waiver Request.
The result is the proposed fine following a review of the matter by Video Division Chief Barbara Kriesman.
