One fine ties to another at Laredo AM

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Sometimes a violation of an FCC rule is isolated and self-contained; other times, it is related to one or more companion violations, or it leads to the discovery of other violations. Also, there are specific steps to take if you seek a reduction or cancellation of an FCC fine. Which brings us to the story of KVOZ-AM.


The station is licensed to Consolidated Radio Inc., and serves the Laredo TX market from its city of license, Del Mar Hills TX. It plays its Spanish-language Christian format over 890 kHz with 10 kW-D and 1 kW-N.

An FCC agent discovered that on 7/27-28/10, the station failed to power down at nighttime – that violation is failure to operate consistent with the terms of its station authorization. That violation led to the subsequent discovery, on 7/29/10, that the station did not have a main studio in its city of license and had not had one for months.

Violation number three is completely related – if there is no studio, there cannot possibly be a public file available for inspection.

The total penalty for the trio of trouble was $21K.

The station responded to a notice of apparent liability, stated that it was fixing the problems and asked that the fine be cancelled since the station relies on donations from the local community for financial sustenance.
If you are going to plead poverty to the FCC, that financial state has to be thoroughly documented. The station provided no documentation of any kind.

So the $21K fine stands and the NAL has solidified into a forfeiture order.