It airs a slate of programming provided by African American-centric digital multicast network Bounce and serves the Three Rivers region of Western Pennsylvania. And, in September 2019 it was displaced, resulting in an application seeing it move from Channel 31 to Channel 10.
In response to Video Division inquiries about the digital LPTV station’s operational status since that time, it was revealed by the licensee that it had been operating the station at reduced power in order to avoid causing interference to full power station WYTV-31 in Youngstown, Ohio, while awaiting processing of its displacement app.
There’s just one problem: a Special Temporary Authority filing was never made. As such, the owner of Abacus TV in Pittsburgh may be on the hook for a sizable fine.
WIIC-LD received a letter of inquiry from the Media Bureau’s Video Division seeking more information about the station’s operational status from the day it was displaced.
Specifically, Abacus was requested to provide the exact dates of the station’s operation or silence since that date. In addition, for any time during the period in question that the WIIC was operational, Abacus was asked to provide the station’s technical operating parameters, specific evidence of the station’s operation throughout the entire period of operation, and the valid authorization under which the station operated.
The letter, sent by division Chief Barbara Kreisman on February 22, was responded to by Abacus roughly one month later. Abacus provided documentary evidence that since September 12, 2019, WIIC has been operating from its licensed location but also noted that, since October 16, 2019, it has been operating at reduced power — with no STA.
How did Abacus explain this? “[W]hile no single factor explains or excuses [this] failure … a confluence of misjudgments and distractions resulted in [the] failure to act in accordance with the Rules.”
With WYTV getting a power increase on that September 2019 date, WIIC-LD took it upon itself to lower the power to 7,500 watts to reduce or eliminate approximately 5.33% interference to WYTV, an ABC affiliate owned by Vaughn Media and operated via shared services agreements with Nexstar Media Group.
Abacus told the FCC of the power reduction. But, that isn’t sufficient enough, and a Special Temporary Authority request was absent.
There’s more: Video Division staff informed Abacus that the 7.5kw power output still created interference with WYTV. So, Abacus took WIIC’s power all the way down to 0.0363 kw — again, with no STA in place with the Commission. The reduction was done based only on the suggestion of Division staff.
Finally, on March 16, WIIC-LD went silent.
Given all of those actions in lieu of a STA, Kriesman assessed a $16,000 proposed forfeiture, taking two past transgressions into consideration — a $3,200 fine for failing to operate WIIC within the terms of station authorization, and a $5,250 fine for the tardy filing of children’s television programming reports due each quarter.
