The FCC has handed the Hobbs Seventh–Day Adventist Church of the Texico Conf. Assn., the licensee of a low-power television station in New Mexico, a proposed fine. Why?
A proposed $1,500 penalty was handed to the Hobbs Seventh–Day Adventist Church of the Texico because of issues tied to K34KZ-D, in Hobbs, New Mexico.
The church was found to have violated section 73.3539 of the FCC’s rules.
For the layman, that’s the failure to submit a license renewal application in a timely manner.
The regulations mandate that license renewal applications for broadcast stations be submitted no later than the first day of the fourth full calendar month before the expiration of the license. In this case, the application for renewal was due by June 1, 2022, four months ahead of the station’s license expiry on October 1, 2022. However, the church did not submit the application until July 18, 2022, without providing any reason for the delay.
On March 1, 2023, the FCC put forth a Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL), proposing a fine of $1,500. The licensee was given 30 days to either pay the proposed fine in full or submit a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed fine. To date, no payment has been made nor has any written statement been submitted by the licensee in response to the NAL. Instructions for payment methods were included in the order.
