A Class A FM radio stations serving a community to the west of Corpus Christi, Tex., in August 2024 was handed a proposed financial penalty for its late filing of license renewal forms with the FCC. Now, this FM is off the hook because it was the Commission’s fault.
KBRA-FM in Freer, Tex., was handed a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $3,000. It earned the proposed fine for not submitting its license renewal form until July 19, 2021. It was due on April 1 of that year, and licensee Cobra Broadcasting offered no explanation for why it was so late.
Cobra was given 30 days to challenge the NALF or pay up. It chose the former option, as it was unable to log in to the FCC’s Licensing and Management Systems (LMS) database until after the filing deadline.
As Cobra explained, beginning in the second week of March 2021, it attempted to move ahead with the KBRA license renewal. However, FCC Support Services could not get its passwords reset after several attempts over many days, Cobra noted.
Audio Division Chief Al Shuldiner confirmed with Media Bureau staff Cobra’s explanation. As such, the proposed forfeiture has been cancelled.
