A small municipality along the picturesque Snake River has been handed a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, albeit a tiny one, for its failure to follow the FCC’s rules regarding its ownership of a low-power television station serving the town.
Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman has levied a $1,000 penalty against Hagerman Translator District for failing to timely file a license to cover application and for engaging in unauthorized operation of TV translator station K49IT-D in Hagerman, Idaho, after its construction permit had expired.
After hearing from the TV translator station’s owner, which had a pending License to Cover application in front of the Media Bureau, the small fine was assessed. Kreisman also agreed to reinstate the construction permit for K49IT-D while accepting the application for filing.
What transpired? K49IT-D’s channel 49 facilities were displaced in the Incentive Auction and repacking process. As such, it had until September 27, 2021, to switch to digital channel 18.
Here’s the problem, while K49IT-D completed its displacement facilities and began operating on the new channel as of January 25, 2019, it didn’t file a license to cover application upon completion of the new facility and prior to the displacement construction permit’s expiration date. Thus, the Displacement CP was automatically forfeited.
On May 23, 2024, more than five years after construction was completed, HTD late-filed its application along with a petition seeking reinstatement of the expired Displacement CP and grant of the application.
What was HTD’s reason for the super-tardy filing? it explained to the Commission that at the time the Displacement CP facilities were completed, “there was a different consulting firm being used to manage FCC filings and there was an apparent failure to communicate the construction … and subsequent filing of license to cover construction application.”
HTD then explained how crucial K49IT-D is as a TV translator station, as it allows viewers in Hagerman to watch a Twin Falls, Idaho television station normally not receivable due to distance and terrain, leaving an over-the-air void for the community.
Those arguments didn’t necessarily sway Kreisman. Rather, a review of HTD’s financial statements led the Video Division of the FCC Media Bureau to reduce the fine from the base forfeiture amount of $3,000 for the failure to file the required form and an additional base forfeiture amount of $10,000 for construction and operation without an instrument of authorization for the service.
Regarding the $1,000 forfeiture amount, Kreisman said, “We find this amount is appropriate given HTD’s history of compliance, substance of its financial statements, nature of its financing, and the unique facts and circumstances presented.”
