In mid-April, Tejas Broadcasting agreed to sell a Class C1 100kw FM serving Amarillo, Tex., to Viva Media LLC.
Nine months later, the station’s new owner has been handed a Notice of Violation from the FCC for not having a functioning Emergency Alert System (EAS) system at this station.
It also appears a second Viva station lacked an operable EAS system.
Viva Media, led by Maria Ceniceros, in April acquired KQFX-FM 104.3 in Borger, Texas, which serves the Amarillo market.
However, the purchase didn’t come easy: A petition to deny the transaction was filed with the Commission by Caroline Smith, owner of Tejano KAMT-FM “Mega 105.1,” licensed to Channing, Tex.
Viva operated KAMT via a Time Brokerage Agreement commenced in July 2014. With KAMT and KQFX set to be owned by Ceniceros, Smith stepped in to voice a complaint. The matter was settled via a resolution that saw KAMT be sold by Viva Media to Smith.
With that matter out of the way, Viva took control of KQFX and began to operate it with regional Mexican Class C1 KBEX-FM 96.1 “La Poderosa,” licensed to Dalhart, Tex.
However, FCC Enforcement Bureau Director for Region Two, Ronald Ramage, notes that both KBEX and KQFX did not have a station log available at the time of an inspection by Dallas Office agents, nor did the stations have an EAS log.
The agents’ inspection came on Oct. 26, in response to a complaint that the stations did not have a functioning EAS.
Viva Media now has 20 days from the Dec. 20 release of the notice to respond, ahead of a possible Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture.
EAS violations are hardly rare. In December 2013, Beasley Broadcast Group received a Notice of Violation for not doing the required checks of its EAS equipment since 2012 at a religious station serving the Philadelphia market.
