Media Bureau Rescinds Translator License

The FCC Media Bureau denied an FM translator’s request to be allowed to remain silent and rescinded its license after learning the broadcaster, Powell Meredith Communications, didn’t construct the station in the authorized location and didn’t fulfill the conditions of its license, said a letter in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. PMC built its station on a ham radio tower in a recreational vehicle park rather than at the authorized tower site 30 yards away, the letter said. PMC argued the FCC was discriminating against the station because the company's sole principal is a minority, and said the agency was acting outside its authority. "There is nothing about the License Condition or LOI [letter of inquiry] that is disparate, discriminatory, or beyond the Bureau’s authority," the letter said. "The constructed facilities were not licensable because PMC provided false information in the License Application by stating that it had completed construction at the authorized location,” the letter said. That construction also violated FCC rules because of its “temporary nature,” said the bureau.