Media Bureau Proposes $16,000 Fine for LPTV Station

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $16,000 fine for a low-power TV station that operated at lower power levels at the recommendation of FCC staff but without formally filing for permission, said a notice of apparent liability in Friday’s Daily Digest. After conversations with FCC staff, Abacus Television’s WIIC-LD Pittsburgh began operating at lower power levels to avoid interfering with a nearby full-power station, the NAL said. The broadcaster never filed a required application for special temporary authority. “Abacus points to its mistaken belief that the informal conversations with and suggestions by Division staff were sufficient given the temporary nature of the operations and that a formal filing would be ‘unnecessary’ and ‘wasteful,’” said the NAL. The bureau declined to reduce the proposed fine because Abacus has a history of past violations, the filing said. Abacus “claims its apparent violation was the result of ‘misjudgments and distractions,’” said the NAL. “It is well-settled that such factors are not an excuse for failure to comply with the Rules.”