FCC Relaxes Media Bureau Waiver Standards

The FCC Media Bureau will give more consideration in the future to waivers for stations that constructed permitted facilities on time but failed to meet license application deadlines, said a unanimous order from the full FCC Tuesday. The item had been listed on Thursday’s open meeting agenda as an adjudicatory matter, but the agency released a deletion notice Tuesday.

The order reverses in part the Media Bureau's denial of a petition for reconsideration from Radio Two, owner of KTTP(AM), Pineville, Louisiana. Radio Two received a construction permit to build an FM translator in 2019, with a deadline to build the station and file a license to cover by 2022. The broadcaster never filed the license but was found by an FCC inspector to be operating the translator without authorization in 2023. The company told the FCC it wasn’t aware it was operating without permission. When Radio Two sought reinstatement, the Media Bureau dismissed the request as procedurally defective and said the broadcaster hadn’t demonstrated that there were any rare or exceptional circumstances beyond the station’s control involved.

The full FCC said the bureau should consider whether there's sufficient evidence that permitted stations were constructed and ready by their permit deadlines and whether other parties would be affected when considering such requests, Tuesday's order said. "Although the potential consideration of license applications that are not timely filed may place an additional processing burden on Commission staff, we believe that the impact on administrative efficiency may be outweighed in certain circumstances by the public benefit,” it said. The order reinstated the construction permit and gave Radio Two 30 days to file a license to cover and a waiver request that includes evidence that its translator was constructed on time. It also directed the bureau to consider appropriate enforcement action against Radio Two for the late filings and unauthorized operations.