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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Citicasters Co. ) File No. 00-IH-0283
) NAL/Acct. No. 200132080019
)
)
)
FORFEITURE ORDER
Adopted: March 30, 2001 Released: April 4, 2001
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Forfeiture Order, we find that Citicasters Co.
(``Citicasters''), violated section 310(d) of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended (``Act''), 47 U.S.C. § 310(d), and
section 73.3540(a) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §
73.3540(a), by assuming control of WBTJ(FM), Hubbard, Ohio,
without obtaining prior Commission approval. We conclude that
Citicasters is liable for a twenty-five thousand dollar ($25,000)
forfeiture.
II. BACKGROUND
2. On February 13, 2001, the Commission, by the Chief,
Enforcement Bureau, acting pursuant to delegated authority,
issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (``NAL'') to
Citicasters, proposing a $25,000 forfeiture.1 We issued the NAL
because it appeared that Citicasters had assumed control of
WBTJ(FM) while acting as the station's programmer under a time
brokerage agreement (``TBA''). Citicasters obtained a temporary
restraining order that required Stop 26-Riverbend, Inc., licensee
of WBTJ(FM), to seek prior approval of a state court in Mahoning
County, Ohio in order to preempt programming provided by
Citicasters under the TBA. Thus, it appeared that Citicasters
had effectively precluded the licensee from exercising its right
to substitute programming of greater local or national importance
or that better addressed the needs and interests of WBTJ(FM)'s
community of license. Citicasters' apparent exercise of control
over programming, one of the three areas essential to station
operation, was sufficient to find an unauthorized assumption of
control. We therefore determined that Citicasters' actions
appeared to have resulted in a violation of section 310(d) of the
Act and section 73.3540 of the rules.
3. Pursuant to paragraph 17 of the NAL, we sent the NAL by
certified mail to Citicasters' counsel of record. The return
receipt reflects delivery of the NAL on February 15, 2001.
Citicasters has not responded to the NAL.
III. DISCUSSION
4. Section 310(d) of the Act provides in pertinent
part:
No . . . station license, or any rights
thereunder, shall be transferred, assigned, or
disposed of in any manner, voluntarily or
involuntarily, directly or indirectly, or by
transfer of control of any corporation holding
such permit or license, to any person except upon
application to the Commission and upon finding by
the Commission that the public interest,
convenience, and necessity will be served thereby.
Similarly, section 73.3540(a) of the Commission's rules, 47
C.F.R. § 73.3540(a), provides, ``Prior consent of the FCC must be
obtained for a voluntary assignment or transfer of control.'' As
detailed in the NAL, Citicasters assumed control of WBTJ(FM)
without having received Commission authorization to do so.
Having received nothing to suggest otherwise, we conclude that
the unauthorized transfer occurred and that imposition of the
forfeiture is warranted.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
5. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED pursuant to 47 U.S.C. §
503(b) and 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80, that Citicasters
Co. FORFEIT to the United States the sum of twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000) for willfully and repeatedly violating 47
U.S.C. § 310(d) and 47 C.F.R. § 73.3540(a).
6. Payment of the forfeiture shall be made by mailing a
check or money order, payable to the order of the Federal
Communications Commission, to the Forfeiture Collection Section,
Finance Branch, Federal Communications Commission, P.O. Box
73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482, within thirty (30) days of
the release of this Forfeiture Order. See 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(h).
The payment should note the NAL/Acct. No. referenced above. If
the forfeiture is not paid within the period specified, the case
may be referred to the Department of Justice for collection
pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 504. A request for payment of the full
amount of this Forfeiture Order under an installment plan should
be sent to: Chief, Revenue and Receivables Operations Group, 445
12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.2
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this Forfeiture
Order shall be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to
Citicasters Co., 50 E. RiverCenter Blvd., 12th Floor, Covington,
KY 41011 and to Citicaster's counsel, Marissa G. Repp, Esq.,
Hogan & Hartson, L.L.P., 555 13th Street, N.W., Washington, DC
20004-1109.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 See Citicasters Co., DA 01-344 (Enforcement Bureau Feb. 13,
2001).
2 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.