Broadcasters who fail to pay delinquent regulatory fees to the Federal Communications Commission may find their licenses in danger of being revoked.
The FCC recently initiated proceedings against three broadcasters to revoke their licenses after the FCC said the broadcasters failed to pay certain regulatory fees, related interest, administrative costs and penalties that are owed to the commission.
On Aug. 27, the commission sent a letter to Heidelberg Broadcasting, which is licensee of WVOL(AM) in Berry Hill, Tenn. According to the commission, Heidelberg failed to pay regulatory dues for fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 for a total of $10,902.35.
On the same day, the commission sent a similar letter to Christian Broadcasting, licensee for KDLA(AM) in De Ridder, La., for failure to pay delinquent regulatory fees and associated penalties. The commission said that Christian Broadcasting failed to pay regulatory fees for 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 for a total of $7,815.05.
The commission also reached out to The Sportzmax, too, licensee of WDSP(AM) in De Funiak Springs, Fla., for failure to pay delinquent regulatory fees in 2010, 2011 and 2012 for a total of $2,521.56.
Each licensee also owes the commission 25% in late payment penalties for each missed payment.
In addition to financial penalties, the FCC has the authority to revoke authorizations for failure to pay regulatory fees in a timely fashion. The commission has given the licensees 60 days to pay all outstanding regulatory fee debt or to show cause as to why the debt should be waived.
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