Oregon Broadcaster Fined for Kids TV Reporting Error

The FCC is fining California Oregon Broadcasting $13,000 for
failing to file children's TV programming reports for four years for K19GH-D
Eugene, Ore., which retransmits programming from the company's co-owned
KSLR-TV, for which it did file the reports.

The FCC's Media Bureau, which released the notice of
liability Friday, said that even though the station said it had inadvertently
failed to file the reports, human error was not an excuse for violating its
rules. The station had pointed out that it has since filed all the requisite
reports -- as of April 2011 -- but the FCC said corrective action does not
relieve a licensee of liability for past violations.

The FCC concluded the four-year lapse was the kind of
"repeated and willful" violation that draws fines.

The station has 30 days to either pay or appeal the fine.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.