WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has fined station group KHQ Inc. $29,000 for violations of its rules and signed a consent decree with the broadcaster.
As part of the consent decree, the FCC has agreed to renew licenses for KHQ’s three full-power commercial TV stations in Washington state: KHQ-TV Spokane, KNDO Yakima and KNDU Richland.
The FCC said the consent decree resolves issues arising from the Media Bureau’s review of license renewal applications for the stations involving two areas: compliance with section 73.3514(a) of FCC rules requiring licensees to provide complete responses in applications; and section 73.3526(e)(11)(i), which requires stations to maintain an online public inspection file and upload issues/programs lists into that file every quarter.
As part of the consent decree, KHQ agreed to pay the $29,000 fine and to institute compliance plans to avoid future violations. As a result of the decree, the Media Bureau ended its investigation and renewed the licenses.
The full order and consent decree is available here.
