Home Login RADIO ONLINE RSS Facebook
Advertisement

FCC Fines KXOL-FM in Los Angeles $8000 Over Contest


Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission

The FCC has levied a proposed fine of $8000 against Spanish Broadcasting System's KXOL-FM in Los Angeles for failing to conduct a contest in accordance with its announced terms and to deliver a prize to the winner in the prescribed time under the contest's terms. Despite being required to deliver prizes to winners within thirty business days, KXOL failed to meet its own deadline.

In proposing this penalty, the agency reiterated the Commission's commitment to protecting the public from deceptive broadcast contests. Under the Commission's rules, broadcast licensees must "fully and accurately disclose the material terms" of a licensee-conducted contest and conduct it "substantially as announced and advertised." Material terms "include any eligibility restrictions, means of selection of winners, and the extent, nature and value of prizes."

The Commission received a complaint alleging that KXOL did not conduct a contest in a manner substantially as announced by failing to award a promised cash prize of $396 to the winner, conducted on air on October 24, 2019. The Enforcement Bureau issued a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) investigating the complaint on June 16, 2021. KXOL submitted its timely response on July 16, 2021.

In its LOI response, KXOL admitted that there was an "undue delay" in issuing the contest prize and that it failed to issue the award within the applicable timeframe. The contest at issue, "Mega Bomba," aired from July 18, 2019 to October 25, 2019, with 459 winners. The contest terms provide, in two separate provisions, that each winner will be awarded their prize "within thirty business days of the date the winner completes all required station documents." KXOL acknowledged that the complainant had completed required documents on January 16, 2020. Despite this, KZOL issued the award in May, 2021.

KXOL attributed its "undue delay" to three different events: the COVID-19 pandemic, a ransomware attack that disabled corporate IT systems between October 2020 and March 2021 and after recovering from the ransomware attack, KXOL lacked the staff needed to complete the remaining work quickly.

The FCC found that KXOL's justifications for this delay did not excuse its liability for failure to issue the prize in accordance with its announced contest terms and issued a base forfeiture of $4,000 and concluded an upward adjustment was warranted making the proposed fine of $8000.

Advertisement

Latest Radio Stories

Poll: Strong Bipartisan Support for Public Radio Funding
National Public Radio (NPR)
National Public Radio (NPR)
A new national poll conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of NPR finds that two-thirds of Americans support continued federal funding for public radio, with broad bipartisan approval and high levels of trust in public radio's role in emergency communication and community service. More

Bruce Logan Returns to Audacy Houston as VP/P
Bruce Logan
Bruce Logan
Veteran radio programmer Bruce Logan has reported rejoined Audacy Houston as Vice President of Programming and Program Director for Country KILT-FM (100.3 The Bull). While the company has not yet made an official announcement, the move marks a return to familiar territory for Logan, who previously held the More

Red Apple Media Appoints Bert Goldman as CTO
Bert Goldman
Bert Goldman
Red Apple Media names veteran broadcast engineer Bert Goldman as its new Chief Technology Officer. He brings more than 50 years of radio engineering experience to the role, with a deep background in station construction, facility upgrades, signal optimization, and regulatory compliance. Goldman has More
Advertisement

Chris Fillar Joins WWJ Newsradio 950 as Morning Co-Anchor
Chris Fillar
Chris Fillar
Audacy names Chris Fillar as the new morning co-anchor on WWJ-AM (WWJ Newsradio 950) in Detroit. Fillar steps into the role alongside Jackie Paige, with the duo now leading weekday broadcasts from 5-10am ET. Fillar, who has delivered sports updates on WWJ and sister WXYT-FM (97.1 The Ticket) since 2018, More

Anna & Raven Show Expands to Montgomery and Columbia
Anna & Raven Show
Anna & Raven Show
Syndicated Anna & Raven Show continues its rapid growth, adding two major Southern markets to its expanding list of affiliates. Beginning this week, the morning program will now be heard on WMXS (Mix 103.3) in Montgomery, AL and WARQ (Live 93.5) in Columbia, SC. The show is now carried in more than 75 More

SiriusXM Adds Low-Cost, Ad-Supported Subscription Plan
SiriusXM
SiriusXM
SiriusXM has unveiled SiriusXM Play, a new low-cost, ad-supported subscription package aimed at attracting more price-sensitive consumers and expanding its reach across North America. Priced at under $7 per month, the new plan offers access to more than 130 curated music, talk, and More

Return to Menu

Advertisement

Subscribe to our Newsletter
Radio news and headlines delivered right to your e-mail box -- and it's free.

Advertisement

Advertisement