FCC Says North Dakota License Sought by Gray TV Has Expired

The FCC has denied the sale of a Grand Forks TV station to Gray TV after determining that the station’s license has actually expired.

Questions about the status of G.I.G. of North Dakota’s KCPM/27 (Grand Forks) arose after a 2018 application to transfer KCPM’s license to Gray TV, which owns the Fargo-Grand Forks market’s CBS and NBC affiliates. Gray would’ve paid $255,000 for KCPM, according to an asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC.

Another licensee in the market, Major Market Broadcasting, filed a petition to deny, alleging that KCPM had been off the air for three to five years. Federal law says licenses are automatically forfeited if a station is off the air for more than a year.

In a letter sent to G.I.G. on Monday, March 9, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman said G.I.G. had “failed to provide sufficient evidence showing that [KCPM] has been on the air.” The FCC determined that KCPM “was either silent or engaging in unauthorized operation since at least December 15, 2014, until March 27, 2018.”

According to the FCC letter, KCPM lost access to its licensed site in December 2014 but did not request special temporary authority to transmit from another location until March 2018, concluding that it was either off the air or using unauthorized facilities during that time.

The FCC writes:

Furthermore, to the extent G.I.G. claims the Station did not go silent until January 31, 2017, we find that G.I.G. has insufficiently described the actions it took to resume operations on January 27, 2018. Notably, G.I.G. claims that when the Station went back on the air, it “was using a temporary transmitter utilizing a video server,” and did so by accessing the licensed site without permission from the owner of the licensed site. On its face, we find that G.I.G.’s explanation is insufficient to show that it did, in fact, resume operations on January 27, 2018. Furthermore, G.I.G. was not authorized to operate using a temporary transmitter and therefore, even if it did resume operations, “an unauthorized transmission counts for nothing.”

Lastly, despite the Division affording it multiple opportunities to supplement the record, G.I.G. has failed to provide sufficient evidence showing that it has been on the air. For example, when asked to provide utility bills or proof of payment associated with operating KCPM since January 1, 2013, G.I.G. contends that “[d]ue to financial constraints, KCPM was operating through the use of a gasoline fueled generator,” where the “gasoline was purchased from various stations” and thus “[no] invoices were retained.” Similarly, despite stating it had a new antenna and feed line installed by Midwest Steeplejacks, G.I.G. likewise did not provide any invoices evidencing any such installation or purchase of equipment. Lastly, in response to the Division’s request that it provide all station logs starting from January 1, 2013, G.I.G. only provided KCPM’s station logs for January 2013, August 2013, and April 2014.

March 9, 2020, FCC letter to G.I.G. of North Dakota, LLC

KCPM had signed on in 2003 as a UPN affiliate and was rebroadcast on KVNJ-LP/2 (Fargo). It was carried on cable channel 9, replacing KMSP (Minneapolis) after it switched from FOX to UPN.

KCPM became a My Network TV affiliate during the national affiliation changes in 2006. It later lost the cable channel 9 position in Fargo.