FCC Denies Attempt to Restore TV License Sought by Gray

The FCC has denied a request that it restore a deleted TV station license in the Fargo market that Gray TV wanted to buy.

As previously reported here, Gray has been seeking to buy KCPM/27 (Grand Forks) to operate alongside its existing full-power NBC affiliate and low-power CBS affiliate in the market. The sale might have been approved if it weren’t for questions about the validity of KCPM’s license.

In March, the FCC concluded that KCPM’s license had expired as a matter of law because it was off the air or using unauthorized facilities for more than a year. KCPM owner G.I.G. of North Dakota filed a petition for reconsideration asking the FCC to consider a portion of the statute that allows the FCC to make exceptions “to promote equity and fairness.”

In a letter Friday, the FCC said it found no basis for granting reconsideration. Media Bureau Chief Michelle M. Carey writes:

The Commission has consistently declined to reinstate a license to promote equity and fairness pursuant to section 312(g) where failure to transmit an authorized broadcast signal was due to the licensee’s “own actions, finances, and/or business judgments.” Here, the record reflects that Petitioner lost access to its licensed site in 2014 for failing to pay rent and related disputes with the site owner.

We find that this firmly establishes that the failure to transmit a broadcast signal was due to G.I.G.’s own actions, finances, and business judgments. Similarly, we find that nothing in the record suggests G.I.G. experienced circumstances out of its control similar to any instances where the Commission has exercised its discretion to reinstate a license. As such, we decline to reinstate G.I.G.’s license because its failure to transmit a broadcast signal since 2014 was due to its own actions, finances, and business judgments.

G.I.G. had also argued that the existence of creditors was similar to another case and could be the basis for an exception, but the FCC said it is “legally constrained from crafting such an exception.”

Gray TV had submitted comments elaborating on its plans (documented in the earlier story) to use KCPM to provide coverage responsive to the COVID-19 pandemic if the license was reinstated, a failing station waiver granted, and the sale approved. The FCC did not see the pandemic as a reason for granting an exception.

We do not agree that this unprecedented health crisis would justify us either acting out of accordance with longstanding precedent or allowing G.I.G. to benefit from its longstanding failure to serve its community. This is especially so in light of the fact that the effects of this transaction will extend well beyond this crisis, as the acquisition by Gray would require a permanent, as opposed to temporary, waiver of the Local Television Ownership Rule. Thus, given the prolonged and continuous nature of G.I.G.’s failure to transmit a broadcast as licensed, we do not find that it would be in the public interest to reinstate its license.

The decision appears to mark the final death knell for KCPM, with the FCC referring to the station as DKCPM in its letter (the designation used for deleted stations).