FCC nails Wheeling talker
February 19, 2009
Funny Cousin Charlie doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.
Yesterday, the FCC slapped Wheeling’s “WatchDawg,” talker WKKX (1600), with a $3,200 fine for broadcasting a phone call without notifying the recipient on the other end of the line.
The fine stems from an incident that happened back on Aug. 31, 2005, when former morning host Dave “Bloomdaddy” Blomquist — during a segment he called “Wake Your Lazy Carcass Up” — randomly called David Delk of Wheeling at 7:05 a.m.
According to the commission’s ruling, Blomquist told Delk and his wife that he was from a radio station and that he wanted to ask them some trivia questions, but he didn’t inform them that their call was live.
The Delks weren’t amused, and neither was the FCC. Federal rules require both notification and consent before a call can be broadcast.
The fine was reduced from the original $4,000 after station owners RCK 1 Group promised the commission that “corrective measures” have been taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again. Blomquist is now at cross-town rival talker WWVA (1170).
