WGBN faces more FCC fines
July 24, 2019*This article originally published with the station call letters incorrectly listed as “WBGN”. The correction has been made.
Inside Radio reports that WGBN (1360 McKeesport) has been slapped with yet another fine. This time Pentecostal Temple Development Corp. needs to pony up $25,000. It is all related to the 2-tower antenna site in Lincoln Borough:
- Failure to keep the lights on.
- Failure to file a NOTAM with the FAA.
- Failure to keep the towers cleaned and painted for proper visibility.
Also, the FCC seems to be upset over paperwork PTDC filed in early 2017 that did not address the late 2016 FCC notice regarding the tower disrepair. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau regional director David Dombrowski said in his report, “Rather than properly filing a response to the notice, Pentecostal Temple engaged in procedurally deficient shenanigans.”
Read more about the story on Inside Radio.
Armchair commentary: I wish they hadn’t taken that donation of 1360 when it was offered. It probably seemed like a great blessing to the church to receive a donation of a 5 kilowatt radio station with full city coverage, and from reading press at the time, it was.
The problem is not owning the land that the towers are on, while having to get a new station off the ground, and having to pay rent on the tower site each month. There are many stories of smaller AM stations that couldn’t make it work with rented land, like our own WZUM on 1590.
Positive thoughts on keeping 1360 on the air from their present site and clearing up this mess.
Boomer