WKCR is fined $10,000
No, WKCR deejays didn’t drop the f-bomb. And no, Howard Stern hasn’t made any recent special appearances.
As reported earlier today by The New York Times, WKCR, Columbia’s very own radio station, has been fined $10,000 for a lapse in record-keeping.
WKCR’s broadcasting won’t be affected by the fine until at least 2014, when their license to broadcast will end, and will not be renewed unless the fine is paid.
The fine was announced on Tuesday after the FCC found that WKCR had not been maintaining a public inspection file, a set of records all radio stations are required by federal law to keep updated and available to the public.
University spokesperson Robert Hornsby said that the lapse in record-keeping was prior to 2006, the year it was disclosed to the FCC. He also said that this does not represent current practices.
Public inspection fines are not uncommon: WKCR is the third college station to be fined for this offense this month.
Check back for more updates!
I hope Columbia doesn’t spend money bailing out this mistake
Since when does Columbia spend money on WKCR, a donation-driven radio station?
Agreed, I hope Columbia shuts them down. $10,000 can be better spent on a lot of other organizations or community development.
… but when I do, I listen to WBAR
-the most interesting man in the world
The head of the FCC graduated from Columbia
Julius, how could you do this to us?
The station needs to bail itself out
With its problems, it should be preserved. A listener for years, I will support it when the special fund drive starts.
Your prize is in the mail.
Meanwhile, the FCC continues to do nothing about the pirate station broadcasting at 89.7 FM…
They don’t even have an FCC license anymore. And their carrier current wires were cut years ago. And unless they’ve gotten a surge of funding and institutional support lately, they’ll remain a barely-functioning internet radio station.
No, not WBAR. There’s a Harlem-based Spanish-language station that broadcasts without a license on 89.7 FM, interfering with WKCR’s signal.
They’re a subcarrier on WKCR’s HD stream
Aw, come on. Can’t the FCC find someone else to pick on. They have to go after a college radio station and one with such high quality programming at that!
In what world are the Columbia football broadcasts “high quality programming”?
The other stuff they do, maybe you’re right.
Actually I’ve never listened to a football game on WKCR. I am talking about regular Jazz programming like Phil Schapp’s Bird Flight. If you haven’t listened to this leading jazz historian talk about Charlie Parker, you are missing out. And what about the Tennessee Border Show, Honky Tonkin’, and the great blues show on Tuesday night and all the other music that WKCR features. Check it all out. Although there are some alumni involved, the majority of the programming is done by young college kids who have a love for this kind of American roots music and understand its importance so they somehow find the time, among the million other things they are doing, to keep this station going. So, I say again, give WKCR a break and find some real white collar criminals out there to crack down on.
Does WKCR report all the university scandals like what the Spectator is doing?
WKCR will be paying the fine out of the budget that the station fundraises each year.
No effort to contact any KCR staff members for a comment?
WHO IS dqueezy !!?!?!?!