The construction permit for KXFT-FM Manson IA, held by Three Eagles of Lincoln (TEL), expired 3/28/08 and according to rule, was terminated by the FCC. TEL filed a petition for reconsideration, which the FCC found to be procedurally deficient, but the FCC saw its way to allowing the station to live nevertheless.
TEL said it actually had the station built and operating according to its licensed parameters before 2007 was in the history books, and that it inadvertently failed to apply for its license to cover.
The FCC countered that there was nothing to reconsider, since the station was not terminated by decision, but rather as a matter of law. What TEL needed to file was a waiver, to be allowed to operate the station despite its failure to follow FCC procedure to activate the license.
So the FCC, of its own volition, treated the petition AS a request for a waiver, and granted it, allowing the station to live. The repercussion leveled at TEL was a simple admonishment, without financial penalty, for its failure to follow the rules.
KXFT-FM is a C3 on 99.7 MHz with 25 kw @ 285’.
RBR-TVBR observation: This is not a station with rimshot move-in aspirations. In Arbitron terms, it is very much in the middle of nowhere. It is an attempt to provide first service to the community of Manson. The nearest yellow area on our road map is not Des Moines or Cedar Rapids or Waterloo or Davenport or even Ottumwa – it’s Fort Dodge, and even that small municipality is 25 miles or so to the east.
The FCC has put the needs of the citizens of Manson and honored the good intentions of a smaller regional radio group ahead of strictly enforcing the rules. We’ve all had high school teachers who were utterly incapable of putting the common good and common sense ahead of mindless rule enforcement.
Kudos to the FCC for rising above the level of a mindless bureaucracy and taking the high road for KXFT-FM, Three Eagles and Manson IA.
