WCVZ-FM West Zanesville OH, licensed to Christian Voice of Central Ohio, Inc., was assessed a $20K NAL by the FCC for going a little overboard in some of its underwriting announcements. Announcements for three contributors were fingered. CVCO argued that pricing, a call to action and other commercial elements were absent from the announcements, and the FCC agreed to let it off the hook for one of them.
But in saying Tastee Freeze products are “tastefully decorated” and asking whether listeners were “planning a special occasion,” the FCC says it went over the line. This was also the finding when saying things about Prindle GMAC Real Estate like “we’re all about family,” and that “we love selling real estate.”
Further complicating the matter was the fact that the station was in the process of converting its license from non-profit to for-profit status. This pending business was no excuse, ruled the FCC, which said it could have assessed a fine as high as $27.5K per incident. However, in reducing the number of faulty underwriting statements, and in view of CBVO’s general record of compliance, it knocked the bottom line down to $9K.
