**DA 08-1469**

**Released: June 26, 2008**

David P. Fleming, Esq.

Senior Legal Counsel

Gannett Co., Inc.

7950 Jones Branch Drive

Malean, Virginia 22107

Chad Meli, Director

Little Rock Chapter

Parents Television Council

PO Box 155

Heber Springs, Arkansas 72543

# Re: Application for Renewal of License

Station KTHV(TV), Little Rock, Arkansas

> File No. BRCT-20050131BME
>
> Facility ID No. 2787

Mr. Meli and Counsel:

On August 28, 2005, Chad Meli filed a pleading styled as a formal
petition to deny opposing the license renewal of the CBS Television
Network affiliate Station KTHV(TV), Little Rock, Arkansas, licensed to
Arkansas Television Company ("Arkansas Television"), a subsidiary of the
Gannett Co, Inc. ("Gannett").[^1] On May 23, 2005, Gannett filed a
Response to Petition to Deny. For the reasons set forth below, we deny
the petition to deny.

*Background.* Mr. Meli requests that the above-captioned license renewal
application not be granted until certain indecency complaints involving
the December 31, 2004, airing of the network program *Without a Trace*
have been adjudicated.[^2] Mr. Meli states that "\[w\]hile KTHV may have
engaged in activity which has positively served this community, both
sides of the record must be examined thoroughly by the FCC in order to
ascertain precisely how well KTHV has served the public interest and
upheld community standards."[^3] Mr. Meli contends that, if the
Commission cannot adjudicate the complaints before granting the license
renewal, "then KTHV should be issued a temporary license until the FCC
is able to determine whether or not KTHV is meeting its public interest
requirements."[^4] Mr. Meli further states that, "upon visiting the
station on April 28^th^, I found that KTHV was not compliant with
section 73.3526" of the Commission's rules since the "complaint file in
question at the offices of KTHV was empty."[^5]

Gannett responds that, though it had not received any complaints at the
time the petition was filed, "\[b\]ased on the description of the
Episode contained in the \[p\]etition, it does not appear that the
network broadcast violated the Commission's indecency rules."[^6] With
respect to Mr. Meli's public file allegation, Gannett states that it, at
the time, had "received no notice of any FCC investigation or complaint
regarding the Episode or any other programming broadcast on KTHV" and,
thus, this portion of the public file was properly empty.[^7]

*Discussion.* Section 309(k)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (the
"Act") states that the Commission shall grant a license renewal
application if it finds, with respect to that station, that (a) the
station has served the public interest, convenience, and necessity; (b)
there have been no serious violations by the licensee of the
Communications Act or Commission rules and regulations; and (c) there
have been no other violations by the licensee of this Act or the rules
or regulations of the Commission which, taken together, would constitute
a pattern of abuse.[^8] With respect to whether grant will serve the
public interest, the Commission will designate a hearing pursuant to
Section 309(d)(1) of the Act if (a) the petitioner provides specific
allegations of fact sufficient to show that such a grant would be prima
facie inconsistent with the public interest;[^9] and (b) the
allegations, taken together with any opposing evidence before the
Commission, raise a substantial and material question of fact as to
whether grant would serve the public interest.[^10]

Mr. Meli does not state specifically that Station KTHV(TV) has failed to
serve the public interest during the license period in question. Thus,
we find that the limited, general allegations contained in the petition
to deny are insufficient to show that grant of the license renewal
application would be prima facie inconsistent with the public interest.

Mr. Meli's allegation concerning the unadjudicated complaints involving
the December 31, 2004, episode of *Without a Trace* is mooted by a March
15, 2006, Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, in which the
Commission found certain CBS affiliated and owned-and-operated stations,
including Station KTHV(TV),[^11] apparently liable in the amount of
\$32,500 per station for violation of the Commission's indecency
prohibition.[^12] While the airing of the material in question justified
imposition of an apparent monetary forfeiture, based on the limited
showing provided in the petition, we cannot find that the violation was
"serious" or evidenced a "pattern of abuse" on the part of Arkansas
Television. We thus find that grant of the license renewal application
would not violate Section 309(k)(1) of the Act.

Given that Mr. Meli only alleges that the "complaint file" portion of
the public inspection file was empty, it appears that the portion of the
public inspection file reviewed by Mr. Meli involved pending Commission
investigations, not public correspondence. Section 73.3526(e)(10) of the
Commission's rules requires licensees to retain all material "having a
substantial bearing on a matter which is the subject of an FCC
investigation or complaint to the FCC of which the applicant, permittee,
or *licensee has been advised*."[^13] At the time the petition was
filed, neither Arkanas Television nor Gannett had received a letter of
inquiry notifying them of the pending investigation of the December 31,
2004, episode of *Without a Trace*. The complaints were filed with the
Commission and not the licensee. Thus, based on the allegations
contained in the petition and Gannett's response, we conclude that
Station KTHV(TV)'s public inspection file complied with Section
73.3526(e)(10).

Accordingly, it is ordered that the petition to deny filed by Chad Meli
**IS DENIED**.

Sincerely,

Barbara A. Kreisman

Chief, Video Division

Media Bureau

[^1]: We do not need to reach the issue of standing in this case since
    we will exercise our discretion pursuant to section 73.3587 of the
    Commission's rules and address the arguments raised by Mr. Meli. 47
    C.F.R. §73.3587.

[^2]: *Petition to Deny*, at 1. While Mr. Meli maintains that the
    renewal application should not be granted until the Commission
    adjudicates all indecency complaints involving Station KTHV(TV), he
    does not state whether such complaints involve broadcasts other than
    the one specifically mentioned in the petition.

[^3]: *Id.* at 2.

[^4]: *Id.*

[^5]: *Id.,*at 1.

[^6]: *Response to Petition to Deny*, at 2.

[^7]: *Id.*

[^8]: 47 U.S.C. §309(k)(1).

[^9]: 47 U.S.C. §309(d)(1); *Astroline Communications Co. Ltd.
    Partnership v. FCC,* 857 F.2d 1556 (D.C. Cir. 1988) ("Astroline").

[^10]: *Astroline*, 857 F.2d at 1561.

[^11]: *In the Matter of Complaints Against Various Television Licensees
    Concerning Their December 31, 2004, Broadcast of the Program
    "Without a Trace,"* 21 FCC Rcd 2732 (2006).

[^12]: *See* 18 U.S.C. § 1464; 47 C.F.R. § 73.3999.

[^13]: 47 C.F.R. § 73.3526(e)(10) (emphasis added).