Before the

Federal Communications Commission

Washington, D.C. 20554

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| In the Matter of                 | * | File No. EB-00-IH-0065       |
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| **CITICASTERS CO.**              | ) | NAL/Acct. No. X32080015      |
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| Licensee of Station KITT(FM)     | * | Facility ID# 46982           |
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| Shreveport, Louisiana            | * | JJS                          |
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[NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE]{.underline}

**Adopted: May 5, 2000 Released: May 9, 2000**

By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:

# Introduction

1.  In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, we find
    Citicasters Co. ("Citicasters"), licensee of Station KITT(FM),
    Shreveport, Louisiana, apparently liable for a forfeiture in the
    amount of four thousand dollars (\$4,000) for a violation of Section
    73.1216 of the Commission's rules, which requires licensees, among
    other things, to fully and accurately disclose material terms of a
    contest. We find that Citicasters conducted a contest, "Millionaire
    Monday," without disclosing a material term of the contest, *i.e.*,
    that the prize was one million Turkish lira, not \$1,000,000.

# Background

2.  On February 16, 2000, the Investigations and Hearings Division of
    the Enforcement Bureau received a complaint filed on behalf of John
    Richard McRae. According to the complaint, on February 14, 2000, Mr.
    McRae was selected to participate in a contest "Do You Want to Be a
    Millionaire?" conducted by KITT(FM). Mr. McRae answered all of the
    required questions correctly on the air and was told by "Coyote,"
    the on-air personality, that he was a millionaire. After he won the
    contest, Mr. McRae was told that he had won "one million Turkish
    lira," which Coyote represented to be worth approximately \$1.90.

3.  On February 24, 2000, the Investigations and Hearings Division sent
    a letter of inquiry to Citicasters. In its response, which was filed
    on April 14, 2000, Citicasters admitted it ran a contest called
    "Millionaire Monday" during the "Coyote and Kathryn" show on
    February 14, 2000 and that Mr. McRae was the winner of that contest.
    According to Citicasters, the contest was a parody of the ABC
    television show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" The station ran
    teases promoting the contest approximately four times a day from
    February 4-6 and 11-13. The following is a transcript of the teases:

    Coyote: Hold it, stop, stop, stop. Hey, hey, check this out. It's
    Coyote . . .

    Kathryn: And Kathryn . . .

    Coyote: And coming up Monday morning . . .

    Kathryn: Ooh, you could be a millionaire.

    Coyote: Yes. Do you have a dictionary there?

    Kathryn: Yes, it, it says, millionaire . . .

    Coyote: Oh, oh, don't tell them, don't tell them the definition.
    Look it up yourself, read it, ok? You can fall into that category
    Monday morning right here.

    Kathryn: Millionaire Monday.

    Coyote: Coyote and Kathryn, on Thunder Country.

    Kathryn: T-93.

    Coyote: Where you can win a million, Monday morning.

4.  Citicasters states that it intentionally did not state what the
    grand prize was. Citicasters claims that the contest's status as a
    parody was underscored by the fact that the prizes for correct
    answers to qualifying questions were a CD, hamburgers, and movie
    passes for two.

# Discussion

5.  Section 73.1216 of the Commission's rules provides:

    A licensee that broadcasts or advertises information about a contest
    it conducts shall fully and accurately disclose the material terms
    of the contest, and shall conduct the contest substantially as
    announced or advertised. No contest description shall be false,
    misleading or deceptive with respect to any material term.

    Under Note 1 to that rule, the material terms of the contest include
    "the extent, nature, and value of prizes" and "the basis for
    valuation of prizes." Note 2 to the rule states:

> In general, the time and manner of disclosure of the material terms of
> a contest are within the licensee\'s discretion. However, the
> obligation to disclose the material terms arises at the time the
> audience is first told how to enter or participate and continues
> thereafter. The material terms should be disclosed periodically by
> announcements broadcast on the station conducting the contest, but
> need not be enumerated each time an announcement promoting the contest
> is broadcast. Disclosure of material terms in a reasonable number of
> announcements is sufficient. In addition to the required broadcast
> announcements, disclosure of the material terms may be made in a
> non-broadcast manner.

6.  In this case, it appears that Citicasters violated Section 73.1216
    of the Commission's rules by not disclosing a material term of the
    "Millionaire Monday" contest -- the fact that the prize was
    1,000,000 Turkish lira not \$1,000,000. Citicasters states that it
    intentionally did not disclose the nature of the prize. The failure
    to disclose the nature and true value of the prize is a clear
    violation of the rule. Moreover, despite Citicasters's protestations
    that it never claimed that the prize was \$1,000,000, a listener had
    no way of determining that the prize in question was 1,000,000
    Turkish lira. The Commission has held that licensees are
    "responsible for broadcasting accurate statements as to the nature
    and value of contest prizes, and will be held accountable for any
    announcement which tends to mislead the public." *WMJX, Inc.*, 48 RR
    2d 1339, 1357 (1981).

7.  Section 503(b) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 503(b), and
    Section 1.80(a) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(a), both
    state that any person who willfully or repeatedly fails to comply
    with the provisions of the Communications Act or the Commission's
    rules shall be liable for a forfeiture penalty. For purposes of
    Section 503(b), the term "willful" means that the violator knew it
    was taking the action in question, irrespective of any intent to
    violate the Commission's rules. *See Southern California
    Broadcasting Co.*, 6 FCC Rcd 4387 (1991). Furthermore, a continuing
    violation is "repeated" if it lasts more than one day. *Id.*, 6 FCC
    Rcd at 4388.

8.  Based on the evidence before us, we find that Citicasters conducted
    the "Millionaire Monday" contest without disclosing a material term
    of the contest, in apparent willful and repeated violation of
    Section 73.1216 of the Commission's rules. The Commission's
    *Forfeiture Policy Statement* sets a base forfeiture amount of
    \$4,000 for a violation of Section 73.1216 of the rules.[^1] After
    considering the record and all of the factors contained in Section
    503(b)(2)(D) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D), and the
    *Forfeiture Policy Statement*, we believe a \$4,000 forfeiture is
    appropriate in this case.

9.  We note that a station controlled by Citicasters' corporate parent
    recently committed a similar violation.[^2] Future violations by
    stations owned by these entities will likely result in significantly
    higher forfeitures.

# Ordering clauses

10. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED THAT pursuant to Section 503(b) of the
    Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Sections 0.111, 0.311
    and 1.80 of the Commission's rules,[^3] Citicasters Co. is hereby
    NOTIFIED of its APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE in the amount of
    four thousand dollars (\$4,000) for willfully and repeatedly
    violating Section 73.1216 of the Commission's rules.

11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to Section 1.80 of the Commission's
    rules, that within thirty days of the release of this Notice,
    Citicasters SHALL PAY to the United States the full amount of the
    proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking
    reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

12. Payment of the forfeiture may be made by credit card through the
    Commission\'s Credit and Debt Management Center at (202) 418-1995 or
    by mailing a check or similar instrument, payable to the order of
    the Federal Communications Commission, to the Forfeiture Collection
    Section, Finance Branch, Federal Communications Commission, P.O. Box
    73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. The payment should note the
    NAL/Acct. No. referenced above.

13. The response, if any, must be mailed to Charles W. Kelley, Chief,
    Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau, Federal
    Communications Commission, 445 12^th^ Street, S.W, Room 3-B443,
    Washington DC 20554 and MUST INCLUDE the file number listed above.

14. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Notice shall be sent, by
    Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested, to Citicasters's counsel,
    Christopher L. Robbins, Esq., Wiley, Rein & Fielding, 1776 K Street,
    N.W., Washington, DC 20006.

    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

    David H. Solomon

    Chief, Enforcement Bureau

[^1]: *The Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of
    Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules*, 12 FCC Rcd 17087, 17114
    (1997), *recon. denied* 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999); 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b).

[^2]: *Clear Channel Broadcasting Licensees, Inc.*, DA 00-238 (EB
    released February 10, 2000), *forfeiture paid*.

[^3]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80.