"Bob Haberkost" wrote in message
...

I know I had a "public affairs" show killed that we ran on WTAE years ago.
The
agency who provided, for free, the half-hour program (which aired in the
middle of
the night on Sunday, in order to meet minimum public affairs hours in the
days when
such minimums were still in force) was something like the National Coal
Producers'
Association. Routinely this program would extol the virtues of burning
"King Coal"
(often slamming other energy sources), an advocacy which I felt was too
one-sided,
and obviously so considering the source of the program. After a few
listens, the
continuity/public affairs director agreed with me and pulled the show.
What we got
in its place, though, was even more boring. Well, at least no one was
listening.

In a sense, that proved the futility of putting program quotas on stations.
I recall many times when I did ascertainment or tried to get community
programs on the air, I would be told to bug off because the real community
leaders did not have time to talk to so many stations about "nonesense" or
to do so many radio shows.

Here's the FCC's letter to me from Norman Goldstein; Complaints and
Investigation Branch; Enforcement Div; Mass Media bureau of the FCC:

It's worth noting, though, how often this particular reason has been used
to refuse
renewal of a licensee. I'd guess zero (Red Lion was fairness doctrine
violations, as
I recall, as was Media, PA...I've forgotten the calls for these....WGCL
and WXUR?
But the Fairness Doctrine is gutted, now...there isn't a station on-air
who would be
liable for it, as it's so easily sidestepped by calling it entertainment
programming.
Then there was WHDH....RKO...these were financial shenanigans, if I
remember
correctly. So not a one lost a license based on "fitness".)

Fitness has been used a few times, ususally when a licencee has been
convicted of a crime. The recent revocation of about 6 licences of a guy
from Terre Haute comes to mind.