How much FCC immunity do radio stations buy when they participate in the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) operated by state broadcast associations? Here's an example of a situation where a station did not receive any immunity at all.

An FM station in Connecticut was asked by a visitor to see the licensee's articles of incorporation and bylaws, but they were not in the public file. The requester later wrote the station asking again for copies of the documents, but got nothing. He complained to the FCC, which asked the station for its side of the story. The station responded that it had not kept its corporate documents in the public file until shortly after the requester asked for them, at which time the corporate documents were being reviewed by the licensee's lawyer. The station pointed to its clean record in several ABIP inspections. These defenses were unsuccessful, and the station was fined $1,250.

ABIP is a voluntary inspection program that merely protects the licensee from random FCC inspections for a period of time. The results of ABIP inspections, which are provided to the local FCC field office, do fend off official inspections, but the program does not protect licensees from liability for violations that are brought to the FCC's attention in different contexts (e.g. through a citizen complaint or a complaint by a competitor) even if the violations should have been uncovered during an ABIP inspection.

Inspection time

While it is true there is little if any demand to see broadcast public files, the public file rule is still on the books and is one of the favorite items, in addition to EAS logs, that an FCC inspector will ask for. To comply with the rule, commercial radio stations should make sure they have the following in their local public inspection files: