Nexstar Pays $100K Fine to Resolve FCC Investigation

The Federal Communications Commission has resolved its investigation into a couple of Nexstar stations, which follows its dismissal of a retransmission complaint against the broadcaster, which comes in the context of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's circulation of an item approving Nexstar's merger with Tribune. The FCC was looking into whether its KARK-TV Little Rock and KFDX-TV Wichita was meeting its childrens television programming requirements--specifically whether they had filed the requisite quarterly reports. Nexstar will pay a fine of $109,076. 

The FCC concluded that Nexstar had failed to follow the FCCs processing guidelines, but that the broadcasters monetary settlement and pledge to adopt a compliance plan to avoid similar omissions in the future were sufficient to justify the Media Bureau renewing the two station's licenses -- which it has directed the bureau to do -- conditioned on that compliance, and end the investigation.  The FCC concluded that "there are no substantial or material questions of fact as to Nexstar’s qualifications to remain a Commission licensee."