Political programming failures from two Idaho stations will cost Townsquare Media half a million dollars after a ruling from the FCC Media Bureau. Violations involved GOP-paid programming on KLIX-AM in Twin Falls and Boise’s KIDO-AM.
Both stations feature Conservative talk formats with Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and other well-known Republican commentators.
The FCC’s investigation uncovered that from October 2021 to March 2023, KLIX and KIDO aired one-hour episodes and 30-second ads of a program that outwardly seemed like a news interview/public affairs show. In reality, these were paid political presentations, funded initially by the Idaho Republican Party and later by politician Tom Luna.
Luna and Ada County Republican Party chair Victor Miller independently produced the show, including guest and content selection. However, the stations failed to disclose the paid nature of these broadcasts and the identity of the sponsors through on-air Sponsorship ID announcements.
While several episodes featured legally qualified political candidates, KLIX and KIDO did not document these appearances in their online political files as required.
As part of the Consent Decree, Townsquare will implement a comprehensive compliance plan to ensure future adherence to sponsorship identification and online political file obligations. They will also submit annual compliance reports to the Bureau and pay a civil penalty of $500,000 to the United States Treasury.
With political ad revenue expected to add more than $10 billion to local media, the FCC sends another clear message to broadcasters that it is dedicated to enforcing compliance with sponsorship identification and online political file requirements.
