A nationwide cash contest has the country’s second-largest radio station owner in hot water with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, as Audacy faces a $14,000 penalty for violating the Commission’s rules, according to a recent enforcement action.
Audacy, operating under bankruptcy protection as a Debtor-in-Possession, is accused of failing to select and notify contest winners within the stipulated timeframes, which is a breach of the FCC’s contest regulations. These rules mandate that broadcast licensees must fully disclose the terms of any contest and execute them as publicized.
FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal said Audacy, “Failed to select and/or notify at least 16.8% of the winners in a timely manner in accordance with the Contest Terms, which affected at least 50 listeners of various Licensee stations. Moreover, those failures caused award delays of approximately six months.”
The specific infractions involved Audacy’s failure to select contest winners “on or about the next business day” following each contest day and to notify winners within 72 hours of selection, as per the announced contest terms. This non-compliance was highlighted in a complaint received by the FCC on April 5, 2021, concerning a contest that promised $1,000 to winners and involved multiple Audacy stations across the country.
Despite the corrective actions taken by Audacy following the FCC’s inquiry, including the selection and notification of “replacement” contest winners, the FCC found these efforts insufficient to mitigate the violations fully.
Egal added, “In proposing this penalty, we reiterate the Commission’s longstanding commitment to protecting the public from deceptive broadcast contests.”
