In Re
Application of KAYE BROADCASTERS, INC., PUYALLUP, WASH.
For Renewal
of License of Station KAYE
Docket No. 18929 File No. BR-2682
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
34 F.C.C.2d 706
RELEASE-NUMBER: FCC 72-385
May 2, 1972 Released
Adopted May 1, 1972
JUDGES:
BY THE COMMISSION: COMMISSIONER JOHNSON CONCURRING AND ISSUING A STATEMENT.
OPINION:
[*706] 1. Having
fully considered the entire record, including the Initial Decision, FCC 71D-30,
released June 3, 1971, the exceptions and related pleadings filed by the parties,
and the oral argument held before the Commission, en banc, on April 18, 1972,
2. IT IS ORDERED:
(a) That this proceeding IS REMANDED
to the presiding Examiner for further hearings, not to commence until 90 days after
the release of this Order, in order to afford the licensee a full opportunity
to make a rebuttal showing;
(b) That the presiding Examiner IS
DIRECTED to prepare, on an expedited basis, a Cumulative Initial Decision based
on the entire record in this proceeding; and
(c) That the Exceptions of KAYE
Broadcasters, Inc. and the Broadcast Bureau's Statement in Support of Initial
Decision and Limited Exceptions, both filed August 20, 1971 ARE DISMISSED.
FEDERAL
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, BEN F. WAPLE, Secretary.
CONCUR:
CONCURRING OPINION OF COMMISSIONER
NICHOLAS JOHNSON
I concur with the Commission's
decision to remand this case to the Hearing Examiner for the receipt of
rebuttal evidence by KAYE Broadcasters, Inc.
What the Commission is deciding
today is that the Hearing Examiner acted unreasonably in denying KAYE's motion
for a 90-day continuance, in order to prepare KAYE's rebuttal evidence in the
case.
I am extremely concerned lest
today's Commission action be misinterpreted. I do not interpret it to
mean, nor do I understand that my fellow Commissions believe, that we are
expressing any views whatever, pro or con, on the way the hearing below was
conducted -- outside of the narrow question of whether the motion for a 90-day
continuance should have been granted.
[*707] Secondly, we are
not deviating from our conviction that the Hearing Examiners are responsible
for the proper conduct of hearings, and that members of the bar or of the
public are expected to respect the decorum of Commission proceedings and
rules. The narrow scope of today's ruling cannot be overemphasized.