STATEMENT OF MEDIA BUREAU CHIEF WILLIAM T. LAKE REGARDING 
ADOPTION OF CONSENT DECREE WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN 
FRANCISCO AND CLASSICAL PUBLIC RADIO NETWORK LLC
June 7, 2012
1
I would like to thank the University of San Francisco and Classical Public Radio Network 
LLC for their cooperation with our investigation of this proposed transaction and the 
negotiation of this Consent Decree.  The violations addressed in the Consent Decree 
involve two serious matters:  (1) monthly payments for program time, in violation of 47 
C.F.R. § 73.503(c) (which forbids such payments to NCE radio stations unless they are 
limited to reimbursement of operating expenses); and (2) the parties’ unintentionally false 
certifications that the transaction complied with the Commission’s rules and policies.
We found that the parties violated Section 73.503(c) of the Commission’s rules in 
connection with a Public Service Operating Agreement (“PSOA”) for the pre-closing 
period.  In this PSOA, the licensee agreed to allow the programmer to provide 
substantially all of the programming for the station in return for a monthly payment that 
exceeded the station’s expenses.  Importantly, this case does not involve any attempt to 
hide this brokerage arrangement from us.  The parties properly submitted the PSOA as 
part of the assignment application.  Moreover, we acknowledge that they were following 
a practice that developed in past NCE radio transactions, in apparent violation of the rule, 
without our knowledge.  
The point of the rule is straightforward:  it prevents NCE radio stations from selling 
program time at a profit.  (Section 73.621(d) is the corollary rule for NCE television 
stations.)  I hope that our Consent Decree in this case will remind NCE licensees that 
they cannot monetize their licenses by selling program time for a profit.  I do wish to note 
that the relevant rules only apply to payments for program time and do not limit the 
ability of NCE stations to enter into other types of contracts such as a sale agreement, an 
option to buy or sell a station, a right of first refusal to buy a station, etc.  I would like to 
emphasize that if an NCE licensee or programmer is not certain about how the relevant 
rule might apply to a particular transaction, they should contact the Audio Division or the 
Video Division, as appropriate, to discuss it in advance.
The issue of the parties’ erroneous certifications is also noteworthy.  As the Commission 
has stated many times in the past, we depend on our licensees and applicants to provide 
correct and complete information.  We found no intent to deceive by the parties because 
they submitted the PSOA to us with their application, but they have acknowledged that 
they violated Section 73.503(c) and therefore that their unqualified certification that the 
transaction complied with our rules and policies was false.  Our application review 
process relies on applicants to fully disclose all relevant information related to the 
required certifications.  I hope our action in this case will serve as a reminder of the need 
for complete accuracy in all application filings.