W10BM

W10BM (channel 10) was a low power television station in Morehead, Kentucky, United States, that later operated unlicensed and was fined as a pirate station by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

W10BM

Morehead, Kentucky United States
Channels	Analog: 10 (VHF)
Branding	TV-10 Morehead
Programming
Affiliations	Independent
Ownership
Owner	Vearl Pennington
History
Founded	1988
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	69839
Class	TX
ERP	0.018 kW
HAAT	30 m (98 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	38°11′3″N 83°27′43″W (claimed on license)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

Licensed broadcast term

The FCC granted an amended construction permit for W10BM by December 4, 1987,^[2] and a license by March 29, 1990.^[3] A license renewal expired on August 1, 1998.^[4] The licensed parameters were for 18 watts at 30 meters (98 ft) above ground level, broadcasting on VHF channel 10 with a city of license of Morehead, Kentucky, and licensee named as Vearl Pennington at a post office box in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.^[5]

On April 27, 2004, the FCC sent the Mount Sterling post office box a letter saying that W10BM at Morehead, as well as W06BC at Mount Sterling, would be cancelled unless the FCC received a response.^[6] On October 18, 2004, a letter was sent to the same address, stating that no response was received and both station licenses were cancelled.^[7]

Pirate broadcasts and fines

On May 12, 2017, the FCC fined the station's operators, Vearl Pennington and Michael Williamson, $144,344 for continuing to operate W10BM despite the cancellation of the license.^[8] The fine was upheld on January 28, 2019.^[9]

The channel remained on the air through carriage via local Spectrum systems, until it was dropped on February 23, 2022.^[10] If it was still broadcasting using its transmitter, likewise, it also violated the FCC's July 13, 2021, deadline for all analog television operations to end.