FIRST OFF . . .

A Latino media watchdog group is pressuring two Los Angeles TV stations to up the number of Latinos on their payrolls. The group says that it may challenge the renewal of federal broadcast licenses of KTTV Channel 11 and KABC-TV Channel 7. Hispanic Media Coalition general counsel John Huerta said Thursday the group may contest the stations’ licenses because they are not, according to the coalition, in compliance with Federal Communications Commission minority hiring standards and are not moving in the direction of compliance. “We want a commitment from (the stations) to come into compliance with FCC and (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) regulations with respect to the hiring of minorities, specifically Hispanics,” Huerta said. “If they agree, then we will not object to their license renewals.” The coalition has until Nov. 1 to challenge the stations’ licenses. The FCC is strongly suggesting that TV stations hire minorities along a “half-parity” system: Since the population of metropolitan Los Angeles is 30% Latino, the FCC wants wants 15% of the area’s TV stations’ employees to also be Latino. Executives at KTTV and KABC could not be reached for comment.