Graham Brock, Inc.
Broadcast Technical Consultants
Vol. X, No. 8
August 2003
The new radio/television multiple ownership rules have been published in the Federal Register, making them effective September 4, 2003. This is also the date for Petitions for Reconsideration. There has been much discussion about parties filing for reconsideration, Congress enacting legislation to turn back some or all of the rules, and court fights. We shall see what happens. Initially, the new rules call for an interim modified contour overlap method in non-rated markets, but the FCC wants to move completely away from contour overlap. For those interested in submitting suggestions on how to count stations for ownership matters in non-Arbitron markets, you may now file comments until October 6, 2003 (the original date had been September 4th).
The first round of station license renewals has begun. In some cases, licensees waited until the last minute to address the certification of their station’s compliance with the radio frequency radiation rules. Renewal applications come complete with RFR worksheets for stations to use in order to determine compliance. In some cases, for example, a radio station co-located with a TV station, the worksheets cannot be used for compliance purposes. In these and other cases, a radio frequency radiation study must be conducted and submitted with the license renewal application. Normally this does not require a series of field measurements, but does necessitate the services of a technical consultant to look at the specific antenna systems in use at the site, their powers and heights to assess compliance. Don’t wait until the last minute to seek help.
Earlier this year the FCC pushed back its requirement that new STL and other auxiliary broadcast stations pre-coordinate the request with other users in their broadcast area before filing. The revised rules will go into effect October 16, 2003, although the Society of Broadcast Engineers sought to extend the deadline into next year. So, if you need to update your STL licenses and want to avoid the requirement to pre-coordinate, your time is running short.
It’s time once again for regulatory fees, and this year AM, FM and TV stations must pay annual fees by September 24, 2003. The fees are based on population and class of station for radio and on market size for TV (there are varying fees for VHF and UHF stations). There are also fees for auxiliary service licenses (STL’s, ICR’s and RPU’s). Late payments will be accessed a 25% penalty.
There has been a lot of activity in the Commission’s field offices with regard to tower registration and actual tower location. A number of licensees and tower owners have been fined for having towers built at coordinates that do not agree with the tower registration/station license documentation. The FCC field inspectors are checking coordinates with GPS receivers to determine compliance. Do you know where your tower is supposed to be located?