Graham Brock, Inc.
Broadcast Technical Consultants
Vol. X, No. 10
October 2003
In late September, the FCC released a Public Notice announcing a window for the reservation of existing vacant commercial allotments as non-commercial channels. The present commercial allotments were allocated by the Commission over the past several years and are awaiting the auction process. As we previously reported, the Commission indicated it would give non-commercial entities an opportunity to reserve FM allotments in the commercial band (92.1 MHz to 107.9 MHz) for non-commercial use only. The list of allotments contains 498 presently vacant commercial channels and, if the criteria is met, a non-commercial entity could propose to change to a reserved non-commercial channel, effectively removing it from the auction process. The Commission has set November 21, 2003, as the deadline for requests for reservation of the channels.
In order to seek the reservation of a commercial channel for non-commercial use, the proponent must first show that the channel to be reserved would provide first or second non-commercial service to at least 10% of the people residing within the 60 dBu contour of the proposed facility. The proponent must also conduct a preclusionary analysis at five points (one in the community of license, and four points outside the community) to demonstrate there are no equivalent class non-commercial channels (88.1 MHz to 91.9 MHz) that could be used in the community before the commercial channel will be reserved.
The Commission has released a list of mutually exclusive applications for LPFM stations that were filed during the first three windows, allowing settlements between applicants that may result in the issuance of permits for new LPFM stations. Applications filed during the fourth and final window will be addressed in a separate notice. The settlement window will allow share time agreements between applicants and technical resolutions to conflicts and waives the limit for reasonable expenses incurred in
prosecuting the application. As part of the technical resolution, the FCC will allow applicants to amend to non-adjacent channels. Settlement requests must be submitted by October 31st. Once the Commission has processed those applications seeking settlements, another Public Notice announcing the applications that remain mutually exclusive will be issued. Those that are acceptable for filing, with the tentative selectee indicated, and those applications with the highest point totals will be identified.
Recently, twenty-eight stations have been fined $3,000 each for incomplete public inspection files. As part of their individual license renewals, the stations indicated the public files were missing one or more required items at that time. Some of the missing items were the Public and Broadcasting manual, incomplete quarterly issue reports and copies of applications. Do not wait until license renewal to make sure your files are up to date. We have a link on our website at www.grahambrock.com to assist you in complying with the Public File rules and regulations.
The Commission has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, seeking comments and input on rules changes that would allow for the implementation of digital Class A, LPTV and TV translators. The Notice sets out possible protected contour values for digital stations and proposes maximum power limitations for VHF and UHF stations (VHF stations would be limited to 300 watts; UHF stations would be allowed up to 15.0 kilowatts). The FCC is also seeking comments on whether to allow digital stations to operate above Channel 60 for the duration of the transition period from analog to digital operation. Comments in MB Docket #03-185 will be due toward the end of November, based on the publication of the Notice in the Federal Register.