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Graham Brock, Inc. |
|
Broadcast Technical Consultants |
| Vol. XII, No. 6 |
R. Stuart Graham, Jr. |
| June 2005 |
Jefferson G. Brock |
| Change City of License in an
Application / Freeze on New Petitions |
The FCC is expected to issue a Notice of Proposed
Rule Making seeking comments on a proposal to allow AM
and FM (commercial) stations to propose a change in
community of license with a minor change application.
Under the current rules, AM stations must await a
new/major change window in order to propose a change of
community. Licensees of FM stations must submit a
Petition for Rule Making to change the Table of FM
Allotments, then submit an application to implement the
change. AM major change windows have been on a four year
cycle, and Petitions for Rule Making are, at best, a one
year process, but usually longer. The FCC is proposing
to allow a station to file a minor change application to
make the change. The application will likely have to
contain additional supporting information which would
have been submitted in a Petition for Rule Making.
The Commission is also seeking comments on whether to
require the submission of an application for
construction permit (Form 301) with all requests for new
FM allotments, along with a filing fee. The Public
Notice indicates this is to help ensure that parties
filing for new allotments will participate in the
auction. Additionally, the FCC is considering limiting
the number of changes to the Table of FM Allotments in
any one proceeding to five, unless there are compelling
“public interest reasons”. The Notice is expected within
the next two weeks. Comments must be filed within 60
days of the release of the notice. As of June 9, 2005
the Commission imposed an indefinite freeze on the
submission of any new petitions to amend the Table of
Allotments. |
The Commission completed a review of the first
round of DTV elections. This round was for stations
with both their analog and digital channels in the
core TV spectrum (Channel 2 through 51). Included in
the first round
selections were 37 Negotiated Channel Arrangements (NCA).
The FCC accepted 25 NCA’s and dismissed 12 others.
Additionally, the Commission sent over 150 letters
to stations who elected their NTSC channels for
future digital use, but which the Commission
determined cause impermissible interference. These
stations have 60 days to let the FCC know how they
propose to address the interference matter.
According to the FCC, the first round will conclude
later this summer, with round two elections in the
fall.
In a related matter, the FCC upheld the requirement
that 50% of mid-range TV sets (25" to 36") must have
DTV tuners by July 1, 2006. Several industry groups
asked for a removal of the 50% limit to avoid
confusion over which sets had DTV tuners and which
did not. The Commission opted to retain the 50%
requirement. All sets larger than 36" must have DTV
tuners by July 1, 2005. |
| Tower Registration Re-visited,
Again ! |
An AM station in Virginia was recently fined
$3,000 for not registering its tower. The tower
was of sufficient height to require painting and
lighting, but the owner did not register the
structure. The licensee requested a reduction of
the fine. However, the FCC noted that the
licensee had a history of non-compliance with
the rules, because it failed to submit its
license renewal application on a timely basis,
and upheld the initial fine.
All towers greater than 200 feet in height and
some shorter, based on proximity to airports,
must be registered with the Commission with the
registration number posted on or near the tower.
In order to register the tower, a Determination
of No Hazard issued by the FAA must be
available. Additionally, once a tower is
registered, licensees should verify the
coordinates of the tower are in agreement with
the station license. If not, the license should
be corrected to bring it into agreement with the
registration |
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