Newsletter for Broadcasters
Issue #1

Welcome!

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Skywaves Newsletter to Broadcasters. In the newsletter, I plan to share with you my thoughts about issues that can have an impact on your station. The topics will generally relate to technology, but the primary criterion for inclusion in the newsletter is that the topic must have the potential to make a real difference in your business. Fortunately, there is no shortage of such topics, and I hope you will find the newsletter to be interesting and useful to you. I encourage your feedback. Please email me with your comments and suggestions, or pick up the phone and call me!

-Dave Doherty

Proposed Rule Changes

In Docket 05-210, the FCC is seeking input on a number of deregulation issues. The time for comment has passed, but reply comments are still being accepted. The comments I have seen support most of the proposals made by the FCC. Let’s look at one of the key proposals:

Make the change of city of license of a radio station a minor change. Often, a station can be upgraded and/or moved to a new location that will maximize the population it serves, but the new transmitter location does not allow the station to provide city-grade coverage over the current city of license. Under the present rules, there are different procedures for AM and FM station licensees who wish to move their stations.

Under the AM rules, an owner wishing to move a station must wait until a filing window opens, file for the change, compete with all other proposals filed during the window, and then possibly have to bid for the proposal in an auction.

Under the FM rules, the proponent has to file a petition for rulemaking to re-allot the channel to the new community. This is a time-consuming procedure requiring the FCC to generate a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), and take into consideration comments and reply comments, as well as counterproposals, all of which take a great deal of time. Once the table of allotments is amended, then a new round of proceedings occurs in which the proponent has to file a CP application. Implicit in this procedure is a requirement that there be a fully spaced location that complies with all the rules for making an allotment – even if the site will never be used!

If changing a city of license becomes a minor change, then all you will need is a CP application for the actual facility you plan to build. This is a proposal that all broadcasters can – and should – support!

Next: More proposed rule changes
 

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