The FCC released a July 21, 2020 letter from Chairman Ajit Pai to New Mexico Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM-02) in reply to her inquiry on the future of filing windows for new LPFM stations.  In this letter, the Chairman stated that before there is an LPFM window, there will be a filing window for full-service NCE stations.  NCE stations have been waiting longer for a filing window (2007 for reserved band, 2010 for commercial-band vacant allotments) than LPFM has (2013).  

REC Networks has filed comments opposing RM-11858, the Petition for Rulemaking originated by “Broadcasters for Local Program Origination” (BLPO).  The BLPO petition called for FM translators to be able to reak off of their primary stations to provide separate programming for up to 128 hours per week, use special call signs with an “-FX” suffix, only be required to broadcast 40 hours of “translated” programming per week from the primary station and to allow commercial FM broadcast stations be permitted to extend commonly owned or financed translators outside of the primary station’s service contour (60/57/54 dBu) to 45 dBu.

For the August 6, 2020 FCC Open Meeting, the FCC has released the draft circulation Order in MB Docket 19-310.   The FCC originally proposed to eliminate the anti-duplication rules for full-service FM and AM stations.   

Over the weekend prior to July 13, 2020, in response to the publication of the final rules from MB Docket 19-193 in the Federal Register, LPFM engineers Paul Bame and Todd Urick as well as representatives of various LPFM stations including Peter Gray of KFZR-LP, Makeda Dread Cheatom of KVIB-LP, Brad Johnson of KGIG-LP, David Stepanyuk  of KIEV-LP, and Andy Hansen-Smith of KCFZ-LP filed a 

On Friday, the FCC announced that the rule changes from MB Docket 17-264, which dealt with public notices was published in the Federal Register.  As most of the rule changes require changes to forms and/or information collection, they have been referred to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for their approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act and therefore, will not enacted until later this year.