Federal Register: FCC (Broadcasting)

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Gray Television Licensee, LLC (Gray), the licensee of KYES-TV, channel 5, Anchorage, Alaska, requesting the substitution of channel 7 for channel 5 at Anchorage. The Commission instituted a freeze on the acceptance of full power television rulemaking petitions requesting channel substitutions in May 2011, and a freeze on the filing of modification applications by full power and Class A television stations that would increase a station's noise-limited or protected contour beyond the station's currently licensed or authorized facility in April 2013. Gray asks that the Commission waive these freezes to permit KYES to relocate its transmitter and utilize upgraded equipment, thereby improving its over-the-air- signal to better serve viewers.

In the document released June 6, 2017, the Media Bureau and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released instructions for filing applications in a filing window to be open from July 26, 2017, through August 2, 2017, in which certain AM station licensees and proposed assignees may seek new FM translator construction permits to retransmit the signals of the primary AM stations. In addition, the Media Bureau announced that it will not accept low-power FM and FM translator minor change construction permit applications and FM booster construction permit applications between July 19 and August 2, 2017. In the document released July 13, 2017, Commission staff announced that an online tutorial would be available for this auction, which is designated as Auction 99, and addressed a petition for clarification on an issue of applicant eligibility for this filing window opportunity.

In this Order on Reconsideration, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) dismisses a petition for reconsideration filed in this rulemaking proceeding by William J. Kirsch. This action was taken on delegated authority jointly by the Acting Chief, International Bureau, and the Chief, Media Bureau.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) describes the information that must be provided in periodic progress reports (FCC Form 2100--Schedule 387 (Transition Progress Report)) by full power and Class A television stations that are not eligible to receive payment of relocation expenses from the TV Broadcast Relocation Fund in connection with their being assigned to a new channel through the Incentive Auction.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, some of the information collections associated with the Commission's decision, in Report and Order, Revisions to Public Inspection File Requirements--Broadcaster Correspondence File and Cable Principal Headend Location. Specifically, OMB has approved the Commission's decision to eliminate two public inspection file requirements: the requirement that commercial broadcast stations retain in their public inspection file copies of letters and emails from the public; and the requirement that cable operators maintain for public inspection the designation and location of the cable system's principal headend. This document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the effective date of these rule changes.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Southern Media Holdings, Inc. (SMH), the former licensee of WFXG, Augusta, Georgia, requesting the substitution of channel 51 for channel 31 at Augusta. WFXG License Subsidiary, LLC (Licensee) is now the licensee of WFXG. Station WFXG was allotted channel 51 as its post- transition DTV channel and operated a licensed facility on that channel. In 2008, SMH filed a petition for rulemaking requesting that channel 31 be substituted for channel 51, and the Commission granted that request. SMH subsequently requested that the Commission change its channel back to channel 51 and we issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which was contested. On April 28, 2017, Licensee filed a letter withdrawing its pending request to substitute channel 51 for channel 31, explaining that it had licensed the channel 31 facility and that WFXG was reassigned to channel 36 in connection with the post- incentive auction repacking of the broadcast television spectrum.

In this document, the Commission proposes to eliminate its rule that requires each AM, FM, and television broadcast station to maintain a main studio located in or near its community of license. The Commission tentatively finds that the main studio rule is now outdated and unnecessarily burdensome for broadcast stations. The Commission also proposes to eliminate existing requirements associated with the main studio rule, including the requirement that the main studio must have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours, and that it must have program origination capability.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection requirements associated with the Commission's Second Report and Order, 2014 Quadrennial Regulatory Review, FCC 16-107. This document is consistent with the Second Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the effective date of changes to the forms.

In this document, the Commission expands the option to use Special Use FRNs on ownership reports for noncommercial educational broadcast stations (FCC Form 323-E). This action addresses several petitions for reconsideration of a prior Commission decision and properly balances the Commission's need to improve the integrity and usability of its broadcast ownership data with the concerns raised in the petitions for reconsideration.

In this document, the Commission revises its rules to allow noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcast stations to conduct limited on-air fundraising activities that interrupt regular programming for the benefit of third-party non-profit organizations. Permitting NCE stations to conduct third-party fundraising on a limited basis will serve the public interest by enabling NCE stations to support charities and other non-profit organizations in their fundraising efforts for worthy causes without undermining the noncommercial nature of NCE stations or their primary function of serving their communities of license through educational programming.

An Order on Reconsideration reinstates the UHF discount, which allows commercial broadcast television station owners to discount the audience reach of their UHF stations when calculating compliance with the national television ownership rule. With the reinstatement of the discount, the Commission will commence a proceeding later this year to consider whether the national television audience reach cap, including the UHF discount, remains in the public interest. The Order on Reconsideration finds that the UHF discount is inextricably linked to the national cap, and when the Commission voted previously to eliminate the discount, it failed to consider whether this de facto tightening of the national cap was in the public interest and justified by current marketplace conditions. The Order on Reconsideration grants in part the Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) filed by ION Media Networks and Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, Inc. (Petitioners), and dismisses as moot requests to reconsider the grandfathering provisions applicable to broadcast station combinations affected by elimination of the discount and the decision to forego a VHF discount.

A Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's rulemaking proceeding by Andrew Jay Schwartzman, on behalf of Prometheus Radio Project.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, information collection requirements adopted in the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 16-128. This document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the effective date of the rules.

In this Report and Order, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopted rules to allow full power and Class A stations with auction-related channel sharing agreements (CSAs) to become sharees outside of the incentive auction context so that they can continue to operate if their auction-related CSAs expire or otherwise terminate. The Commission also adopted rules to allow all low power television and TV translator stations (secondary stations) to share a channel with another secondary station or with a full power or Class A station. This action will assist secondary stations that are displaced by the incentive auction and the repacking process to continue to operate in the post-auction television bands. The rules adopted in this R&O will enhance the benefits of channel sharing for broadcasters without imposing significant burdens on multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs).

A Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's rulemaking proceeding by Rick Kaplan, on behalf of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS.

At the request of Roy E. Henderson (Petitioner), licensee of FM Station KNUZ (FM), San Saba, Texas, the Audio Division amends the FM Table of Allotments by substituting Channel 277A for Channel 224A at Mullin, Texas. The purpose of this change is to facilitate and grant Petitioner's hybrid application that KNUZ (FM) be modified to operate on Channel 277A rather than Channel 224A at San Saba, Texas. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 277A can be substituted for Channel 224A at Mullin, Texas, as proposed, consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules with a site restriction 3.1 km (1.9 miles) north of the community. The reference coordinates are 31-35-00 NL and 98-40-31 WL.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection requirements associated with the Commission's Second Report and Order, Revitalization of the AM Radio Service, FCC 17-14. This document is consistent with the Second Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the effective date of the rules.

In this document, the Commission proposes to authorize television broadcasters to use the ``Next Generation'' broadcast television transmission standard associated with recent work of the Advanced Television Systems Committee on a voluntary, market-driven basis, while they continue to deliver current-generation digital television broadcast service, using the ATSC 1.0 standard, to their viewers. This new standard has the potential to greatly improve broadcast signal reception and will enable broadcasters to offer enhanced and innovative new features to consumers.

This document amends the Commission's rule setting forth the allowable location of an FM translator station rebroadcasting the signal of an AM broadcast station. It changes the rule so that an AM broadcaster has a greater area in which an FM translator rebroadcasting the AM signal may be located, giving AM broadcasters greater flexibility in reaching their listeners. The change is necessary to accommodate AM radio stations located far from their communities of license, or those with highly directional signal patterns.

At the request of Red Lake Nation, the Audio Division amends the FM Table of Allotments by allotting FM Channel 287C1 at Red Lake, Minnesota, as a Tribal Allotment and a first local Tribal-owned service to the community. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 287C1 can be allotted at Red Lake, Minnesota, as proposed, consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules with a site restriction 42.4 km (25.34 miles) northwest of the community. The reference coordinates are 47-59-00 NL and 95-33-33 WL.