2021 NCE Window

As we proceed through the aftermath of the 2021 NCE Filing Window, some may be asking, how long it is going to take for the FCC to start granting applications.  If we attempt to compare to the 2007 NCE window, it may be a challenge to compare since the 2007 window was much more enormous in scale.  In 2007, the FCC received over 3,000 applications, which resulted in the establishment of 457 groups of mutually exclusive (MX) applications.  By comparison, in the 2021 window, the FCC received 1,282 applications, resulting in 231 MX groups.

In a Public Notice released today, the FCC has announced some dates and set some procedures for the upcoming NCE FM Filing Window.

On Monday, REC Networks has filed Reply Comments in two FCC proceedings.

In MB Docket 20-343, REC opposed a suggestion by Educational Media Foundation (EMF), the largest licensee of noncommercial educational (NCE) FM broadcast stations operating under the K-Love and Air1 brands, that called for the ability to file unlimited applications outside of the urban markets as long as those proposals do not face any competing applications.

REC Networks has filed comments with the FCC today on their question regarding application caps in the noncommercial educational (NCE) FM Filing Window in 2021. 

The FCC has proposed a cap of 10 applications being filed by any one entity.  In addition, they also proposed a cap of 10 applications where any specific party to an application can appear.  The latter is to prevent people from filing under different organization names.