Articles Posted in Low Power FM & Translators

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Below is the text of our 2011 Broadcasters’ Calendar, which lists deadlines that broadcasters should be aware of for 2011. If you would prefer to read the PDF version of the calendar, it can be found here.

Items of Note in 2011

1. Applications for Renewal of License: June 1, 2011 is the first filing date of the three-year period during which the licensees of all commercial and noncommercial AM, FM and FM Translator stations throughout the United States and its territories will be required to file their applications for renewal of broadcast station license. Licensees in the television services will commence this process in 2012. The date on which a station’s application is due depends on the state or territory of its community of license. All licensees should familiarize themselves now with the dates associated with this important filing, including the dates on which public notice announcements must air in advance of the renewal filing; the filing date itself, which is approximately four months before the date of license expiration; and the dates on which post-filing announcements must air.
2. Biennial Ownership Report Filing Requirements for Commercial Radio and Television Stations: Licensees of commercial, full-power radio and television stations as well as Class A television and low power television stations should be ready to file their biennial ownership reports on FCC Form 323 by the new, uniform filing date of November 1, 2011. While these licensees may have filed a biennial report as recently as the summer of 2010, that report fulfilled the reporting obligation for the period that ended on November 1, 2009. Only because of difficulties with the FCC’s electronic filing system was the November 1, 2009 deadline ultimately extended to July 8, 2010.

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Posted in: Children & Media
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Death, taxes … and FCC annual regulatory fees. Its that time of year again and the FCC has issued its latest annual Notice of Proposed Rulemaking containing regulatory fee proposals for Fiscal Year 2010. Those who wish to file comments on the FCC’s proposed fees must do so by May 4, 2010 with reply comments due by May 11, 2010.
For one of the few times in recent history, the annual fee amount the FCC is proposing to collect is actually less than the amount from a previous year. Consistent with this, and with a few exceptions, most of this year’s fees are the same or less than last year’s fees for all AM, FM, and television stations, as are the fee amounts for LPTV, Class A, translator, booster, and broadcast auxiliary licenses.

One big change in this year’s fee proposals is the elimination of the exemption for digital stations to pay fees now that the DTV transition has ended. Going forward, all digital full-service television stations will be required to pay a full license fee, including those stations that were operating pursuant to digital Special Temporary Authority as of October 1, 2009. It is also important to point out that the Commission is proposing to charge only a single fee for each low power or Class A facility simulcasting in both digital and analog.

The Communications Section will shortly be publishing a full Advisory on the proposed Reg Fees, including fee tables and charts for you to use to calculate your payments that will be due later this year.

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Posted in: Fees
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August 2009
In its assessment letters to regulatees, the Commission has announced that full payment of all applicable Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2009 must be received no later than September 22, 2009.

On August 11, 2009, the final FY 2009 Annual Regulatory Fee Schedule was published in the Federal Register. Accordingly, the new fees are scheduled to become effective 30 days thereafter. As the date of this Advisory, the FCC has not released a Public Notice officially announcing the deadline for payment for FY 2009 annual regulatory fees. However, in assessment letters sent to regulatees earlier this month, the Commission stated: “Regulatory fee payments are due by September 22, 2009.” Accordingly, unless for some reason the new fees do not become legally effective by that date, holders of FCC authorizations that are subject to annual regulatory fees must make their Fiscal Year 2009 payments by 11:59pm EDT, on September 22, 2009.

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Posted in: Fees
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6/30/2009
In respond to the National Association of Broadcasters’ July 14, 2006 Petition for Rule Making, and after a Notice of Proposed Rule Making Proceeding released on August 15, 2007, the FCC today released a Report and Order adopting the NAB’s proposal that AM stations be allowed to use FM translators to retransmit their AM service within their AM stations’ current coverage areas. The action was taken to “permit AM broadcasters to better serve their local communities and thus promote the Commission’s bedrock goals of localism, competition and diversity in the broadcast media.”

In response to the National Association of Broadcasters’ July 14, 2006 Petition for Rule Making, and after a Notice of Proposed Rule Making Proceeding released on August 15, 2007, the FCC today released a Report and Order adopting the NAB’s proposal that AM station be allowed to use FM translators to retransmit their AM service within their AM stations’ current coverage areas. The action was taken to “permit AM broadcasters to better serve their local communities and thus promote the Commission’s bedrock goals of localism, competition and diversity in the broadcast media.”

According to the Report and Order, “AM broadcast stations will be allowed to use currently authorized FM translator stations (i.e., those now licensed or authorized in construction permits that have not expired) to rebroadcast their AM signals, provided that no portion of the 60 dBu contour of any such FM translator signal extends beyond the smaller of: (a) a 25-mile radius from the AM transmitter site; or (b) the 2 mV/m daytime contour of the AM station. In addition, AM broadcast stations with Class D facilities…will be allowed to originate programming on such FM translators during the periods when their AM station is not operating.”

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6/25/2009
Through the vehicle of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (“NPRM”), Acting Chairman Michael J. Copps, and Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Robert McDowell are looking to change the way the FCC decides what communities and areas deserve new or modified commercial and noncommercial, full-power AM and FM radio stations.

Because the decisions the FCC makes as a result of the NPRM may well determine whether existing, as well as newly proposed, free, over-the-air radio stations thrive or perish, the rule making is likely to have a very significant effect on the radio broadcast industry, including its ownership and program diversity, going forward. If adopted, the FCC’s proposals would substantially reduce or eliminate the flexibility broadcasters currently have to locate or move small community and rural stations to areas where they can serve more listeners and/or listeners with different programming needs. Another effect of the NPRM could be to move more competing applications into an auction process which, in turn, may discourage filings altogether.

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6/19/2009
The next Children’s Television Programming Report must be filed with the FCC and placed in stations’ local Public Inspection Files by July 10, 2009, reflecting programming aired during the months of April, May and June 2009.

A PDF version of this entire article can be found at 2009 Second Quarter Children’s Television Programming Documentation Advisory.

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April 2009
The FCC has released a new Federal Register notice indicating that the increase in certain FCC application fees will become effective April 28, 2009.

A PDF version of this entire article can be found at Reminder: Increased FCC Application Filing Fees Will Become Effective April 28, 2009

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Posted in: Fees
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