At this year’s NAB Convention, digital issues were much talked about. In fact, the NAB held, for the first time, a day and a half session focusing on radio stations and their digital efforts, called the Digital Strategies Exchange. I was on a panel called the Consultant’s Corner, and discussed legal issues that
May 2012
FCC Proposes Regulatory Fees for 2012
By David Oxenford on
Posted in FCC Fees
The FCC just released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish the regulatory fees to be paid by each of the entities that it regulates. Each year, before the FCC collects its annual regulatory fees from broadcasters and other entities subject to its oversight, it asks for comments on the amount of those fees. This year, as has been the case in most of the past few years, there are few changes proposed in this Notice, thought the Commission does promise to issue additional rulemakings later this year, looking to readjust fees to take into account changes in the communications industry since these fees were first imposed almost 20 years ago. Look, for instance, for a change to be proposed in the relative fees for UHF and VHF stations, which still reflect the analog world where VHF stations were more valuable.
But any fundamental changes in the fees won’t be effective until 2013. Essentially, the NPRM proposes just minor changes in fees so that the FCC can collect its 2012 fees in September. The NPRM basically makes very small adjustments in the fees for broadcast stations, which are based on population coverage, to include numbers based on 2010 census data. The fees proposed for broadcasters are set out below. Comments on these proposals are due on May 31, with replies on June 7. The exact dates on which these fees will be collected will be announced after the conclusion of this rulemaking proceeding.Continue Reading FCC Proposes Regulatory Fees for 2012
FCC Authorizes TV Channel Sharing in Preparation for Spectrum Auctions
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The FCC has released the text of its Report and Order adopted last week, authorizing full power and Class A TV stations to share spectrum as part of the band clearing process for future wireless broadband spectrum auctions. This action was authorized by Congress in the Spectrum Act, which became law in February as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. We summarized the Spectrum Act in a previous blog available here.
The Report and Order allows full power and Class A TV stations to enter into agreements whereby two stations will share one six MHz channel, thereby allowing one station to return its existing channel to the FCC for cancellation and availability in the upcoming spectrum auctions. Presumably, one six MHz channel is sufficient bandwidth to support two HD channels. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for this proceeding, the FCC said it would let the sharing stations decide how much bandwidth each station would get.
The station giving up its channel would be entitled to compensation in the so-called "reverse auction" to be held by the FCC, subject to receipt of compensation deemed acceptable by the licensee. Presumably, that compensation would be shared with the station giving up part of its 6 MHz band to allow the two stations to share that bandwidth. The amount of compensation each station would get would likely be determined in their sharing agreement.Continue Reading FCC Authorizes TV Channel Sharing in Preparation for Spectrum Auctions