The FCC yesterday released a Public Notice announcing an extension in the application filing deadline in the window for LPTV stations and TV translators that are displaced by the TV repacking following the incentive auction. In this window, displaced stations can file applications for new channels or new facilities that remove their conflicts with repacked stations or which move the LPTV or TV translator into the spectrum that will continue to be devoted to TV broadcasting after TV channels above 37 are repurposed for wireless uses. The new deadline for displacement applications for these LPTV and TV translator stations is now June 1.
We wrote about the opening of the window, here, and about the FCC’s rules for this window here. As the window is already open, the two-week extension gives potential applicants more time to avoid conflicts with other applicants in the window. Applications that are filed in the FCC’s LMS database will be available for viewing by other potential applicants shortly after they are filed. As applications can be amended through the end of the window, applicants can avoid specifying channels already proposed by other LPTV stations or TV translators in their markets, or otherwise deal with conflicts that might otherwise exist. So take note of that new closing date of the displacement window and the opportunities that it affords – opportunities not available once the window closes.