By David Oxenford on Posted in Tower IssuesLast year, we wrote about legislation adopted by Congress telling the FAA to adopt rules to require the lighting of towers less than 200 feet tall located in rural areas. That legislation was designed to protect aircraft used for agricultural purposes like crop-dusting from collisions with such towers. The law surprised most of the broadcast… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Tower IssuesMy law firm has long provided legal advice to companies that operate communications towers, and the lawyers involved in that practice area have alerted me to the following development which will require the marking and lighting of many towers not currently covered by such rules. Broadcasters and tower companies have long relied on FAA rules that… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Broadcast Auctions,General FCC,Noncommercial Broadcasting,Tower IssuesThere were several recent FCC decisions on application processing matters worthy of note. One deals with the processing of commercial applications for FM stations or FM translators that are involved in an auction to resolve disputes, the others with the processing of noncommercial applications (in this case for LPFM stations). None break new ground –… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Tower IssuesThe FCC this week issued a Public Notice announcing that the FAA has issued a new Advisory for the marking and lighting of new or altered communications towers – highlighting one change that towers above 350 feet above ground will need to have flashing lights, rather than “L-810 steady burning side lights” which were determined… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FM Radio,Tower IssuesIn a decision of the FCC Media Bureau’s Audio Division that may be of interest to the more technically minded broadcasters, the Commission found that an FM station’s supposedly nondirectional FM antenna should be treated as directional. This decision was in response to a complaint from another broadcaster on the same channel, arguing that the… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,Tower IssuesA few weeks ago, we wrote about several recent cases where tower owners were fined for not having their towers lights working in the manner that was required by their licenses. In another case released this week, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau decided that a $20,000 fine was appropriate for a tower owner in Alaska whose… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Broadcast Auctions,FM Radio,Noncommercial Broadcasting,Tower IssuesLast week, there were two decisions that clarified FCC processing policies for new broadcast stations – one dealing with applications for commercial stations, and the other with applications for noncommercial FM stations. The commercial case made clear that an applicant for a new FM station in the auction process need not have reasonable assurance of… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fees,Tower IssuesThere are times that the FCC, though its Daily Releases, appears to be trying to make a point. And Friday was one of those days, when it simultaneously released four separate orders, each fining the owner of a tower used for communications purposes for failures to maintain the required tower lights on those towers. Three… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FM Translators and LPFM,Multiple Ownership Rules,Tower IssuesOn September 26, the FCC will hold its next open meeting and, according to a Public Notice released Friday, will consider several issues important to different parts of the broadcast industry. For television broadcasters, there will be concerns about the proposal to do away with the “UHF discount,” which gives UHF stations a 50% discount in determining… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in AM Radio,Tower IssuesThe rules for determining when construction of a new tower may cause a distortion of the pattern of a nearby AM station, and when the party building the new tower has a financial obligation to remedy any interference caused, were clarified by the Commission in an order released late last week. The order makes clear that all… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,Tower IssuesFailing to properly maintain a communications tower can be expensive, as a number of FCC decisions released in the last few days demonstrate. In several decisions reached in the last week, the Commission faulted tower owners for all sorts of problems – tower lights being out without letting the FAA know, faded paint, missing fencing around… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,Tower IssuesFines for broadcast station tower owners who fail to maintain the required lighting on their tower are not unusual. But in a decision last week, the FCC made clear that, even if the licensee of a broadcast station is not the tower owner, it still has the responsibility for dealing with tower lights that are out,… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,Tower IssuesIn a Notice of Apparent Liability, the FCC proposed a $14,000 fine on a broadcaster for a series of violations with respect to its tower. The FCC found that the station failed to have the required lights on the tower operating after sunset on at least two days, failed to notify the FAA of the outage… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Digital Television,Television,Tower IssuesThe over-the-air reception of television stations has taken on heightened awareness in recent years. In the regulatory world, this prominence comes from the FCC’s consideration of taking back some of the broadcast spectrum for use by wireless broadband based at least partially on the Commission’s belief that broadcasters are not using that spectrum efficiently as many viewers,over the last… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,Tower IssuesCommunications towers that are not lit as required often bring big fines from the FCC. In two decisions released today, the Commission followed that precedent. In one case, the FCC proposed a fine of $17,000 to a tower owner after repeated promises to fix lights that were out did not result in any resolution of the issue after… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,License Renewal,Tower IssuesIn every license renewal application, applicants must certify that their operations are in compliance with the RF radiation standards set out in Section 1.1310 of the Commission’s rules. In connection with the renewal applications of two Hawaii FM stations, the FCC issued short-term one-year renewals of the station’s licenses, rather than the normal 8 year renewals. The… Continue Reading
By Brendan Holland on Posted in Tower IssuesWith the recent publication in the Federal Register, several new Commission rules and policies regarding communications towers and migratory birds are now on the books, however, they are not yet effective as the collection of information still requires OMB approval. The Commission’s new rules are an outgrowth of a decision from the Court of Appeals… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,Tower IssuesLast week, I did a presentation on the issues facing broadcasters at the Kansas Association of Broadcasters annual convention (a copy of the slides from my presentation is available here). I spoke about some of the day-to-day issues that can get broadcasters into trouble, as well as some of the big policy issues that broadcasters need… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Tower IssuesAmong the many things that broadcasters need to remember when they buy a broadcast station is making sure that the tower registration (the "Antenna Structure Registration" or "ASR") for that station is transferred along with the rest of the station assets. Unlike most registrations and filings done at the time of the Closing of a sale… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in FCC Fines,Tower IssuesThree recent FCC cases demonstrate how seriously the FCC views tower site issues – imposing fines up to $14,000 for various violations of FCC rules. One $14,000 fine was in a case where an AM station’s tower was enclosed by a fence that was falling down and did not enclose areas of high RF radiation as… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Tower IssuesThe FCC has released the comment dates for its draft rules setting out when Environmental Assessments are needed to formally evaluate the environmental impact of the construction and major alteration of communications towers. We wrote about these draft rules here, and described their history – growing out of concerns by conservation groups about the effects of communications towers on migratory… Continue Reading
