Last month, the FCC released a Public Notice requesting further comments on the proposal to increase the power of HD radio operations.  We have written about that proceeding a number of times, including posts here and here.  The increased power for the digital radio signals has been sought by many broadcasters who believe that current HD radio power levels do not  produce strong enough digital signals to penetrate buildings and fully serve radio markets.  On the other hand, other broadcasters fear that the increased power for the digital signals will create interference to existing analog stations operating on adjacent channels.  Today, the FCC set the dates for the filing of these additional comments – comments are due on July 6, with replies due on July 17. 

While comments have already been filed on the proposal to increase digital power, the FCC has raised a number of specific issues on which it wants comments, especially in light of the studies sponsored by NPR in cooperation with a number of other broadcasters, which seek to do a comprehensive review of the interference potential of higher powered digital operations.  NPR is shooting to have that report to the FCC in September.  The specific questions raised in the new FCC notice are:

  • Whether the FCC should wait to decide on the power increase proposal until after the NPR study is done
  • Whether current operations by radio stations operating in HD, and the various tests that have already been run, demonstrate the need for higher power operation on a permanent or provisional basis
  • Whether new standards of interference to adjacent channel stations should be adopted, and if the interference should also protect LPFM stations
  • Whether there should be specific procedures adopted to resolve any interference issues that do arise. 

Continue Reading FCC Seeks More Comments on Possible HD Radio Power Increase – Should LPFM Be Protected?

Reading the papers and watching the news this weekend, one would think that analog television is a relic of the past – something that we can all soon look back at fondly as a quaint childhood memory, never to be seen again.  Yet all the reports fail to mention that for populations that watch their over-the-air television from TV translators or Low Power TV stations, analog television is still very much a reality, and in some places will be for years until the FCC sets a deadline for the digital conversion of these stations. Many of these stations operate in rural areas or serve minority or other specialized audiences, perhaps explaining the lack of coverage in the mainstream media.  But, given all the publicity that has been accorded to the "completion" of the conversion, some of these populations may well have been confused by the process.  We’ve writtenabout this issue and how it could have created confusion in smaller markets which have service by both full-power and low power TV stations, here.

The transition of LPTV to digital raises a number of issues – including the ability of these stations to deliver radio-type programming when operating on Channel 6.  As we’ve written, LPTV stations on Channel 6 have been used to provide radio services, as Channel 6 is immediately adjacent to the FM band and can be picked up on most radio receivers..  However, when the ultimate transition of LPTV to digital is completed, the ability of these stations to provide a radio-type service will probably disappear, as the audio system used by digital television will not be picked up by analog radio receivers. 

Continue Reading Analog Television – Not Dead Yet – Not All LPTV Stations are Digital

This week ,the FCC issued a Public Notice addressing the issue of LPTV stations eager to displace to a new channel or switch to digital operations following the transition of full powers to DTV. (Please note, this notice does not address the filing of applications for brand new LPTV stations, which are still frozen). Many LPTV stations are eager to take advantage of the channels being returned by full power stations either to move their operations to those channels or to flash-cut to digital on their own channel now that an adjacent full-power station is gone.

In fact, some LPTV stations have already submitted applications seeking to move to a channel that is still occupied by a full power station, and which won’t vacate the channel until June 12th. Because such applications did not comply with the then-current (pre-transition) interference landscape, they were not grantable at the time of filing, but will become grantable after June 12th. Similarly, many folks have their eye on a particular channel, and once the full power station terminates, the LPTVs will rush to move to that (now) vacant channel. The FCC’s Public Notice states that for purposes of determining who filed first, the FCC will treat all such applications as though they were all filed on June 30th. Thus, there was no advantage to the LPTV station that filed for a channel last month that’s still occupied by a full power, and there’s no rush to be the first one to file for a newly vacated channel come 12:01 AM on June 13th.

What this means, however, is that if any LPTV station intends to take advantage of the full power DTV transition to displace to a newly vacated channel or to flash-cut to digital in a way that would be precluded because of pre-transition interference, any application filed between now and June 30th will be considered as filed the same day as any pending non-compliant application or application filed between now and the 30th that has a conflicting proposal.

This Public Notice does not appear to impact applications proposing changes that comply with the pre-transition interference landscape, which still can be filed at any time and should be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

As you may have heard, Facebook is going to allow users to register names in their Facebook URL, replacing the former random ID numbers.  This policy, announced in a Facebook blog post earlier this week will become effective on a first come, first served basis beginning Saturday, June 13 at 12:01 am.  This new policy creates the danger that Facebook users may try to register as their user name words or phrases that could infringe on a company name, trademarked slogan, or even a broadcast station’s call signs.  To prevent others from using your company’s name, call sign or other trademark, Facebook has created a form allowing rights holders to register their marks ahead of time.  To protect your intellectual property in the easiest manner possible (without the need for costly infringement lawsuits of other actions), companies should take advantage of the procedures outlined by Facebook itself, and register with the company.

A couple of caveats:  

  1. User names have to be at least five alphanumeric characters.  This means that four letter call signs cannot be used as user names unless used with a suffix or frequency.  Since periods are the only punctuation allowed, acceptable user names might be WXYZ.FM, or FM98.1, for example. 
  2. In order to prevent someone from using your trademark in advance, it appears that it must be a registered mark.  However, a separate form appears to allow intellectual property rights holders to reclaim a user name, even if it is not a registered trademark.  Thus, if your company name, mark or call sign is unregistered, you can either register it as your own Facebook user name or wait until someone else does that and complain after the fact.  You do not need to be a Facebook user to submit the intellectual property rights forms described above.

Continue Reading Protect Your Company Name or Call Sign on Facebook

On Tuesday, the FCC released a public notice reminding stations of their obligation to provide a consumer referral telephone number to the FCC and to publicize that number so that viewers will have a local number to call for specific information about the station’s transition to DTV.

In addition, the FCC also reminded stations that they should be prepared to answer calls from viewers in the hours immediately after their transition and in the days that follow. The FCC’s rules require that stations offer information and assistance for viewers having difficulty receiving their signal. Per the FCC:  The station’s consumer referral number "should be staffed with personnel prepared to answer complex questions from viewers, particularly regarding necessary actions to take to get reception in specific locations, and other engineering issues."  In particular, stations must be prepared and staffed for an increased volume of calls, both referred from the FCC’s National Call Center and locally originating, at the time the station terminates its analog signal.  The FCC’s Call Center will be available 24 hours a day for the days surrounding the June 12 transition, forwarding calls directly to stations where necessary.

The deadline for submitting comments in the FCC’s rule making proceeding regarding Arbitron’s use of Portable People Meters (PPM) has been set for July 1, 2009.  Reply comments are due by July 31st.

As we discussed in our earlier post, the FCC has begun a rule making to examine the use of the PPM technology of radio audience measurement now being rolled out by Arbitron in radio markets throughout the country.  Various groups have contended that Arbitron’s PPM technology has certain methodological flaws that under counted particular groups, including minority groups, and thus could have an impact on the financial viability of the stations listened to by such groups.  The FCC’s Notice of Inquiry asks about those perceived flaws, about the potential impact of any flaws on the use of Arbitron market definitions for purposes of the FCC radio multiple ownership rules, and on the more general question of whether the FCC even has the jurisdiction to regulate the use of the PPM.  Interested parties can submit comments to the FCC in paper, or electronically using the ECFS filing system. 

Further information from the FCC regarding the DTV transition, this time dealing with call signs. The FCC has announced that following the DTV transition, full power television stations may either keep their current call signs (i.e. WXYZ or WXYZ-TV) or they may formally change to use "-DT" instead, as in "WXYZ-DT".

Stations that intend to keep their current call signs do not need to take any action.

Stations that wish to use "-DT" must change their call letters using the Commission’s on-line call sign reservation system. The change can be requested after the station has completed the permanent transition to digital service and there will be no charge for the call sign change.

For the handful of stations that are DTV-only stations, i.e. those that never had an analog channel, those stations have already been designated "-DT" and will retain that designation without any further action. If a DTV-only station wishes to switch from "-DT" to "-TV", it may file a call sign change request at no charge to make that change.

A copy of the FCC’s recent Public Notice on this issue is available here, and a link to the FCC’s call sign reservation database is here. 

 

The FCC yesterday issued a brief Order clarifying that stations that are flash-cutting to digital on their analog channel, or are otherwise commencing digital service on another channel as part of the transition, have the flexibility to do so at any time on June 12th without further authorization from the FCC.

[Please note, this information does not affect stations whose pre-transition and post-transition digital channels and facilities are the same. Such stations can complete the transition by simply terminating their analog service.]

Currently, DTV construction permits that specify only "Post-transition" operations state that they can only be implemented after 11:59 PM on June 12th, meaning you could not begin operations until the stroke of midnight on June 13th.  With the FCC’s recent clarification, however, stations are free to begin DTV operations whenever they are ready to go on June 12th.  This will hopefully allow stations to commence digital operations with less of a gap between the analog shut off and the digital commencement.  In addition, it will also allow stations the flexibility to commence operations on June 12th and work any bugs out during daylight hours.

Thus, for example, a station that is scheduled to shut off its analog facility at 10 AM on the 12th can begin DTV operations on that same channel at 10:01 AM instead of having to wait until after midnight.  The only caveat is for those stations whose early operation could affect another station (e.g., where Station A’s post-transition channel is the same as Station B’s channel for pre-transition).  In those cases, the FCC has instructed that the parties must coordinate with one another to ensure that the incumbent station terminates its service before the new co-channel station begins operation.  Again, no authorization is required from the FCC, but if the stations are not able to coordinate with one another, then they must wait until after 11:59:59 to commence post-transition operations.

In any case, once a station commences post-transition DTV operations consistent with their underlying construction permit, they will need to file a notification with the FCC, as well as a Form 302-DT covering license application to complete the process. 

 

This afternoon, the FCC issued an erratum revising the deadline for submitting Comments in the rule making proceeding regarding potential modifications to the ownership report filing requirements for noncommercial broadcasters.  Comments in this proceeding are now due by June 26th, not June 29th as previously indicated.  Please see our earlier post, here, discussing the questions that the FCC has raised in this rule making.  The deadline for Reply Comments is unchanged, and is still July 13th. 

UPDATE:  On June 2, the FCC issued an erratum revising the Comment date in this proceeding to June 26th.  We’ve updated our earlier post to reflect the change.

The FCC today issued a Public Notice announcing the filing deadline for comments regarding potential modifications to the ownership report filing requirements for noncommercial broadcasters (see our post, here, on the questions that the FCC is asking).  Comments are due on June 26, with replies on July 13.  As mentioned in our earlier post, the FCC also issued today an Order suspending the requirement that commercial broadcasters who have upcoming ownership report filing deadlines (including the deadline on Monday for on June 1 for radio stations in Arizona, District of Columbia, Idaho, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, and television stations in Michigan and Ohio).  This is a new policy, and thus supersedes the information in our post two weeks ago.  As all commercial broadcasters will now have to file reports on the same time – November 1 – the need for a second report was deemed unnecessary, especially given the upcoming revisions to the Form 323 to require more detailed information about some otherwise non-attributable owners, and for certain entities not now required to file.

As we have stated, the FCC is interested in obtaining more detailed ownership information in order to better assess whether additional steps to promote minority ownership are justified.  Watch for details of the new November filing requirement in the near future.