In January, the FCC made public its plans to open a window for the filing of applications for new FM translators in the “reserved band” – between 88.1 and 91.9 – to be operated by licensees of noncommercial stations (see our article here).  When the Commission approved this window at its February regular monthly open meeting, it announced that the Media Bureau would consider whether to implement a 10-application limit for any company seeking construction permits in this window, and it would adopt other eligibility criteria.  This past week, the Media Bureau issued a Public Notice setting out those eligibility criteria. 

In its Public Notice, the Bureau indeed adopted the 10-application limit.  While some parties suggested a higher limit – especially for applications outside of major markets – the Bureau concluded that the 10-application limit worked best to avoid speculation in translator permits and concluded that this limit would ensure a manageable number of applications for the Bureau to process.  The Bureau also adopted lower caps on any translators to be paired with LPFM stations – adopting a four-application cap on translators for Tribal LPFM applicants and a two-application cap on applications for all other LPFM applicants.