Federal Register: FCC (Broadcasting)

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by WRGB Licensee, LLC (Petitioner), the licensee of WRGB (CBS), channel 6, Schenectady, New York. The Petitioner requests the substitution of channel 35 for channel 6 at Schenectady, New York in the DTV Table of Allotments.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Sinclair Media Licensee, LLC (Petitioner), the licensee of WCYB-TV (NBC), channel 5, Bristol, Virginia. The Petitioner requests the substitution of channel 35 for channel 5 at Bristol, Virginia in the DTV Table of Allotments.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission modifies its rules governing the use of distributed transmission system (DTS) technologies by broadcast television stations by permitting, within certain limits, DTS signals to spill over beyond a station's authorized service area by more than the ``minimal amount'' currently allowed. By affording broadcasters greater flexibility in the placement of DTS transmitters, the rule changes allow broadcasters to enhance their signal capabilities and fill coverage gaps, improve indoor and mobile reception, and increase spectrum efficiency by reducing the need for television translator stations operating on separate channels.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Gray Television Licensee, LLC (Petitioner), requesting the allotment of channel 9 at Freeport, Illinois. The current version of the DTV Table, which reflects the pre-incentive auction allotments, allocates DTV Channel 41 to Freeport, Illinois, but the licensee submitted a winning bid to go off air in the broadcast television incentive auction and subsequently suspended operations. Thus, Petitioner is requesting the allotment of channel 9 at Freeport as that community's first local service in the DTV Table of Allotments, which will be amended later to reflect all the incentive auction channel assignments.

The Federal Communications Commission published a document in the Federal Register of April 12, 2021, concerning a petition for rulemaking filed by Four Seasons Peoria, LLC (Petitioner), licensee of television station WAOE, channel 10, Peoria, Illinois, requesting an amendment of the DTV Table of Allotments to delete channel 10 at Peoria, Illinois, and substitute channel 10 at Oswego, Illinois. The document contained an incomplete address for counsel of petitioner.

This document summarizes the procedures, deadlines, and upfront payment and minimum opening bid amounts for the upcoming auction of certain AM and FM broadcast construction permits. The Auction 109 Procedures Public Notice summarized here is intended to familiarize potential applicants with details of the procedures, terms, and conditions governing participation in Auction 109.

On March 4, 2021, the Media Bureau, Video Division (Bureau) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by The Curators of the University of Missouri (University), the licensee of KOMU-TV, channel 8 (NBC/CW), Columbia, Missouri, requesting the substitution of channel 27 for channel 8 at Columbia in the DTV Table of Allotments. For the reasons set forth in the Report and Order referenced below, the Bureau substitutes channel 27 for channel 8 at Columbia.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking Four Seasons Peoria, LLC (Petitioner), licensee of television station WAOE, channel 10, Peoria, Illinois, requesting an amendment of the DTV Table of Allotments to delete channel 10 at Peoria, Illinois, and substitute channel 10 at Oswego, Illinois. Petitioner further requests modification of WAOE's license to specify Oswego as its community of license pursuant to the Commission's rules.

The Federal Communications Commission published a document in the Federal Register of March 25, 2021, concerning a petition for rulemaking filed by WLUK Licensee, LLC (Licensee) requesting the substitution of channel 18 for channel 12 at Green Bay, Wisconsin in the DTV Table of Allotments. The document contained the incorrect call sign in the summary section.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Gray Television Licensee, LLC, (Gray), licensee of KAIT, channel 8, Jonesboro, Arkansas, requesting the substitution of channel 27 for channel 8 at Jonesboro in the DTV Table of Allotments. In support of its channel substitution request, Gray states that the Commission has recognized that VHF channels have certain propagation characteristics which may cause reception issues for some viewers, and also that the reception of VHF signals require larger antennas, relative to UHF channels.'' According to Gray, many of its viewers experience significant difficulty receiving KAIT's signal, and while there is small terrain limited predicted loss area, the viewers will continue to be well served by at least five other stations and receive ABC network service from another station licensed to Memphis, Tennessee.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking (Petition) filed by KVII Licensee, LLC, (Licensee), licensee of KVII- TV, Channel 7, Amarillo, Texas (KVII or Station), requesting the substitution of channel 20 for channel 7 at Amarillo in the DTV Table of Allotments. Licensee states that the proposed channel substitution for KVII from VHF channel 7 to UHF channel 20 would allow KVII to significantly improve its over-the-air service to the Station's viewers in the Amarillo, Texas, market. Licensee states that the proposed channel change from channel 7 to channel 20 would result in a substantial increase in signal receivability for KVII's core viewers and enable viewers to receive the Station's signal with a significantly smaller antenna. Licensee maintains that KVII, as a VHF channel station, has had a long history of dealing with severe reception problems exacerbated by the analog to digital conversion. The proposed migration of KVII from channel 7 to channel 20, Licensee contends, is in the public interest based on the enhanced signal levels that will be delivered to a large percentage of the Station's population without any predicted loss of coverage. Further, Licensee maintains that the change will result in an predicted increase of 9.44% in the Station's overall population and the staff has determined there is no loss of service. Licensee concludes by saying that the public interest would be best served by promptly granting its Petition with the specifications set forth therein so that Amarillo-area viewers may benefit from substantially improved over-the-air broadcast television service as soon as possible.

The Video Division has before it a petition for rulemaking filed November 27, 2020 (Petition) by KHQA Licensee, LLC (Licensee), the licensee of KHQA-TV (CBS), channel 7, Hannibal, Missouri. The Licensee requests the substitution of channel 22 for channel 7 at Hannibal, Missouri in the digital television (DTV) Table of Allotments.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking (Petition) filed by KUTV Licensee, LLC, (Licensee), licensee of KMYU, channel 9, St. George, Utah (KMYU or Station), requesting the substitution of channel 21 for channel 9 at St. George in the DTV Table of Allotments. Licensee states that the proposed channel change from channel 9 to channel 21 would result a substantial increase in signal receivability for KMYU's core viewers and enable viewers to receive the Station's signal with a significantly smaller antenna. Licensee maintains that KMYU, as a VHF channel station, has had a long history of dealing with severe reception problems exacerbated by the analog to digital conversion. The proposed migration of KMYU from channel 9 to channel 21, Licensee contends, will result in the delivery of enhanced signal levels to a large percentage of the Station's population without any predicted loss of coverage. Further, Licensee maintains that the change will result in an predicted increase of more than 8,000 persons in the Station's overall population. Licensee concludes by saying that the public interest would be best served by promptly granting its Petition with the specifications set forth in therein so that St. George-area viewers may benefit from substantially improved over-the- air broadcast television service as soon as possible.

The Video Division has before it a petition for rulemaking filed November 27, 2020 (Petition) by WULK Licensee, LLC (Licensee), the licensee of WULK-TV (FOX), channel 12, Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Licensee requests the substitution of channel 18 for channel 12 at Green Bay, Wisconsin the digital television (DTV) Table of Allotments.

The Video Division has before it a petition for rulemaking filed November 27, 2020 (Petition) by WFXL Licensee, LLC (Licensee), the licensee of WFXL (FOX), channel 12, Albany, Georgia (Station). The Licensee requests the substitution of channel 29 for channel 12 at Albany, Georgia in the digital television (DTV) Table of Allotments.

Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's proceeding by Michael Lazarus, on behalf Sennheiser Electronic Corporation and Catherine Wang, on behalf of Shure Incorporated.

The Video Division has before it a petition for rulemaking filed November 27, 2020 (Petition) by Gray Television Licensee, LLC (Petitioner), the licensee of KCRG-TV (ABC), channel 9 (KCRG or Station), Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Petitioner requests the substitution of channel 32 for channel 9 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the digital television (DTV) Table of Allotments.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Gray Television Licensee, LLC (Gray or Licensee), the licensee of television station KSNB-TV, channel 4, Superior, Nebraska, requesting an amendment of the DTV Table of Allotments to delete VHF channel 4 at Superior, Nebraska and allot it to York, Nebraska, and substitute UHF channel 24 at York for channel 4.

The Video Division has before it a petition for rulemaking filed November 27, 2020 (Petition) by Dominion Broadcasting, Inc. (Petitioner), the licensee of WLMB (IND), channel 5, Toledo, Ohio (WLMB or Station). The Petitioner requests the substitution of channel 35 for channel 5 at Toledo, Ohio in the DTV Table of Allotments.

The Federal Communications Commission published a document in the Federal Register of March 5, 2021, concerning a petition for rulemaking filed by Gray Television Licensee, LLC (Gray) requesting the substitution of channel 23 for channel 11 at Savannah, Georgia in the DTV Table of Allotments. The document contained the incorrect address for counsel of petitioner.