Aggregator

At the request of ION Media Lexington License, Inc. (ION), licensee of television station WUPX-TV, channel 21, Morehead, Kentucky (WUPX), the Commission amends the DTV Table of Allotments to reallot channel 21 from Morehead, Kentucky, to Richmond, Kentucky.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission eliminates a paper filing requirement for broadcast station contracts and documents and instead requires that these same documents are either uploaded or listed in the online public file within 30 days.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts limited changes to the rules governing Priority Access Licenses (PALs) that will be issued in the 3500-3700 MHz Band (3.5 GHz band)--including larger license areas, longer license terms, renewability, and performance requirements--as well as changes to the competitive bidding rules for the issuance of PALs and to the ability to partition and disaggregate areas within PALs. These changes are consistent with the rules that helped foster the development of 4G and LTE services in the United States, and adopting similar rules in this band will help promote additional investment in the next generation of wireless services. The Commission also adopts changes to the technical rules to facilitate transmissions over wider bandwidth channels without significant power reduction and changes to the information security requirements to better safeguard commercially sensitive information and protect critical infrastructure. These targeted changes will spur additional investment and broader deployment in the band, promote robust and efficient spectrum use, and help ensure the rapid deployment of advanced wireless technologies--including 5G--in the United States.

In this document, the Commission adopted a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Second FNPRM), in which it sought comment on alternative revised proposals to change the interference protection given to Class A AM radio broadcast stations. These proposals were revised based on responses to the Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making in this proceeding.

The Wireless Telecommunications and Media Bureaus (Bureaus) announce an auction of certain cross-service FM translator construction permits. This document also seeks comment on competitive bidding procedures and proposed minimum opening bids for Auction 100.

At the request of ION Media Lexington License, Inc. (ION), licensee of television station WUPX-TV, channel 21, Morehead, Kentucky (WUPX), the Commission is proposing to amend the DTV Table of Allotments to change WUPX's community of license from Morehead to Richmond, Kentucky. ION asserts that the proposed reallotment is consistent with the Commission's second allotment priority by providing Richmond with its first local transmission service. ION also asserts that the proposed reallotment will not deprive Morehead of its sole broadcast station because it will continue to be served by station WKMR(TV), licensed to Kentucky Authority for Educational TV, on channel *15 at Morehead. ION is not currently proposing to change WUPX's licensed facilities as part of its proposed reallotment.

At the request of ION Television License, LLC (ION), the Commission amends the DTV Table of Allotments to reallot channel 17 from Block Island, Rhode Island, to Newport, Rhode Island. The Commission also grants ION's request to change WPXQ's community of license to Newport, Rhode Island, amending the DTV Table of Allotments to reflect this change while modifying WPXQ's license to reflect that its community of license is Newport, Rhode Island. The new allotment will be mutually exclusive with WPXQ's existing allotment and the reallotment will result in a preferential arrangement of allotments pursuant to the Commission's second allotment priority by providing Newport its first local television service. The reallotment will cause no public harm because Block Island will continue to be served by five full power commercial and one full power non-commercial television stations and receive over-the-air service from WPXQ.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission makes non-substantive revisions to authority citations in its regulations. These authority citations are required by the rules of the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, and their format is prescribed by the Document Drafting Handbook of the Office of the Federal Register. Certain of the authority citations currently in the Commission's rules may not conform to those specifications.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission makes non-substantive revisions to authority citations in its regulations. These authority citations are required by the rules of the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, and their format is prescribed by the Document Drafting Handbook of the Office of the Federal Register. Certain of the authority citations currently in the Commission's rules may not conform to those specifications.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission establishes the requirements that will govern the incubator program that the Commission decided to adopt to support the entry of new and diverse voices into the broadcast industry.

In this document, the Commission proposes rules to implement Congress's recent directive that we reimburse certain Low Power Television (LPTV), television translator (TV translator), and FM broadcast stations for costs incurred as a result of the Commission's broadcast television spectrum incentive auction. When Congress authorized the Commission to conduct the incentive auction, it required the Commission to reimburse certain costs incurred by full power and Class A television licensees and multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs). On March 23, 2018, Congress adopted the Reimbursement Expansion Act (REA), which, among other things, expands the list of entities eligible to be reimbursed for auction-related expenses to include LPTV, TV translator, and FM broadcast stations, and to provide additional funds to the Reimbursement Fund to be used for this purpose. The REA requires the Commission to complete a rulemaking to adopt a reimbursement process for LPTV, TV translator, and FM stations within a year from the adoption date of the Act. This NPRM commences the proceeding to implement this directive and enable the Commission to meet this statutory deadline.

In this document, the Commission directs the Media Bureau to engage a contractor to assist in the reimbursement process and administration of the Reimbursement Fund for LPTV, TV translator, and FM stations, and also directs the Bureau to make determinations regarding eligible costs and the reimbursement process, such as calculating the amount of allocations to eligible entities and seeking comment on a revised Catalog of Eligible Expenses. The Commission also determines that the Media Bureau will announce, pursuant to the requirements in the Reimbursement Expansion Act, when the reimbursement program for all entities eligible for reimbursement pursuant to the Spectrum Act and the Reimbursement Expansion Act will end. Finally, the Commission interprets the Reimbursement Expansion Act as providing at least $50 million for use by the Commission to fund its efforts to educate consumers about the reorganization of broadcast television spectrum under the United States Code.

In this document, the Commission proposes to revise the children's television programming rules to modify outdated requirements and give broadcasters greater flexibility in serving the educational and informational needs of children. The proposed revisions reflect the dramatic changes in the video programming marketplace since the children's television programming rules were first adopted more than 20 years ago.

This document announces that the Media Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission granted the Motion for Extension of Time to extend the comment and reply comment deadlines, filed by Beasley Media Group, LLC; Educational Media Foundation; Gradick Communications, LLC; iHeart Communications, Inc.; Neuhoff Corp.; Radio One Licenses, LLC/ Urban One, Inc.; and Withers Broadcasting Companies (Petitioners), in MB Docket 18-119.

At the request of The Chickasaw Nation, the Audio Division amends the FM Table of Allotments by allotting FM Channel 247A at Connerville, Oklahoma, as a Tribal Allotment and a first local Tribal- owned service to the community. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 247A can be allotted at Connerville, Oklahoma, as proposed, consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules with a site restriction 9.40 km (5.84 miles) southwest of the community. The reference coordinates are 34-25-00 NL and 96-43-53 WL.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements associated with FCC 17-158. This document is consistent with the Commission's Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules.

In this document, the Commission adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI), based on a petition for rulemaking filed by SSR Communications, Inc., in which the Commission sought comment on a proposal to create a new class of FM radio stations, Class C4, and to establish a procedure for designating certain FM stations.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc. (Petitioner or CPBI)), licensee of television station WEDW, channel *49, Bridgeport, Connecticut (WEDW). WEDW operates on a shared basis with commercial television station WZME, Bridgeport, Connecticut (WZME), licensed to NRJ TV NY License Co. (NRJ). Prior to channel sharing, WZME was licensed on channel 42 at Bridgeport; NRJ has relinquished its channel 42 spectrum pursuant to a successful license relinquishment bid in the broadcast incentive auction and the spectrum is now being licensed to new 600 MHz Band flexible use licensees. CPBI requests an amendment of the DTV Table of Allotments to change WEDW's community of license from Bridgeport to Stamford, Connecticut. Petitioner further requests modifications of WEDW's license to specify Stamford as its community of license. CPBI asserts that the proposed reallotment will not deprive Bridgeport of its sole broadcast station as it will continue to be served by shared station WZME on channel 49 at Bridgeport. CPBI does not propose to change WEDW's licensed facilities as part of its allotment request and its existing principal community contour will cover the entire community of Stamford from the station's currently- licensed transmission facilities.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) seeks comment on whether to streamline or eliminate provisions of our regulation which require the posting and maintenance of broadcast licenses and related information in specific locations. The Commission tentatively concludes that these licenses posting rules should be eliminated because they are redundant and obsolete now that licensing information is readily accessible online through the Commission's databases. Through this action we advance our efforts to modernize our media regulations and remove unnecessary requirements that can impede competition and innovation in the media marketplace

At the request of L. Topaz Enterprises, Inc., the Audio Division amends the FM Table of Allotments by adding Channel 292A at Desert Hills, Arizona. We find that the public interest would be served by allotting a second local service at Desert Hills, Arizona. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 292A can be added at Desert Hills, Arizona, as proposed, consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules without a site restriction. The reference coordinates are 34-32-58 NL and 114-22-2 WL.