Aggregator

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.

The Commission has before it a petition for rulemaking filed by Ocean State Television, LLC (Petitioner or OST), licensee of television station WPXQ-TV, channel 17, Block Island, Rhode Island (WPXQ). WPXQ operates on channel 17 on a shared basis with commercial television station WLWC, New Bedford, Massachusetts, also licensed to OST. OST requests an amendment of the DTV Table of Allotments to delete channel 17 at Block Island, Rhode Island, and substitute channel 17 at Newport, Rhode Island. Petitioner also requests modification of WPXQ's license to specify Newport as its community of license pursuant to agency rules. The Petitioner asserts that substantial public interests weigh heavily in favor of reallocating WPXQ to Newport. Newport has a population of 24,027 while Block Island's population consists of approximately 1,000. Petitioner asserts that the proposed reallotment will cause no public harm because Block Island will not only continue to be served by five full-power commercial and one full-power non- commercial television stations, but will also continue to receive the exact same over-the-air service from Petitioner that they are receiving currently. The proposal would result in a preferential allotment by providing Newport with its first local full-power television services in satisfaction of the Commission's second allotment priority, which is also consistent with Commission precedent and consistent with the public interest.

In this document, the Commission discusses several proposals designed to streamline the rules relating to interference caused by FM translators and expedite the translator complaint resolution process, based in part upon the petitions for rulemaking filed by the National Association of Broadcasters and Aztec Capital Partners, Inc.

This document denies the Petition for Reconsideration of the Second Report and Order in this proceeding, filed by Prometheus Radio Project (Prometheus) on April 10, 2017. This document dismisses as moot the Petition for Emergency Partial Stay and Processing Freeze Pending Review of Petition for Reconsideration filed by Prometheus April 3, 2017, and the Motion for Extension of Time filed by Prometheus May 11, 2017.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the new information collection associated with the Commission's Promoting Spectrum Access for Wireless Microphone Operations, Order on Reconsideration, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules.

At the request of Wind River Broadcasting, Inc., the Audio Division amends the FM Table of Allotments by adding Channel 274C2 at Cora, Wyoming. We find that the public interest would be served by allotting a first local service at Cora, Wyoming. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 274C2 can be added at Cora, Wyoming, as proposed, consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules without a site restriction. The reference coordinates are 43-03-24 NL and 110-08-07 WL.

This document requests comments on a Petition for Rule Making filed by The Chickasaw Nation, proposing to amend the FM Table of Allotments, by allotting Channel 247A at Connerville, Oklahoma, as the first local Tribal-owned commercial service. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 247A can be allotted to Connerville consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules. The reference coordinates are 34-25-00 NL and 96-43-53 WL with a site restriction of 9.40 km (5.84 miles) southwest of the community.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) revises of its rules to relieve certain digital television stations of an annual reporting obligation relating to the provision of ancillary or supplementary services.