System/Policy
In EBS vote, FCC denies special treatment for public broadcasters
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The FCC plans to auction off Educational Broadband Service spectrum and give commercial buyers an equal shot at snapping it up.
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The FCC plans to auction off Educational Broadband Service spectrum and give commercial buyers an equal shot at snapping it up.
The previous requirements had tripped up at least one public TV station.
Representatives of stations told FCC officials that allowing sales of the educational spectrum could create a “hostile leasing environment.”
The commission declined to reimburse wireless provider T-Mobile and left reimbursing radio stations a lower priority.
“We’re aiming to provide greater clarity to broadcast applicants and thus make the process easier for them, deliver more new services to the listening public, and reduce appeals of our comparative licensing decisions,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
TV stations are now required to renew satellite carriage requests every three years.
The FCC must set reimbursement rules for translators and FM stations by March 23.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also suggests some changes affecting low-power FM broadcasters.
In comments filed Wednesday, the network said eligible expenses proposed by the FCC “should be considered an initial provisional list of common anticipated expenses rather than a definitive catalog of all eligible reimbursable expenses.”
NPR said the proposal by the C-Band Alliance “offers a workable, if yet unproven option” for resolving the matter.
Local stations “have limited financial and operational resources to absorb the impact of the TV repack,” NPR said in FCC comments.
Some 50 public broadcasters hold licenses to use spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band for educational services and other purposes.
By the time the FCC’s extended filing deadline passed June 1, operators of 688 translators carrying programming of 55 PBS member stations had applied for new channels.
The commission is considering rule changes that could give educational institutions and some public broadcasters more flexibility to make money from frequencies in the EBS band.
The network has told the FCC that the plan could interfere with delivery of public radio programs to stations.
PBS, CPB and American’s Public Television Stations said in an FCC filing that they recognize the commission is “not inclined” to back the must-carry requirement proposed by Public Media Co.
TV broadcasters want the FCC to allow them to use vacant channels for the simulcasts required during ATSC 3.0 rollout.
KMTP used the wrong kind of mail service to submit a request, violating a rule that public broadcasters are asking the FCC to eliminate.
In joint comments filed with the FCC, pubcasters had asked for a review of “unnecessarily burdensome” rules on recruitment and hiring practices at stations.
PBS, CPB and APTS argue that for many stations, following the rule is “physically impossible.”