January 1999 Newsletter

News from the Offices of
MUNN-REESE, INC.
Broadcast Engineering Consultants 100 Airport Drive - PO Box 220 Coldwater, MI 49036-0220 Wayne S. Reese, President

Telephone: 517-278-7339

Internet: www.munn-reese.com

Fax: 517-278-6973

January 1999

Munn-Reese Matters

The beginning of a new year always requires a certain amount of reprogramming in our minds-for example, learning to use 1999 whenever we write the date. For us, part of the reprogramming has been how we answer our telephones. After many years of greeting callers with, "Good Morning, Munn and Associates," we've been learning to say, "Good Morning, Munn-Reese." So far, we're meeting with varying degrees of success. You may even hear us pause a moment while we make a quick mental check to be sure the right "auto-pilot" is engaged! We have also been discovering just how many places our name appears in all our reports and printed materials!

Have you had trouble reaching us by telephone during the first couple of weeks of 1999? There were some good reasons. Just after Wayne and Chris Reese returned from their holiday vacation, our area was hit on January 2 with the largest snow storm of the decade. (Welcome home, boss!) By Saturday night, most counties in the area had declared snow emergencies and ordered all non-emergency traffic off the roads. The snow emergencies were not lifted until Tuesday morning. As a result, for the first time in years, our office was closed due to weather on Monday, January 4. Then just before the middle of January, we discovered our second phone line was out of order. Apparently, people who tried to call us while we were already using the first line heard the phone ringing at their end, but it never rang at our end. After the telephone lineman removed the unwanted snow from the problem connections, service returned to normal.

Commission Matters

The Commission has started the new year with a major emphasis on tower registration. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) has announced it will soon start identifying unregistered structures, contacting the owners and/or licensees, and initiating enforcement proceedings in cooperation with the Compliance and Information Bureau (CIB). The WTB announcement follows an audit late last year by the CIB of 1331 antenna structures. The CIB found that 368 of them, which is 28%, were unregistered. The WTB found this percentage to be consistent with the number of applications it is returning due to missing or deficient tower registration information. The rules basically require three things of tower owners: 1) All structures over 200 feet or located near an airport require registration; 2) The registration number must be posted on or near the base of each structure; and 3) A copy of the tower registration certificate must be supplied to all FCC licensees who are tenants on the structure. Our experience indicates that the FCC is taking a very conservative approach with respect to smaller structures that owners might think would be exempt from registration.

The Commission has also issued a second warning about towers that are not adequately marked or lighted. The warning follows a second incident in which an emergency helicopter had to alter its course to avoid hitting an unlit tower. The first incident occurred near Muleshoe, TX (see last month's newsletter). This one involved a tower that was under construction near Arcadia, FL. The crew building the tower had apparently failed to install any temporary lighting. The Tampa office of the CIB is continuing to investigate the incident. According to the CIB report, once the office had confirmed the unlit condition of the tower, it "took steps to ensure that the tower was promptly lit, and that the FAA was notified."

The interest in low power FM broadcasting continues. The FCC has established a special web site for the topic-<www.fcc.gov/mmb/prd/lpfm>. The site includes links to the proceedings where comments are being reviewed on the low power FM proposals made by several petitioners, speeches by various Commissioners dealing with the topic of low power FM, an NTIA report on Minority Commercial Broadcast Ownership in the United States, and information from the Audio Services Division web site.

The president of the American Community AM Broadcasters Association has filed a petition asking the Commission to allow AM licensees to become licensees of FM translators to retransmit their AM programming on a "fill-in" basis. The petition argues this would promote the public interest by providing improved nighttime coverage to the local markets of the AM stations.

An undated petition was received by the Commission proposing that FM Channel 300, 107.9 MHz, be reserved for very low power broadcasting under Part 15 of the rules. The petitioner suggested this could be accomplished by moving all of the FM stations currently on this frequency to alternate channels during the transition from analog to digital broadcasting. We normally only use extended quotes for statements from the Commissioners themselves, however, our wacky editor, Thumbs Feebleman, thought at least one paragraph from the FCC's letter to the petitioner would provide current licensees with enjoyable reading-"Your petition is seriously flawed and is being denied. There currently is no transition from analog to digital in the FM Broadcast service, and thus no 'opportunity' to clear all licensed FM stations from a channel. The FM broadcast spectrum is heavily used, with many stations operating on each and every channel. For most, if not all, existing stations, there are not alternate channels available to which they could move in conformance with our rules. Your petition fails to adequately address this substantial negative impact on existing FM broadcast licensees and therefore plainly does not warrant consideration by the Commission." Thumbs is guessing you won't find this suggestion on the new low power FM web page!

While some suggest ways for the Commission to license low power FM stations, others have been taking matters into their own hands-at the risk of having their hands slapped and their equipment confiscated! Apparently, Miami, FL is a popular area for such activity. After rounding up 15 unlicensed stations last July, the FCC recently shut down another 19 unlicensed operations and seized their equipment under the authority of a court order. The operator of an unlicensed 94.7 MHz FM station at Gainesville, FL met a similar fate-after choosing to ignore numerous FCC warnings. An order to "cease and desist" was issued to the operator of two pirate FM stations at Leander, TX-one on 88.5 MHz and the other on 95.9 MHz. He tried to argue that the FCC didn't have any authority over his broadcasting operation because it was intrastate rather than interstate. The Administrative Law Judge disagreed and issued the cease and desist order along with an $11,000 forfeiture notice.

Two co-owned stations in the State of Washington have also received forfeiture notices-even though they are licensed. The scenario began when the former president of the licensee of record filed a Petition to Deny against a sale of the stations. After investigating, the Commission determined the stations had already experienced a transfer of control without permission from the FCC. In the process of investigating the illegal transfer of control, the Commission also discovered that the stations had failed to maintain a full time managerial and staff presence at the separate main studio locations. Each station was fined for each offense-making a grand total of four forfeitures.

The Parade to the Portals continues. During December, the Administrative Law Judges and the Office of the General Counsel made the move, and during the first part of January, the Chairman and his fellow Commissioners joined the parade. The new offices for the Commissioners are located on the eighth floor of the Portals. The move does change the way certain materials are hand-delivered to the Commission. Public access is more restricted in the new building, and a Package Drop-Off Room has been established where deliveries can be time-stamped.

Commissioner Matters

A comprehensive report on the Biennial Review Process has been issued by Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth. Here is the Executive Summary. "The Telecommunications Act of 1996 included a section on 'Regulatory Reform.' Codified at Section 11 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, this provision requires the FCC to review, every two years, all of its rules that apply to telecommunications service providers and determine whether any are no longer necessary in the public interest. Section 11 then directs the Commission to repeal or modify unnecessary rules." "Although the FCC has made significant progress on Section 11, the official 1998 review had shortcomings. In particular, the Commission did not clearly review all of the rules required under Section 11, did not establish clear standards by which rules are evaluated, and did not produce a full written record of the review. At the same time, however, a few law student interns performed a model review which demonstrated how future Section 11 reviews could be conducted by the FCC. In any case, the full Commission should begin planning for the year 2000 biennial review very soon; this report includes specific procedural suggestions for that review." "Conducting a biennial review is no easy task. All those involved with this year's review worked very hard and , in one sense, even harder than necessary. With similar hard work, as well as strict attention paid to the requirements of Section 11, the shortcomings of the 1998 review certainly can be corrected for the year 2000 review." The complete report is available at the Commission's web site or from the government copy contractor. The full report also includes Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth's proposed time line for the year 2000 review.

A brief statement was issued by Chairman Kennard in response to the Furchtgott-Roth report. "The Commission's first biennial review has been a collaborative process that is leading to concrete results. I want to thank Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth for his report. The suggestions offered in it are very constructive, and I am sure they will assist the Commission as it begins planning its 2000 biennial review. I look forward to continuing to work closely with him and all the Commissioners on streamlining the FCC so it operates in a common-sense manner and avoids unnecessary regulation."

Miscellaneous Matters

The new Commercial Broadcast Station Ownership Report-FCC Form 323-has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The form, which is the December 1998 edition, includes the gender and race or ethnicity information for those who hold attributable interests in the license. The new form is effective immediately and should be used for all 1999 ownership reports, including those due by February 1. All previous editions are now obsolete and should not be used. The form is available by going to the Commission's web site, <www.fcc.gov> and clicking on the "Forms" link.

The Children's Television Programming Report-FCC Form 398-has also received approval from the OMB. A report issued in mid-December indicated that electronic filing of the January 10, 1999 report would be required, and paper and diskette copies would no longer be accepted. A subsequent announcement, issued in early January, indicates the filing date has been extended to February 10 to "facilitate a smooth transition to electronic filing." Licensees are being encouraged to file the electronic Form 398 quarterly rather than waiting to file all four quarters together (as was done with the paper editions). The electronic form is accessed by selecting "Electronic Filing" from the menu at the top of the FCC's home page. A paper copy of the form can also be downloaded to aid in preparation for the electronic filing by clicking on the "Forms" link. No fee is required for the electronic filing.

In late December, the Commission issued a Third Report and Order regarding the Emergency Alert System. In it, the Commission chose not to adopt rules that would require cable systems to install selective channel override equipment for use during EAS activations. After considering the issue, the FCC found that voluntary selective overrides were preferable to requiring such overrides. In encouraging broadcasters and cable operators to work together, the Commission noted that its rules do permit the establishment of written agreements between broadcasters and cable operators regarding the display of EAS messages. By the end of 1998, any cable system whose headend serves 10,000 or more customers was required to have EAS equipment installed and operating.

Upcoming Matters

Coming soon to a web browser near you will be the Commission's new on-line call sign service. Users will be able to select an initial call sign or change an existing one using their own computers. The new system is expected to allow users to determine if a given call sign is in use or available. Because the forms will be filled out on-line, the Commission is hoping to reduce the number of erroneous and incomplete forms. Security provisions are being built into the system to prevent call sign changes by unauthorized personnel. (Thumbs can only imagine how much fun the weekend part-timers could have had without such a provision!) The system is expected to become operational during the first part of this year-after the Mass Media Bureau joins the Parade to the Portals.

Although it seems virtually certain that you will be able to do on-line call signs long before you'll be able to file an application for a new commercial FM station, you can still find the continually updated list of future FM allocations on our web site at <www.munn-reese.com>. In the meantime, existing commercial stations can apply for "minor" changes. Applications can also be filed for new non-commercial educational FM stations, and petitions to amend the commercial Table of Allotments can also be filed at the present time.

After celebrating the joys of the holiday season, the realities of January can be a bit disturbing-especially if you began the year with the "Blizzard of '99!" (That's 1999 for those of you worried about staying Y2K compliant.) We hope that it's only the weather that gives you trouble, and that you will experience good health, good relationships, and good business in 1999. Thanks for the opportunity to serve as your Broadcast Engineering Consultants. Please give us a call or drop us an e-mail when we can be of service.