© 2001 - Munn-Reese, Inc.
All Rights Reserved - Unauthorized Reproduction is Prohibited
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
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Telephone: 517-278-7339 |
Internet: www.munn-reese.com |
Fax: 517-278-6973 |
February 2001
Munn-Reese Matters
As long time readers of our newsletter know, we try to bring you a new edition every month. However, long time readers also know that sometimes our wacky editor, Thumbs Feebleman, has better intentions than actions! Since we are at the beginning of another year, Thumbs is trying to do better. So far, so good—we’ll see how long it lasts!
Since we brought up the issue of good intentions, does your station have any engineering projects that have been suffering from good intentions but not enough action to complete? Many stations now use contract engineers rather than employing one or more full time engineers. This often works well for routine maintenance and operation of the station. However, most contract engineers take care of a large number of stations over a widespread geographic area. This can make it difficult for both stations and contract engineers to complete projects that require a large, concentrated block of time. We may have a solution that can help you.
Our Field Engineer, Ed Trombley, loves "hands on" projects. This time of year is not particularly friendly to the outdoor field work he often prefers to indoor paperwork. Frankly, he’s grown tired of shoveling snow off the office roof! (He did actually volunteer for this duty during the December snowstorm—what a trooper!) All this to say that for a limited time, we can offer Ed’s extensive and valuable field service expertise to help you work on some of those projects that have been waiting for a block of dedicated engineering time. Contact Ed or our president, Wayne Reese, for details. By the way, Ed doesn’t do windows, floors or drains, and the only light bulbs he will even consider changing have to be in electronic equipment—other than towers!
Commission Matters
In the closing days of the Clinton administration, the FCC made an extensive effort to tie up some loose ends on pending proceedings. Among the decisions was the postponement of Auction No. 37. This is the auction for over 350 commercial FM allocations. The auction was originally scheduled for February 21, 2001, but it has now been rescheduled for May 9, 2001. However, this date may be a little deceptive. In order to participate in the May 9th auction, bidders must submit a Form 175 between noon (eastern time) on March 7 and 6 PM (eastern) on March 19. Applications filed after the window closes will not be accepted. In conjunction with the revised auction date, the Commission has also made some minor revisions in the list of available allocations. The Public Notice announcing the delay, DA 01-119, was accompanied by a revised Attachment A. Subsequent to these releases, the Commission also announced that market FM190 was being removed from the Attachment A list. You can find the revised list, complete with corrections and "Upfront Payment" amounts on our web site.
Along with the auction delay, the FCC also announced a temporary freeze on all FM Minor Change Applications between March 7 and March 19, 2001. Applicants for Auction No. 37 may specify a preferred transmitter site in their Form 175. This allows bidders to protect a particular location until the outcome of the Auction process is known. In order to avoid conflicts with existing stations that might file first-come-first-serve Minor Change applications during the filing window without any knowledge of the preferred auction sites, the Commission freezes Minor Change applications during the filing window. The freeze applies to both commercial and non-commercial applications. Although the channels being auctioned are all in the commercial portion of the band, there is potential for conflict with non-commercial stations due to the spacing requirements for NCE stations near the upper end of the reserved band. There are also spacing requirements between stations whose frequencies are 53 or 54 channels apart. This is called the IF spacing, and all of the reserved channels are obviously affected by it. The FCC will return any Minor Change applications filed during the freeze.
Another item delayed by the Commission was the comment dates for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on how radio markets should be defined and counted for ownership purposes. The NPRM originally specified that comments would be due by January 26 and reply comments by February 12. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), along with the state broadcaster associations for North Carolina and Virginia, asked the Commission to delay these dates by 60 days. The NAB said it needed the additional time to allow its staff to formulate comments following the NAB board meeting on January 13-17. The FCC granted a portion of the request but added only 30 days rather than 60. The revised deadline for comments is February 26, and the reply comments will now be due March 13, 2001.
The Commission is continuing its changeover to electronic filing. Last April 28, the Commission announced the availability of several broadcast related forms for electronic filing. However, electronic filing was only optional. The expected sequence of events includes a six-month period during which electronic and paper forms are accepted and after which electronic filing becomes mandatory. Last October, the FCC announced that only a portion of the forms would move to mandatory filing—Forms 302-FM, 316, and 347. Now, the Commission has announced the mandatory electronic filing of Forms 301, 314, and 315 beginning February 15. Paper versions of these forms will not be accepted after February 14, 2001. So far, we have been unable to obtain clear answers on how the electronic system will handle the rather voluminous AM applications. We have often filed applications for fulltime AM facilities that were over one half inch in thickness and included multiple 11x17 inch maps!
Among the filings the Commission still prefers be done with paper are payments! And if you’re sending a payment, you will want to know that the Mellon Bank has moved its Global Cash Management headquarters. Instead of the old 525 William Penn Way address, overnight deliveries should be sent to:
Federal Communications Commission
C/O Mellon Bank
Mellon Client Center
500 Ross Street
Room 670
Pittsburgh, PA 15262-0001
You may want to give some special attention to the zip code. Even the Commission got it wrong in their first release and had to issue a correction! Thumbs takes comfort in knowing he’s not the only one to type with his "thumbs!" Although the street address has changed, the lockbox numbers remain the same.
- The Commission has issued a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) on the transition to digital television (DTV). The document, FCC 01-24, reviews some of the progress made in the transition, seeks to resolve some of the remaining crucial issues, and asks for comments on other issues. One of the decisions made was an affirmation to stay with the 8-VSB DTV transmission standard. A number of other decisions set dates for further steps to be completed in the transition process. In general non-commercial educational stations were given an additional year after the corresponding due dates for commercial DTV facilities.
- Here are some of the deadlines established for commercial DTV stations in the Report and Order: December 31, 2003 – Commercial DTV stations with both channels inside the spectrum core must declare which channel they will keep after the completion of the DTV transition. December 31, 2004 – Although the Commission said it would not require DTV stations to completely replicate their analog Grade B service areas, commercial DTV stations will lose interference protection for any remaining portion of their Grade B area they are not covering by this date. December 31, 2004 – As of this date, commercial DTV stations will have to place a stronger signal over their communities of license than the standard DTV service contour.
- In other matters, the Report and Order and FNRPM established procedures for dealing with mutually exclusive DTV expansion applications and declined to set DTV receiver performance standards. The FCC did ask for comments on how it could best implement DTV reception capability requirements—if it decides to adopt any. It asked whether such requirements should be phased in starting with large screen sets and working down to all but the smallest sets. It also asked for comments about labeling requirements for any DTV sets that might be equipped to receive digital satellite and cable signals, but not over-the-air digital transmissions. In general, the Commissioners issued statements expressing support for the Report and Order section of the document but expressing a variety of opinions about instituting DTV receiver requirements.
Commissioner Matters
Since our last newsletter, there have been a number of changes at the FCC. Given the inauguration of a new President from the opposite political party, this is not surprising. Chairman William Kennard resigned his position effective January 19, 2001. Mr. Kennard will be remembered for his efforts in implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996, including: greater access to broadband technology, Internet services for schools and libraries, and greater access to telecommunications services for Native Americans and other rural and/or minority Americans. Among broadcasters, however, he will almost certainly be remembered as the chairman who implemented the LPFM service. In his letter of resignation, Mr. Kennard said, "I feel very privileged that I was able to serve as Chairman of the FCC at a time when communications technologies are so dramatically changing the way the American people live, work, and learn." Mr. Kennard will spend the next several months serving as a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program in Washington, DC.
President Bush has designated Chairman Michael K. Powell as the new FCC Chairman. On his appointment, Chairman Powell said, "I am deeply honored and privileged to have received President Bush’s designation to be Chairman of the Federal Communication Commission. I look forward to working with the new administration, Congress, my fellow Commissioners and the very talented FCC staff on the important and challenging communications issues facing our nation." Each of the remaining Commissioners issued statements congratulating Chairman Powell and pledging their support. Veteran Commissioner Susan Ness said in part, "His leadership, intelligence, character, and sense of humor are qualities that will serve him, and the American public, well as he guides the FCC during this dynamic time of progress and change."
Current Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth has announced that he will not be seeking reappointment to the Commission. His present term expired last June 30, however, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth has agreed to stay on until he and the administration work out a mutually agreeable departure date. In his statement, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth said, "It has been a great honor to serve for more than three years on the Federal Communications Commission, more than half a year beyond the expiration of my term. However, there comes a time when every free market advocate in government must fulfill his dream by returning to the private sector. For me, that time as arrived." During his time on the Commission, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth has written many candid statements that expressed his opinions and concerns strongly and clearly. They have kept Thumbs busy for hours—sometimes he shouted "Right On!" and sometimes he muttered, "Get a life!" But they were always interesting reading material, and it was clear Mr. Furchtgott-Roth took his responsibility seriously.
Miscellaneous Matters
On January 20, 1999, the FCC adopted new Equal Opportunity Employment (EEO) rules. On January 16, 2001, Judge Ginsburg of the DC Circuit joined Judges Sentelle and Henderson in holding that the new EEO rules were unconstitutional. This was followed on January 30, 2001, by a Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 01-34, that effectively suspends all EEO program requirements. The suspension will continue until further order of the FCC.
The FCC has issued a Third Report and Order, FCC 01-25, on how to voluntarily clear Channels 60-69 and speed the transition to DTV. The Commission has been mandated by Congress to reassign this spectrum to future use by public safety and commercial wireless licensees. In fact, Congress has instructed the FCC to assign the commercial licenses by auction, even though the incumbent television licensees are permitted by statute to continue operation on these channels until December 31, 2006. Thumbs is just happy he doesn’t have to find a solution to keep everyone happy!
2001 marks the return of Biennial Ownership Reports for many stations. The report is filed on either Form 323 for commercial stations or Form 323-E for non-commercial facilities. The forms are available in paper versions, but they can be also filed online through the CDBS software on the Mass Media Bureau web site. Commercial stations that choose electronic filing will find the form already filled in with the data they filed in 1999. The electronic form can then be updated and/or confirmed and resubmitted.
Upcoming Matters
Those wishing to participate in the upcoming Auction No. 37 have obtained some additional time to examine the list of available FM channels. Our office is equipped to help you evaluate any channel that may be of interest. Contact us for details. Don’t forget the deadline for filing the Form 175 application—unless this is filed during the March window, there can be no participation in the auction. For the actual auction bidding, you will want to enlist the services of your communications attorney. The strategies can become quite complex, and most bidders will want the extra experience and expertise their attorney can provide.
The days ahead will be an interesting time to watch developments at the FCC. What kind of Chairman will Mr. Powell be? For the most part, he has issued very few statements about broadcast related issues in the past. Who will replace Mr. Furchtgott-Roth? Will he or she write statements that are as colorful and candid? Whatever the future, we plan to be here to handle your technical consulting needs. Thanks for allowing Munn-Reese, Inc. to fulfill these needs in the past. We hope you will continue to call on us in the future.
© 2001 - Munn-Reese, Inc.
All Rights Reserved - Unauthorized Reproduction is Prohibited