If you think it's been a while since you last heard from us, you are correct. Somehow the "end of summer rush" proved stronger than the best intentions of our wacky editor, Thumbs Feebleman! Never one to give up easily, Thumbs has decided to turn this delay into something positive and offer you the chance to take an interactive role in our newsletter. You get to choose whether the last newsletter was the July-August issue or whether this one is the August-September issue. Granted, it's not as exciting as the claims made for interactive video services, but we believe this is about the most you should expect from Thumbs!
Our chief Field Service Engineer, Ed Trombley, has finished making all of the scheduled AM occupied spectrum measurements (also known as NRSC measurements). You may be interested to know that since we own the test gear, we are able to offer spectrum analyzer measurements for any broadcast service throughout the year. However, we can only offer the special package pricing during the annual tour when we are able to group stations together and save on travel costs. For price and schedule information, please contact our president, Wayne Reese. You should also be aware that not all spectrum analyzers are suitable for the required AM measurements. Some of the two-way radio service monitor analyzers do not have the special filters called for in the FCC rules. Contact Ed for more information.
We are also happy to announce a major software upgrade for our office. We have recently purchased a copy of the "Probe" software package from V-Soft Communications. This will give us the ability to perform the kind of interference studies called for in OET Bulletin No. 69 for television applications. The program also has an implementation of the new PTP model for FM signal propagation. We believe the software will also allow us to better evaluate existing and potential interference in the FM band using both the PTP and Longley-Rice propagation models. Since the program is still quite new, we're still negotiating the "learning curve" and discovering all the things it will allow us to do.
Commission Matters
The long awaited First Report and Order on Auction Procedures for Commercial Broadcast Licenses has finally been issued. The Commission has decided to use auctions to settle the relatively small group of mutually exclusive applications that were filed before July 1, 1997. The Balanced Budget Act did not mandate auctions for this particular group of applicants, but a court order prevents the Commission from using its previous standards for comparative hearings. Therefore, the Commission concluded auctions would be the most efficient way to bring resolution to these cases. In an effort to fulfill the Congressional mandate to help certain designated entities, such as women, minorities and small businesses, participate in the auction process without becoming vulnerable to discrimination-based court challenges, the Commission has developed a "new entrant" bidding credit. Those applicants with no controlling interests in any media outlets will be given a 35% bidding credit. A 25% credit will be given to applicants who have controlling interest in no more than 3 media outlets. However, none of the outlets can serve the same area as the proposed station. For purposes of the bidding credits, "media outlets" are defined as AM, FM, TV, LPTV, DBS, MDS, cable, and daily newspapers. The Commission promises to revisit the bidding credits issue after it has made further studies. Under the new procedures, applicants will file a short-form application on Form 175. The application will include a minimal amount of engineering to allow the Commission to determine which applications are mutually exclusive. Full engineering will only be required after the allocation is awarded to the winning applicant-or after it has been determined there are no other mutually exclusive applications. Public Notices will be issued in the future with more details regarding issues such as "upfront" payments and auction locations, deadlines, and methods. One dilemma the Commission still needs to solve is how to handle cases where non-commercial applicants have filed applications for commercial (non-reserved) channels. This presents an interesting problem for the FCC since the Congress has required them to hold auctions for all mutually exclusive applications for commercial frequencies, but has also specifically prohibited the FCC from using auctions for non-commercial applications!
The Commission has also released a Report and Order dealing with Public Inspection Files and Main Studio locations. Regarding the location of a station's Main Studio, the R&O said-"
We are adopting a rule which combines a signal contour and a mileage standard. Specifically, we will allow a station to locate its main studio at any location that is within either the principal community contour of any station, of any service, licensed to its community of license or 25 miles from the reference coordinates of the center of its community of license, whichever it chooses." The reference coordinates are to be determined from the listing "...in the United States Department of Interior publication entitled Index to the National Atlas of the United States. An alternative reference point, if none is listed in the Atlas, are the coordinates of the main post office." The new rules will permit the Public Inspection File to be kept at the station's Main Studio-regardless of whether or not the studio is located in the station's city of license. The Commission is also encouraging, but not requiring, stations to keep as many records as possible in electronic form and even make them available on a World Wide Web site. Contact your communications attorney for the full details on the exact dates of implementation, as well as the many details relating to the Public Inspection File.
By the time you read this newsletter, the Commission will have increased the application fees charged to licensees and permittees. This change is a cost-of-living adjustment mandated by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989. Such adjustments are required every two years after October 1, 1991. If you obtained a Schedule of Application Fees earlier this year (adopted May 8 and released May 15) you should replace it with the current Schedule. You can find it on the Internet at <www.fcc.gov/fees>.
The United States and Mexico have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for implementing DTV along their common border. The MOU provides an expedited notification process and clears the way for five US DTV facilities along the border area to begin operation by either November 1998 or May 1999. Areas within 275 km of the common border are covered by the agreement. FCC Chairman William Kennard said the agreement "...represents a major step forward in the cooperative efforts of Mexico and the US to bring the benefits of DTV to consumers quickly, and clears the way for the imminent roll-out of DTV in the Top 10 US markets." You can obtain your own copy of the MOU from the International Bureau at <www.fcc.gov/ib/pnd/agree>.
Commissioner Matters
Commissioners Harold Furchtgott-Roth and Gloria Tristani issued a joint statement in which they dissented in part to the Report and Order on the use of auctions for broadcast spectrum. The opening paragraph states their basic position. "We would not have sought additional comment on the question whether section 309(j)(2)(C) precludes us from using competitive bidding to award a broadcast license to a noncommercial educational broadcast or public broadcast station to operate on a commercial channel. We believe that Congress' mandate is clear: the Commission lacks authority to employ auctions to issue licenses to such stations, regardless of whether they operate on a reserved or on a commercial frequency. Since the statute is clear on its face, we are bound to give it effect." After developing the legal reasons for their opinion, they end their statement on a conciliatory note. "We fully agree with the majority, however, that it is not clear how the exemption from our auction authority contained in section 309(j)(2)(C) should be implemented. The practical question of how to establish a process for awarding licenses to noncommercial educational and public broadcast stations without running afoul of section 309(j)(2)(C) is, admittedly, a difficult one. We also agree that there is a range of options for how the Commission could award broadcast licenses to stations described in section 397(6). But to the extent that the majority fails to exclude the possibility that noncommercial educational and public broadcast stations seeking commercial frequencies will be forced to obtain their licenses through auctions, we respectfully dissent."
FCC Chairman William Kennard has applauded a number of television networks, broadcast station owners, and cable companies for making commitments to abide by Equal Employment Opportunity principles in their recruitment procedures. "These leading media companies know that reaching out and finding talented men and women of all colors to run their companies is good policy and good business. It's the right thing to do - right for them, right for their communities and right for the country." He also noted that these companies "...have stated their commitment to abide by EEO principles whether required by law to do so or not." In addressing the current court challenge, Chairman Kennard said, "For nearly 30 years, the FCC rules being challenged in court have promoted inclusion in broadcast station employment by requiring broadcasters to cast their recruiting net widely. We know the rules work. In 1971, three years after the FCC's EEO rules began, minorities constituted only 9.1% of full-time broadcast employees, and women 23.3%. Last year, minorities constituted 19.9% and women 40.8% of the broadcast work force."
Miscellaneous Matters
The FCC has signed a second Commission/Industry Memorandum of Understanding. This MOU was worked out between the Compliance and Information Bureau (CIB) in conjunction with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International, Inc. (APCO). An earlier, similar agreement had been reached with the Industrial Telecommunications Association. Under the new agreement, APCO will collect all relevant information regarding any given compliance or interference matter in accordance with specific FCC standards. If APCO is unable to resolve the problem, the matter will be referred to the FCC. Since the research will already have been conducted by APCO using FCC standards, the Commission will be able to conserve resources that would otherwise be spent on research and verification of a complaint.
The FCC had a busy summer in the Miami metropolitan area. Working in conjunction with the US Marshal's Service and equipped with the necessary court orders, officials seized equipment from 15 different unlicensed operations in the metro area-13 of the seizures occurred within a five day period. Six of the "pirates" were operating in the non-commercial portion of the FM band; the other nine were operating on various commercial FM frequencies. The seized equipment included both "homebrew" and professionally made transmitters, some of which had been illegally imported from foreign countries. Two of the transmitters were capable of operating at 2.0 kW. The seizures are part of an ongoing nation-wide crackdown on unlicensed operators.
Each month, the FCC issues a single page of data listing the total number of broadcast stations in each type of service. From time to time, we have reported some of these numbers to you. Since there has been a longer than usual time period between newsletters, our illustrious editor, Thumbs Feebleman, thought it might be more interesting to report the changes between the last two releases. The most recent data is for June 30 and July 31. Between these two dates the number of AM stations increased by 5; the number of commercial FM stations increased by 7; and the number of educational FM stations increased by 5. The only changes reported among full-service TV stations were the addition of 2 UHF Commercial facilities. In the translator department, the number of FM translators and boosters increased by 17, and the number of UHF TV translators increased by 19. There were no changes in the number of VHF translators. The number of UHF LPTV stations decreased by 14, and the number of VHF LPTV's decreased by 1.
Upcoming Matters
With the release of the Report and Order on auctions for broadcast spectrum, there may be some hope that the freeze on applications for new commercial stations will eventually be lifted-but no one seems to know when that might be. We expect the Commission will move first to resolve the backlog of applications that were already on file at the time the freeze was implemented before taking any new applications. Once that task is accomplished, the way should be clear for the FCC to open application windows for the large number of FM allocations that have been added to the Table of Allotments. You can find our list of these allocations on our web site at <www.munn-reese.com>. Look for them in the section with the newsletters. We are seeking to keep this list updated as new allocations are added. However, you should know that this is an unofficial list. We also have no way of knowing how the FCC will tackle this list-whether they will announce window openings for all of the available allocations or whether they will come up with some plan to select only part of the list at a time. We'll just have to wait and see.
We welcome your feedback or the opportunity to provide technical services for your broadcast facilities. As always, you can contact us via our e-mail addresses. You can contact our President, Wayne Reese at <wayne.reese@munn-reese.com>; our Field Service Engineer, Ed Trombley can be found at <et&t@munn-reese.com>; and Staff Engineer, Don Baad is available at <don@munn-reese.com>. Of course, the old "twisted pair" technologies still work, too!
School has started, and our families are returning to "normal" schedules. Some weeks it seems as though someone has subtracted a few hours from "normal" and life stays too busy. However, we do hope you'll find time to take in some of the traditions of fall-football games, marching bands, homecoming games, fall festivals, etc. Time invested with family and friends can pay big dividends. We wish you and your business a great fall!