Repacking Waivers Accepted, But 39 Month Deadline is Firm, IATF Says
A long list of deadlines and filing windows awaits broadcasters after the incentive auction, according to a workshop on the post-incentive auction transition at the FCC Monday. Incentive Auction Task Force staff described numerous opportunities for broadcasters to get extensions on requirements such as filing construction permits, but repeatedly said waivers that would allow a broadcaster to remain on their original channel beyond the 39-month transition period won’t be granted. Such waivers won’t be granted “in any event,” Media Bureau attorney adviser Shaun Maher said. Along with deadlines, the workshop discussed channel sharing, the public information requirements for broadcasters and rules for stations going dark.
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The post-auction timeline emphasized opportunities available to broadcasters that have difficulty getting their deadlines extended. After the closing and channel reassignment (CCR) public notice is released in April, broadcasters will have 90 days to file their construction permit applications, and then the FCC will hold two filing windows for adjustments to broadcaster repacking situations, Maher said. The “first priority window” will be for broadcasters who are unable to begin construction of their new facilities, or broadcasters which predict their new facilities will cause them to lose more than 1 percent of their covered population. The second filing window, 15-30 days later, is for broadcasters to request changes such as permission to use a temporary facility. Possible reasons for an extension on the deadline for construction permits could include weather, unavailability of tower crews, zoning board delays and others, Maher said. Concerns about such delays were raised by numerous broadcasters in response to the FCC’s transition plan (see 1611160033).
“Shortly” after the two priority windows, the agency will hold displacement windows for low-power TV and translator stations, Maher said. There are no hard dates for any of the windows, but Deputy IATF Chairwoman Jean Kiddoo said the CCR will be released in mid-April, around the NAB Show. A commenter suggested that releasing the CCR around the show will cause broadcasters to lose time preparing for the repacking, but Kiddoo said the FCC won’t alter that timeline. More information on LPTV and translators will be in an upcoming release, she said.
The hard line on the 39-month deadline differs from previous statements by commissioners that stations that don’t make the 39-month deadline won’t be forced to go dark, a broadcast attorney noted to us in a brief aside. NAB CEO Gordon Smith repeatedly has noted that all of the commissioners have said as much to Congress (see 1702170049). The emphasis on the 39-month deadline also is deceptive because of the FCC’s phased transition system. Stations that are in the early phases won’t have a full 39 months to leave their old frequency, the attorney said. The 39-month deadline is based on language in the legislation that authorized the auction, an FCC spokesman noted. That language limits the FCC to paying out repacking reimbursements within the transition period.
With the phased repacking, it's possible a station that gave up its spectrum with plans to channel share on another station could find that its deadline to vacate its old channel falls before its host channel has been repacked, Maher said. Channel sharees can apply for waivers for more time in that situation, and will have to make an additional filing when their host moves to new facilities, Maher said.