LPFM, Video Description Set for 5-0 Votes Before Thursday's FCC Meeting
Commissioners are expected to unanimously approve before Thursday’s meeting an order relaxing low-power FM technical restrictions and an NPRM on expanding video descriptions, FCC officials told us. The video description draft isn’t expected to undergo much change. The LPFM order's final version is expected to include changes to the section on waivers for channel 6 interference and possible changes on directional antennas.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The channel 6 changes to the LPFM order are said to respond to an ex parte filing from Disney and subsidiary ABC (see 2004090067). They argued the LPFM draft’s proposed waivers of channel 6 protections should include a notice and comment process.
The draft LPFM order includes provisions to make it easier for such stations to use boosters and directional antennas, and broadens the definition of a “minor change” for such stations. LPFMs can apply for minor changes without waiting for a filing window. LPFM startup specialist Caitlin Reading supports aspects of the order but told us she’s concerned the directional antenna provisions won’t be much help to LPFM. Using directional antennas properly requires engineering expenditures that most such stations can’t afford, she said. The FCC should focus on giving LPFM stations equity with FM translators, she said. Reading believes the agency should loosen height restrictions on LPFM stations to allow them a wider reach.
REC Networks, which authored a petition that inspired many of the draft order’s provisions, criticized it for not including LP-250, a proposal to increase the allowed power levels of LPFM stations. In a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly last week, REC urged the FCC to seek comment on LP-250 as a further notice. “An increase in power without a comparable increase in spacing is effectively a reduction in channel distance separation and therefore is inconsistent” with the Local Community Radio Act, the draft order said.
The draft NPRM on video description rules tentatively concludes the agency should phase in requirements for designated market areas 61-100 starting in 2021, annually adding 10 for four years. In 2023, the item proposes the agency examine adding more DMAs. It also proposes using updated Nielsen data to determine DMA rankings, and updating FCC terminology for described video to “audio description,” as recommended by the agency’s disability advisory committee.
The commission taking up expanding video description is encouraging, said Clark Rachfal, American Council of the Blind director-advocacy and governmental affairs. All video should come with an audio description option regardless of platform or market, and the NPRM is a positive step, Rachfal said in an interview. The transition to ATSC 3.0 could assist with broadening video description, because it allows more audio feeds than the current technology, he said. All states have declared emergencies as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting all DMAs, he said. It’s important beyond the top 100 markets for people with disabilities to have access to emergency alerts, Rachfal said.