Channel 6 LPTV Station Fate Uncertain

Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters after the April 22 commissioners' meeting only that she was familiar with the matter, while the Media Bureau has declined to comment on the issue. NPR, the principal opponent of the stations in docket 03-185, said in a recent ex parte filing that the plan runs counter to the ATSC 3.0 order. “NPR doesn’t want anyone to their left on the dial,” said CEO Paul Koplin of LP6 licensee Venture Technologies in an interview. NPR didn't comment.

LP6 stations traditionally operated by broadcasting primarily audio content that's receivable on ordinary radios, functioning essentially as radio stations using spectrum assigned to the TV band. Their video content is usually minimal -- NPR says many show a static image. Ad-hoc LP6 group Preserve Community Programming Coalition (PCPC) says some stations show local weather radar, traffic information and other video content. One of Koplin’s channel 6 stations in Chicago is a Me-TV affiliate but marketed as “Me-TV FM.”

The digital deadline’s requirement that LPTV stations cease broadcasting their analog signal had been expected to end the practice. Early filings sought to persuade the FCC to make an exception for the stations. The PCPC’s position is that by offering the analog audio broadcast as an ancillary service and fulfilling the broadcast requirements using ATSC 3.0, no rule change is required to let the stations continue operating. The FCC “has gone to great lengths to provide TV stations with flexibility” around the use of ancillary services, said PCPC attorney Ari Meltzer, of Wiley. An order and declaratory ruling on flexible regulations for broadcasters offering ancillary services using ATSC 3.0 were supported by the FCC’s current Democratic leadership under the previous administration.

Koplin said he has received no interference complaints about his San Jose station broadcasting in this manner. He's working to convert his other stations to broadcast in 3.0. Because the stations are LPTV, they don’t need to simulcast an ATSC 1.0 signal, as full powers do. “It’s expensive” converting to 3.0, Koplin conceded, and it may not be an option open to all LP6 stations.

“Allowing the continued use of a 6 MHz digital television channel to provide an analog FM radio service beyond the DTV transition deadline” is contrary to FCC rules and “a grossly inefficient use of spectrum that could be better used by FM broadcast stations,” said NPR. TV stations that don’t offer video content aren’t meeting the Encyclopedia Britannica's definition of TV, and 30 FMs could operate using the spectrum of one LP6, NPR said.

NPR says it wants the LP6 spectrum to go toward creating more FM radio stations: “TV Channel 6 spectrum is a valuable resource the Commission should use to expand opportunities for existing and prospective radio broadcasters.” It would take a series of regulatory proceedings to repurpose spectrum allotted to TV for use by FM stations, said Meltzer. No commercial radio groups filed in the docket seeking to claim that spectrum for radio, Koplin said. “What the hell is going on?” Noncommercial educational broadcast entities The Educational Media Foundation and REC Networks cautiously support the LP6 plan.

“The public interest would be far better served by repurposing this underused spectrum for FM service and providing exponentially more opportunities for diverse providers,” NPR said. Many LP6s offer primarily foreign-language content and religious services, said Meltzer. The LP6 plan would also require a substantial rulemaking, NPR said: “Allowing the continued operation of Franken FMs would require a significant rulemaking to establish the service rules for such a non-conforming use and technical rules to assure adequate DTV service and avoid unexpected interference to adjacent NCE FM stations.”