Media Bureau Lifts Freezes for Television Minor Modification Applications and Rulemaking Petitions
On October 29, 2020, the Media Bureau provided notice that it will be lifting multiple freezes that have prevented broadcasters from requesting modifications to the facilities of certain full power and Class A television stations. These freezes had been adopted over the past 16 years to prevent changes to the digital television (DTV) database in preparation, initially, for the digital transition, and then for the incentive auction. Now that both of those events have passed, the freezes were no longer necessary.
Thus, 15 days after publication of this public notice in the Federal Register, stations may again file:
- Petitions for rulemaking to change channels;
- Petitions for rulemaking seeking a new DTV allotment;
- Petitions to swap an in-core channel;
- Petitions for rulemaking to change a station’s community of license; and
- Modification applications to increase a full power or Class A television station’s service area.
For more information, please contact the Wiley attorney who regularly handles your FCC matters or one of the attorneys listed on this alert.
