FCC Seen Issuing DTV Licenses Soon to Stations Seeking Delays
DTV licenses could be issued soon to stations in line for 6-month waivers of an FCC “use it or lose it” deadline for DTV compliance, said 2 attorneys for companies involved. The FCC hasn’t acted publicly on the waivers. The stations say they're now compliant. They finished building antennas and other DTV gear after seeking waivers on a July 7 deadline to be sending digital signals to at least 80% of viewers (CD July 18 p1). Stations usually operate at full digital power about a week to take signal and other measurements before seeking licenses, another broadcast lawyer said.
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“The license applications are usually turned around pretty quickly,” lawyer Stuart Shorenstein said: “I think that you're accomplishing what the Commission intended to accomplish,” he said, adding “it would be routine” for a license to be granted. Shorenstein’s firm, Wolf Block, works for WSWB Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pa., which sought an extension July 3. Less than 3 weeks later, the station completed its digital facilities and sought a license, a July 27 filing said: “Accordingly, further waiver of the replication deadline is unnecessary.”
At least 6 other stations finished license submissions after seeking more time to meet the July deadline, our review of the Commission docket (03-15) found. The stations: KALB- TV Alexandria, La.; KENS-TV San Antonio; WCBD-TV Charleston, S.C.; WGFL High Springs, Fla.; WMCN, a DTV-only station in Atlantic City; and WPXT Portland, Me.
The FCC fielded about 320 DTV waiver requests, an agency staffer said. The Media Bureau declined comment on a possible timeframe for deciding on them. The Commission may be mum out of desire to avoid publicizing the extent to which stations aren’t fully providing DTV, broadcast sources said.
A challenge for stations shifting to DTV has been getting FCC construction permits, said Davis Wright Tremaine’s Brendan Holland: “The more difficult hurdle is the construction permit. Once you have that in hand, by the time you get to the license application stage, it’s just a matter of confirming you did what you were supposed to do” regarding the construction permit. Seeking a license “is usually a simpler and quicker process,” said Holland, who represents WACY Appleton, Wis. That station wants a deadline extension as it awaits word from the FCC on a modification request for its DTV building permit, according to a July 25 filing.
In other TV license action, the Media Bureau delayed to Aug. 11 a filing deadline for Cal. stations to seek renewals. The FCC Consolidated Database System (CDBS), which processes such requests, hasn’t been working at full capacity, a bureau notice said: “The filing extension is designed to provide a reasonable opportunity for impacted licensees and CDBS users to timely file these forms.”