Martin Seeks Media Item Votes, Says Wilmington DTV Switch On

Commercial stations in Wilmington probably will go ahead and cut their analog signals at noon Monday, Martin said. “At this point I still think it’s going to end up taking place.” General managers of the five stations were scheduled to decide on a conference call at 10 a.m. Sunday whether to go ahead after assessing damage from tropical storm Hanna, said Vice President John Greene of Capitol Broadcasting, the owner of WILM. “I think the consensus of the GMs is to go ahead,” Greene said. “We're probably going to have a parade of hurricanes through here in September. There normally are.” Aides to North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat, are talking with FCC officials about another storm, Hurricane Ike, his press secretary said. “The FCC has already assured us that they are watching Ike and that they are willing to postpone the transfer if it looks like the Wilmington area is going to be affected” this week, the spokeswoman said.

A Media Bureau item on circulation seeks comment on whether wireless tower users should be able to test for interference to some AM broadcasters by using computer models instead of field tests, commission and industry officials said. A further rulemaking notice is believed to respond to a 2007 petition from a group of 33 broadcasters asking the commission to let AM stations and wireless tower users employ moment-method modeling. An order would let AM stations with directional antennas use the computer tests, Martin told reporters, saying such testing will “significantly reduce the cost and the burden on AM broadcasters.”

Savings would come when stations build new antennas or make major changes to current ones, said Chairman Ray Benedict of the AM Directional Antenna Coalition. The group petitioned the FCC for the order on computer modeling, first proposed to the commission in 1989. “The fact that it took from 1989 until 2008 is not really the commission’s fault” because the proposal at first was controversial among companies and was little understood, Benedict said. The item, which the bureau began work on in late 2007 (CD Jan 7 p4), probably took longer to finish than expected because FCC rules handle tower types differently, he said.

The PCIA continues to support computer modeling, said Jackie McCarthy, its director of government affairs. “I think we'll be at least at some level trying to renew the efforts to have this move forward at the commission,” she said. “Some of our members have been inquiring with us about revisiting our advocacy.” The Wireless Communications Association “continues to support computer modeling for evaluating potential interference,” said Paul Sinderbrand, a lawyer for the group. But he warned that “the devil will be in the details here.” The Land Mobile Communications Council, representing users of emergency and other radio systems, supports computer tests, President Ralph Haller said.

Martin also seeks a vote on an order to let AM stations use FM translators, he said. The order will allow AM broadcasters to fill in their coverage areas but not expand them, Martin said. Another proposed order would deny a petition for the commission to overturn its 2006 approval of the $17 billion sale of Adelphia to Time Warner Cable and Comcast, Martin said. He’s also seeking votes at or before the Sept. 25 meeting on about 16 media items, many dealing with broadcast license transfers. The chairman repeated that commission staffers aren’t working on an order to make it easier for pay-TV companies to buy the rights from programmers to distribute cable channels individually. But Martin said he remains concerned about rising cable rates and he’s trying to reduce them. “A significant number of cable operators said that the bundling of channels is leading to higher consumer prices,” including the American Cable Association.