Waivers for Truck-Stop TV on 8th Floor May Raise FCC Hackles
A batch of waivers circulated by Kevin Martin on his last business day as chairman of the FCC would help a chain of truck stops run a digital TV service and could become contentious among the commissioners who remain, commission officials said. Martin’s office circulated Jan. 16 -- the Friday before a four-day holiday weekend at whose end Martin left the commission -- copies of a batch of waivers that would help Flying J’s Clarity Media start a TV service for truckers, said FCC and industry officials.
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The item would let Clarity Media use the broadcast auxiliary service or spectrum near it, they said. Broadcasters have opposed the waivers, saying they could allow interference with the auxiliary service, used by TV news crews shooting video in the field. The waivers would let Clarity run the service at its approximately 250 truck stops, an industry lawyer said.
Clarity has an experimental license from the FCC, a company spokesman said. In 2008, the company did “comprehensive operational testing” to show that “the BAS will not suffer any harmful interference from Clarity Media’s transmissions,” he added. “Clarity is confident that it has addressed all technical and policy concerns about the waivers, and looks forward to a favorable FCC decision on review.”
“This is just sort of one of those classic, last-minute administration changing scenarios on the last day of the past chairman,” said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television. “Hopefully the new administration will take a long, hard look at this and affirm the bureau’s initial decision.” Clarity’s testing has failed to show that the exemptions -- which could number several hundred and waive 11 FCC rules -- wouldn’t cause interference because its tests were too limited and relied on methods not used by the FCC, said Donovan. The FCC usually grants waivers after issuing rulemaking notices, but one wasn’t released in this instance, he added. A spokesman for the NAB said it, along with MSTV and the Society of Broadcast Engineers, “has long opposed this proposal because of the interference potential to existing TV stations and their viewers.”
The item already raised concerns among some at the FCC because it reverses a 2007 Media Bureau order denying Clarity’s request, a commission official said. Another official said the item may raise hackles among the commissioners. They haven’t studied it closely yet, FCC officials said. The item includes a number of waivers, commission and industry officials said. A commission spokesman declined to comment.
It’s unclear why Martin decided to try to reverse the bureau’s decision, FCC officials said. The current item was supported by the Office of Engineering and Technology, said commission and industry officials. Some at the FCC don’t regard it as a high priority, and none of the commissioners have voted on it, two FCC officials said.
Flying J seeks to run a short-range, low-power TV service in the 2025-2110 MHz band at its truck stops across the country. Clarity has said it would offer local programming, an educational channel, weather reports and news. Flying J filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December. “Once the waivers are granted, Clarity will start rolling out its service immediately,” the company spokesman said. “This roll-out plan is unaffected by the ongoing reorganization of Flying J.”