FCC Approval of Order Allowing DTV Translators Said Near
Commissioner approval of an FCC order allowing the operation of DTV translators to permit full-power stations to fill in their coverage areas with digital service (CD Dec 24 p1) seems near, said agency officials Wednesday. Not all FCC members have approved the draft Media Bureau order, but revisions some commissioners proposed are being reviewed, they said. Once those revisions are addressed, the order can be publicly issued. It was circulated April 1, according to the FCC’s Web site.
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The order would allow stations to start translators on so-called in-core channels, or those below 52, said agency and industry officials. That would help prevent their operation from interfering with spectrum to be vacated by full-power broadcasters June 12 which are to be used by FCC auction winners, said an industry official. A bureau public notice said broadcasters could apply for DTV translators and can’t operate on channels 60 to 69. A DTV “replacement” translator service was proposed in a rulemaking notice, which said translators could help some viewers served by analog signals to get digital transmissions (CD Dec 29 p4). A commission spokesman declined to comment on the pending item.
The DTV translators would be considered a secondary TV service and broadcasters could operate them at power levels similar to existing services, FCC and industry officials said. Broadcasters wouldn’t be required to start translators, said agency officials. Some at the commission view them as a “last option” to fill in DTV coverage gaps, said an official. But nothing in the draft rules prevents a broadcaster from seeking to start a digital translator service if they don’t first try other measures, such a distributed transmission system, said another official.
A change in the draft order from the rulemaking notice would give broadcasters three years, versus six months, to build out DTV translators after getting construction permits for them, agency officials said. That change addressed broadcaster concerns that six months wasn’t long enough to start service, they said. “It was overly optimistic to think this could get done in six months” and “this affords a reasonable [amount of] time,” said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television. “It’s not only a question of getting the capital to do it but if you're building a new tower you also need to get local zoning approval” and contractors lined up.