WMTM Wants Second Priority Window Held Up, Says Petition
The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau need to dismiss all incorrectly filed applications for the repacking first priority window before the FCC opens a second priority window, said Washington, D.C., broadcast owner WMTM in a petition for…
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reconsideration filed Monday. WMTM owns station WIAV-CD. The IATF announced the opening of the Oct. 3 second window last week (see 1709200060). Stations filing for expanded facilities in the second window have to protect the facilities requested by stations that filed in the first window, that public notice said. Since several of the applications from the first window are “impermissibly filed,” that protection creates a problem, WMTM said. Incentive auction rules allow stations to request either alternative channel or expanded facilities, not both, the filing said. “There is simply no reason to rush to open the Second Filing Window while there are improper applications pending that will needlessly constrain the already difficult task of identifying alternate channels or expanded facilities,” WMTM said. “The stations that have waited their turn and followed the clearly established process to seek an alternate channel or expanded facilities should not be harmed by stations that filed prematurely.”