Denial of Recon Petitions Affirms Use of Translators to Rebroadcast HD Channels, Oxenford Says
An FCC Media Bureau decision Wednesday dismissing petitions of reconsideration against FM translator applications affirms the practice of rebroadcasting HD channels on such translators, blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford the next day. “The common practice of rebroadcasting HD…
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signals on FM translators has been blessed once again -- at least for now.” The bureau dismissed petitions from Triangle Access Broadcasting against a number of translators near Raleigh, North Carolina, the order said. Though Triangle argued translator owners Eastern Airwaves and Curtis Licensees needed to make a showing of technical need to rebroadcast HD channels coming from the same station over the translators, the Audio Division said no showing is necessary as long as the channels contain different content. The order says the decision is based on precedent, but uses the phrase “pending further Commission action on this matter,” and could indicate the FCC might in the future limit the use of translators to rebroadcast HD subchannels, Oxenford wrote. “We have no reason to believe that any change in policy is imminent, but thought that we should pass along this warning that the rules on this practice have never been set in stone.”