Media Bureau Denies Blackbelt COVID-19 Power Level Waiver
The FCC Media Bureau denied an auxiliary facility application and power level waiver request from Blackbelt Broadcasting that the radio broadcaster sought in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, said an order Tuesday. Blackbelt argued the facility and increased power levels…
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would allow lower-power radio stations to offer better reception in houses, where the majority of people are spending time during the pandemic instead of in their cars. Blackbelt said the listening pattern shift is a “special and unique circumstance” warranting waiver of the contour limitations for auxiliary facilities.” The company's pandemic circumstances aren’t unique and the station didn’t identify a separate auxiliary facility, said the order. “Blackbelt essentially concedes, and we agree, that the proposed higher power operation pursuant to a purportedly ‘auxiliary’ authorization is simply a means of circumventing the power restrictions that all FM stations are subject to.”