CAP Implementation Delay Likely from FCC for Broadcasters, Pay-TV
The FCC appears likely to extend an emergency alerting deadline for cable systems and radio and TV stations to start using a newly released warning standard made public last week by FEMA (CD Oct 1 p12) after several delays of its own, commission and industry officials predicted. Under current FCC rules, broadcasters and cable operators must certify compliance with Common Alerting Protocol 180 days after the standard was released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency last Thursday. The regulator seems poised to delay that deadline, perhaps for several months and either for all who would be subject to CAP compliance or for those licensees who say they can’t meet the deadline, FCC and industry officials said.
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It’s a matter that’s getting active consideration by career staffers at the FCC, including those in the Public Safety Bureau charged with overseeing compliance with CAP, agency and industry officials said. They said the staffers are considering earlier requests, made in comments on a rulemaking, from broadcast and cable interests for more time. It’s unclear if the full commission will have to approve any changes or if the bureau can do it on its own and no decision appears to have been made yet as to how to proceed, agency and industry officials said. “We're aware that a number of commenters have raised the issue of that 180-day trigger in terms of” CAP certification isn’t long enough (CD May 19 p5), Deputy Chief Lisa Fowlkes said Thursday morning at the NAB radio show. Hours later, FEMA released the standards, http://xrl.us/bh3py8.
"As always with any major initiative, we will consider providing flexibility to broadcasters and others who have to comply with our rules,” a bureau spokesman said Monday. “We are reviewing the situation and will provide an update in the near future.” The bureau may clarify what obligations radio and TV interests have now that FEMA has finalized the standard by a public notice and may in that notice or separately address the issue of deadline extensions, broadcast lawyers said. The bureau may also consider future requests made by industry for more time and recommend the full commission act to approve them, they said. FEMA officials had no comment.
Broadcasters and cable operators are keeping an eye on what the FCC does with CAP because they're concerned about meeting the 180-day deadline, officials with both industries said. “I think most of my clients are still just keeping an eye on it at this point,” said attorney Brendan Holland of Davis Wright, with broadcast clients. It may cost on average $2,000 to $3,000 for a radio or TV station to buy the necessary equipment, an NAB spokesman said. “In small-market radio, that’s some real money,” he said. “We would support in hardship cases a brief extension just to make sure everybody can come into compliance.” It doesn’t appear that the necessary equipment is now on the market, broadcast and cable officials said.
NCTA continues to hope the FCC will push back the deadline, a spokesman said. “We do support the FCC modifying the 180-day deadline so it begins after the technology has been fully tested and is readily available.” Cable operators may need to install hardware, software or both in each headend so they can get CAP alerts and it’s unclear now what that will entail, he said.
The half-year to come into CAP compliance likely “just isn’t going to work” as a practical matter, said broadcast lawyer Paul Cicelski of Pillsbury Winthrop. He pointed to “all the logistical and other concerns that exist with respect to the 180 days -- whether it be broadcaster concerns or manufacturer concerns.” So “it probably goes without saying that it needs to be extended” and will be by the FCC, Cicelski. Any extension may not be very long, so broadcasters need to start working on the issue now, he and other industry officials advised.