The NAB asked the FCC to lift the...
The NAB asked the FCC to lift the freeze on full power and Class A station modification applications, in a meeting with aides to Commissioner Ajit Pai Wednesday, according to an ex parte filing with the commission Friday (http://bit.ly/182UCgM). In…
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the meeting, NAB officials said the FCC had shown no compelling reason for the freeze, which was enacted April 5 (CD April 13 p5), and said the measure was having “dramatic consequences even beyond negative impacts on individual stations and viewers.” Citing an article in TV Technology, NAB said in the ex parte the freeze had caused companies like antenna maker Dielectric to cut jobs or leave the broadcast industry. “Not only does this affect the employment of a number of Americans, but it also puts out of business one of the companies most necessary to effectuating incentive auction repacking,” said the ex parte letter. “We therefore urge the Media Bureau to lift its freeze until it is able to examine, evaluate and explain the impact of the freeze on all pending and impending modification applications.” The NAB also spoke with Pai’s staff about recent FCC changes to the OET-69 methodology used to calculate interference for the incentive auction. As in a previous filing with the OET (CD April 23 p6), NAB said there was no proof that changes to the OET-69 TVStudy software made it more efficient, and asked the FCC to use the prior methodology for the spectrum auction. OET announced a minor update to the software Friday (http://bit.ly/17nepJh), fixing a technical glitch.