Unclear When FCC Will Act to Clarify FM Translator Interference/Full-Power Rules
It’s not clear when the FCC will address interference issues between the growing number of FM translators and full-power radio stations, but with a coming influx of translators from the latest AM Revitalization window, broadcasters told us something needs to happen. Though departing Audio Division head Peter Doyle said in September (see 1709070039) that an upcoming agency adjudication of an interference dispute between two Indiana licensees would address the issue and provide some clarification, that case has been stalled for months. One of the parties, Radio One, on Wednesday urged the full FCC to rule on the matter. “Removing FM translator service from local listeners due to purported interference to a distant FM station far outside the local listening area unfairly, inefficiently and inequitably favors the extension of a weak signal of the distant station to vast non-local areas, to the disfavor of thousands,” said Radio One’s filing.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Some industry officials said inaction on the adjudication could indicate the FCC is more likely to move on two petitions for rulemaking seeking more substantive rule changes, but others said the FCC course is uncertain. “There’s thousands of translators and there are going to be more and more,” said Matt Dorfner, executive director of Minn-Iowa Christian Broadcasting. “It’s just not realistic.” A second window for broadcasters to file applications for new FM translators opens Jan. 25.
“I get someone calling about this issue once or twice a week,” said Henson Media CEO Ed Henson, who owns full-power stations and a translator, and is on the NAB Radio Board: “Something has to be done.” NAB and Aztec Capital Partners filed petitions for changes to how interference is determined, more options for how to correct an interference issue, and how far from a station’s actual market interference can occur. Under the current rule, “any claimed interference to any existing full power FM station’s listeners, even from less than a handful of listeners who may live far outside the FM station’s local audience area and protected contour, constitutes a basis for ordering the FM translator off the air,” said Urban One, parent company of Radio One, in an ex parte filing. The pending adjudication "is being actively worked on," a Media Bureau spokeswoman said, declining to comment on the pending petitions.
The dispute that was expected to lead to an FCC clarification concerns 2-year-old interference complaints between an FM translator in Greenfield, Indiana, rebroadcasting Radio One, and Reising Radio’s full-power station WXCH Columbus, Indiana, said filings in the FCC’s consolidated database system. In the proceeding, Radio One questioned the validity of the interference complaints from WXCH listeners, and WXCH argued Radio One harassed listeners that complained, filings said.
In Wednesday’s filing, Radio One repeated that the full FCC should rule on its application for review, as is required by FCC rules. The petitions for rulemaking are “the appropriate vehicle” for “well-reasoned” changes to the rules rather than an adjudication, said Rini O’Neil broadcast attorney David O’Neil, who represents Reising Radio.
The FCC should create limits on how far out a station’s contour can extend and still trigger interference complaints that can get a translator kicked off-air, said Dorfner. Minn-Iowa Christian has received interference complaints from a station a hundred miles away, Dorfner said. He also said FCC rules should be relaxed to allow more flexibility for how stations feed to their translators: If alternatives like internet-based feeds were allowed, it would reduce interference complaints. Henson said the agency should allow translators found to be interfering to relocate to free areas of the dial rather than forcing them off-air. Such a move “wouldn’t be a panacea” but would make a difference in small and medium markets, he said. “With this explosion of translators, the FCC should clear up its interference policies," Dorfner said.