The FCC should create a new full-power commercial TV license assi...
The FCC should create a new full-power commercial TV license assigned to entities using commercial digital licensees’ facilities, a public-interest lawyer planned to tell a Tuesday commission hearing on minority ownership. (See separate report in this issue.) Class S…
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licensees would pay conventional broadcasters to use transmitters and facilities, under a proposal by Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman. If the contracting station broadcasts in high definition, the Class S user would need to lease spectrum to do that. The arrangements would be voluntary, Schwartzman wrote. “Interested full-power licensees would assign a portion of their bitstream to a qualified applicant in an arm’s-length transaction” under procedures in section 309 of the Communications Act, he said. It would provide a “new revenue stream for incumbent broadcasters,” promote diversity and require no legislation, Schwartzman said.