LPFM and NCE Groups Back Much of FCC Application Process, Seek Tweaks
Low-power FM and noncommercial educational broadcast interests expressed general support in comments posted through Tuesday in docket 19-3 for FCC-proposed changes to processes for licensees to apply for NCE and LPFM licenses during filing windows. They also suggested some tweaks. “Most of the changes proposed are inconsequential for most existing operators or most prospective operators,” said LPFM broadcaster Jeff Sibert, president of Park Public Radio. “Substantial reform is needed to address significant short-comings in the NCE and LPFM service.”
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An FCC proposal to relax rules requiring notification when public broadcast stations change board membership incorrectly conflates board membership changes and ownership changes, filed America’s Public TV Stations, PBS, NPR and CPB. Rules “should not be based on the fiction that NCE governing board members are owners,” the public broadcasting filing said. Though the FCC proposal isn’t concerned with the broader issue of whether governing boards are owners, the NCE entities “are concerned about the risk that any treatment adopted in this context will spill over into the licensee/permittee context.” Since the applicant for an NCE license isn't its board but a nonprofit entity, changes to the membership of such boards aren’t relevant, the filing said.
Remove language governing LPFM transactions that require sales of LPFM stations to be capped at “fair market value,” asked Low Power FM Advocacy Group. The rules “force the FCC to define the prices of ancillary private property involved in the station assignment” such as staplers and copy machines, the filing said. By not allowing LPFM stations to increase in value, the FCC is removing incentives for the stations to improve, the group said. The agency should change the rule and add language that requires an LPFM station to hold a license for one year before selling, the group said.
Prometheus Radio Project and Common Frequency endorsed FCC proposals to eliminate requirements for LPFM applicants to alter their governing documents to include provisions on remaining local and promoting diversity. “The existing rule adds confusion and has many times been misinterpreted by applicants -- sometimes fatally,” the filing said. A four-year holding period for LPFM licenses isn’t long enough to prevent speculation, the two said. “As the band gets more crowded, and increasingly dominated by large organizations -- the value of a truly local organization is increased,” they said. “Perhaps ten years would be better, but it depends on the situation.”
Several commenters expressed concern about FCC proposals to loosen rules around the point systems the FCC uses to choose among mutually exclusive applicants. Though the agency has proposed allowing applicants to aggregate points and time share, aggregation should be capped at two applicants, said Discount Legal, which assists applicants for LPFM and NCE licenses. “Point aggregation can encourage small timeshare groups, so that some safeguards are needed,” said Prometheus and Common Frequency.
FCC proposals to require prospective LPFM applicants show documentation that they have secured a site for their planned station will help prevent questionable filings, said REC Networks. “LPFM has the strictest rules regarding ownership, yet there are no teeth in enforcing those rules, all in the name of simplicity,” REC said. “We must look at documentation requirements in some of our most vulnerable rules and policies.”