LPTV, Translators Initially Allocated $87 Million for Repacking Displacement
Low-power and TV translator stations can start getting reimbursed for expenses for being displaced by the post-incentive auction repack, said a public notice Thursday from the FCC Media Bureau and Incentive Auction Task Force. Stations “may immediately begin submitting documentation of actual expenses incurred for approval to be drawn down against their individual allocations,” blogged IATF Chair Jean Kiddoo and Deputy Chair Hillary DeNigro. “It is important to make an initial allocation promptly and without waiting for greater visibility into any future changes so that LPTV/Translator stations can begin to be reimbursed for their expenses, which in some cases have already been incurred,” the PN said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The agency is initially allocating $87 million of the $150 million reimbursement pool, which will be used to cover an estimated $102 million worth of displacement expenses from 844 eligible LPTV and translator stations. The initial allocation is 85 percent of each station’s reimbursable expenses. The IATF is initially holding back a portion because of “factors that may exert upward pressure on the total amount of verified cost estimates,” said Kiddoo and DeNigro. Since the expenses are currently less than the total reimbursement pool, every eligible station is likely to get all costs covered, said Fletcher Heald LPTV attorney Peter Tannenwald. $17 million was initially allocated for reimbursing FM stations affected by the repacking (see 1912090062).
The LPTV/translator reimbursement process is “substantially similar” to the full-power version, the PN said. DeNigro and Kiddoo said 848 out of 987 total repacked full-power TV stations have vacated their pre-auction channels. And 82 percent of those have shifted to permanent facilities, they said. T-Mobile has been able to begin operating on “much” of the nationwide 600 MHz spectrum it bought in the incentive auction, the blog post said.
LPTV broadcasters are largely satisfied, said LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition Director Mike Gravino. “We’re lucky we’re getting anything.” Gravino said some broadcasters have reported inconsistencies in how individual expenses are being treated by the agency, and believes that will be “trued up” once the reimbursement process is complete. Tannenwald has found the agency “cryptic” about what makes an outlay unqualified for reimbursement, and he believes this will lead to more back and forth between broadcasters and the agency, lengthening the process.
The 844 reimbursement eligible stations were out of 947 submissions, said the PN. “As prudent stewards of taxpayer money and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, we, together with the Fund Administrator, carefully evaluated those eligibility certifications and cost estimates.” Estimated reimbursement expenses for those stations was initially $144 million, but after the figures were reviewed, the verified estimate dropped to $102 million, the PN said. That estimate is likely to rise if more LPTV stations become eligible by submitting proper documentation, more expenses become eligible, and anticipated costs rise, the PN said.