§  1.420   Additional procedures in proceedings for amendment of the FM or TV
Tables of Allotments, or for amendment of certain FM assignments.

   (a) Comments filed in proceedings for amendment of the FM Table of
   Allotments (§  73.202 of this chapter) or the Television Table of
   Allotments (§  73.606 of this chapter) which are initiated on a
   petition for rule making shall be served on petitioner by the person
   who files the comments.

   (b) Reply comments filed in proceedings for amendment of the FM or
   Television Tables of Allotments shall be served on the person(s) who
   filed the comments to which the reply is directed.

   (c) Such comments and reply comments shall be accompanied by a
   certificate of service.

   (d) Counterproposals shall be advanced in initial comments only and
   will not be considered if they are advanced in reply comments.

   (e) An original and 4 copies of all petitions for rulemaking, comments,
   reply comments, and other pleadings shall be filed with the Commission.

   (f) Petitions for reconsideration and responsive pleadings shall be
   served on parties to the proceeding and on any licensee or permittee
   whose authorization may be modified to specify operation on a different
   channel, and shall be accompanied by a certificate of service.

   (g) The Commission may modify the license or permit of a UHF TV station
   to a VHF channel in the same community in the course of the rule making
   proceeding to amend §  73.606(b), or it may modify the license or
   permit of an FM station to another class of channel through notice and
   comment procedures, if any of the following conditions are met:

   (1) There is no other timely filed expression of interest, or

   (2) If another interest in the proposed channel is timely filed, an
   additional equivalent class of channel is also allotted, assigned or
   available for application.

   Note to paragraph ( g ): In certain situations, a licensee or permittee
   may seek an adjacent, intermediate frequency or co-channel upgrade by
   application. See §  73.203(b) of this chapter.

   (h) Where licensees (or permittees) of television broadcast stations
   jointly petition to amend §  73.606(b) and to exchange channels, and
   where one of the licensees (or permittees) operates on a commercial
   channel while the other operates on a reserved noncommercial
   educational channel within the same band, and the stations serve
   substantially the same market, then the Commission may amend
   §  73.606(b) and modify the licenses (or permits) of the petitioners to
   specify operation on the appropriate channels upon a finding that such
   action will promote the public interest, convenience, and necessity.

   Note 1 to paragraph ( h ): Licensees and permittees operating Class A
   FM stations who seek to upgrade their facilities to Class B1, B, C3,
   C2, C1, or C on Channel 221, and whose proposed 1 mV/m signal contours
   would overlap the Grade B contour of a television station operating on
   Channel 6 must meet a particularly heavy burden by demonstrating that
   grants of their upgrade requests are in the public interest. In this
   regard, the Commission will examine the record in rule making
   proceedings to determine the availability of existing and potential
   non-commercial education service.

   (i) In the course of the rule making proceeding to amend §  73.202(b)
   or §  73.606(b), the Commission may modify the license or permit of an
   FM or television broadcast station to specify a new community of
   license where the amended allotment would be mutually exclusive with
   the licensee's or permittee's present assignment.

   (j) Whenever an expression of interest in applying for, constructing,
   and operating a station has been filed in a proceeding to amend the FM
   or TV Table of Allotments, and the filing party seeks to dismiss or
   withdraw the expression of interest, either unilaterally or in exchange
   for financial consideration, that party must file with the Commission a
   request for approval of the dismissal or withdrawal, a copy of any
   written agreement related to the dismissal or withdrawal, and an
   affidavit setting forth:

   (1) A certification that neither the party withdrawing its interest nor
   its principals has received or will receive any money or other
   consideration in excess of legitimate and prudent expenses in exchange
   for the dismissal or withdrawal of the expression of interest;

   (2) The exact nature and amount of any consideration received or
   promised;

   (3) An itemized accounting of the expenses for which it seeks
   reimbursement; and

   (4) The terms of any oral agreement related to the dismissal or
   withdrawal of the expression of interest.

   (5) In addition, within 5 days of a party's request for approval, each
   remaining party to any written or oral agreement must submit an
   affidavit setting forth:

   (i) A certification that neither it nor its principals has paid or will
   pay money or other consideration in excess of the legitimate and
   prudent expenses of the party withdrawing its expression of interest;
   and

   (ii) The terms of any oral agreement relating to the dismissal or
   withdrawal of the expression of interest.

   Note to §  1.420: The reclassification of a Class C station in
   accordance with the procedure set forth in Note 4 to §  73.3573 may be
   initiated through the filing of an original petition for amendment of
   the FM Table of Allotments. The Commission will notify the affected
   Class C station licensee of the proposed reclassification by issuing a
   notice of proposed rule making, except that where a triggering petition
   proposes an amendment or amendments to the FM Table of Allotments in
   addition to the proposed reclassification, the Commission will issue an
   order to show cause as set forth in Note 4 to §  73.3573, and a notice
   of proposed rule making will be issued only after the reclassification
   issue is resolved. Triggering petitions will be dismissed upon the
   filing, rather than the grant, of an acceptable construction permit
   application to increase antenna height to at least 451 meters HAAT by a
   subject Class C station.

   (Secs. 4, 303, 307, 48 Stat., as amended, 1066, 1082, 1083; 47 U.S.C.
   154, 303, 307)

   [ 39 FR 44022 , Dec. 20, 1974, as amended at  40 FR 53391 , Nov. 18, 1975;
    41 FR 1287 , Jan. 7, 1976;  51 FR 15629 , Apr. 25, 1986;  51 FR 20291 , June
   4, 1986;  52 FR 8260 , Mar. 17, 1987;  52 FR 25866 , July 9, 1987;  54 FR 16366 , Apr. 24, 1989;  54 FR 26201 , June 22, 1989;  55 FR 28914 , July 16,
   1990;  58 FR 38535 , July 19, 1993;  59 FR 59503 , Nov. 17, 1994;  61 FR 43472 , Aug. 23, 1996;  65 FR 79776 , Dec. 20, 2000;  71 FR 76215 , Dec. 20,
   2006]

   return arrow Back to Top