FCC's MB, IATF Issue LPTV, Translator and FM Reimbursement Procedures
Low-power broadcasters, TV translator stations and FM broadcasters seeking reimbursement for costs from the post-incentive auction repacking have until Oct. 15 to file with the FCC, said the Incentive Auction Task Force and the Media Bureau in public notices Thursday on the procedures and banking policies. Industry officials told us many broadcasters paid for relocation costs some time ago and need the funds.
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There’s also concern that their expenses may not be fully reimbursed, said Fletcher Heald LPTV attorney Peter Tannenwald. The FCC wouldn’t comment on when eligible broadcasters might begin receiving funds.
Congress authorized $150 million in reimbursement funds for LPTV and translators, and $50 million for FM stations. The IATF will allocate a proportion of the money up front for payments to outlets based in part on how many eligible requests for reimbursement it receives, the PNs said. After the initial allocation, the agency may issue subsequent allocations, the PN said. This is similar to how the process has worked for full-power and Class A stations (see 1803080049). Those later allocations may be based on revised cost estimates, the PN said.
Most full-powers have hired intermediaries such as consulting firm Widelity to handle the complicated repacking reimbursement process, Tannenwald noted. Smaller low-powers are going to have as much or more trouble, he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of stations mess up the form,” he said. The National Translator Association "relies on the established information provided earlier by the FCC and expects full reimbursement for our members based on the laws enacted and the information provided prior to this Public Notice," emailed President John Terrill.
To be eligible for the payments, broadcasters must to file in the FCC license management system about their existing equipment and reimbursement needs by the Oct. 15 deadline and use the commission registration system to identify where their payments should go.
Some LPTV licensees were displaced in “Phase Zero,” long before reimbursement funding was secured, said LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition Director Mike Gravino in a release. They'll “be waiting over two years after moving channels for displacement funding,” he said.
Gravino is concerned that some LPTV broadcasters won’t be able to qualify for reimbursement because of rules requiring eligible stations to have on-air nine months before the incentive auction started. “20-40% of all stations receiving a new construction permit may not qualify for this 2nd condition for funding,” he estimated.