Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of: } } Amendment of Service and } MB Docket No. 07-172 Eligibility Rules for FM } RM-11338 Broadcast Translator Stations }
To: The Commission
COMMENTS OF HERNANDO BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC.
Hernando Broadcasting Company, Inc. (“Hernando”), by and through its attorneys,
hereby submits the following Comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rule Making
released on August 15, 2007, in the above-referenced proceeding.1 In the NPRM, the
Commission proposed that FM Translators be permitted to retransmit the signals of AM
Broadcast stations, under certain conditions.
Hernando is the licensee of Station WWJB(AM), Brooksville, Florida (the “Station”),
which is a Class C (old Class IV) broadcast facility, and is authorized to operate with 1 kilowatt
of power. As a Class C facility, the Station receives substantial interference from other AM
stations during night-time hours. In fact, listeners located three miles from the Station’s
transmitter site often complain that they are unable to receive the Station’s signal at night.
This level of interference substantially affects the ability of Hernando to serve its local
community, and Hernando strongly urges the Commission to adopt the proposed rules that would
permit FM translators to retransmit the signals of AM stations within their coverage area. As
1 In the Matter of Amendment of Service and Eligibility Rules for FM Broadcast Translator Stations, Notice of Proposed Rule Making, 22 FCC Rcd 15,890 (2007)(the “NPRM”). A summary of the NPRM was published in the Federal Register on November 6, 2007. See 72 Fed. Reg. 62616. discussed in more detail below, Hernando was the first station licensed to Hernando County,
Florida in 1957, and has been recognized as a leader in providing local news and emergency information to its local community. The use of an FM Translator to retransmit the Station’s signal during such emergencies would provide a greater level of service during nighttime hours, and would greatly serve the public interest.
DISCUSSION
As noted in the NPRM, the AM service suffers from inherent technological limitations, and the Commission has taken substantial steps in the past 20 years to reduce the level of interference caused to AM stations.2 Despite these efforts, however, the existence of power lines, the explosive growth in the use of computers, traffic signal sensors, and other sources of electromagnetic interference substantially reduce the quality and reach of the AM signal, especially during nighttime operation. Exacerbating the situation is the change in the Daylight
Savings Time last year, which resulted in a greater portion of morning drive-time to be during nighttime hours.3
On the other hand, AM stations are critical sources of local programming, and sometimes provide the sole source of news and talk programming in communities.4 With respect to WWJB, in 2004, the Hernando Today lauded the service provided by Hernando in the aftermath of
Hurricane Frances. A copy of the news article is attached as Exhibit A. As noted therein, while other sources of information (cable, internet) became inaccessible during the hurricane due to power outages and service disruptions, WWJB provided 24-hour storm coverage and served as a critical outlet for the weather updates from county officials.
2 NPRM, ¶3. 3 Id. ¶ 3-4 (citing Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58). 4 NPRM, ¶ 5. However, this was not the first time that WWJB provided this valuable service to
Hernando County. In 1993, a severe storm struck Hernando County, and WWJB provided
around-the-clock coverage of the storm, detailing the power outages, locations of evacuation shelters, and county weather updates. See Exhibit B. In fact, the police, EMT, and power company employees relayed information directly through WWJB to provide answers to questions raised by local citizens calling into the Station.
This is the very essence of local programming and community service, and the additional use of an FM Translator during these storms would have provided better coverage to the local community. Therefore, Hernando strongly supports the Commission’s proposal to permit certain
AM stations to use FM Translators to retransmit their signals. Hernando believes that the
Commission’s proposal to permit such retransmission as a fill-in service, i.e., service within the
lesser of (1) the 2 mV/m daytime contour or (2) a 25 mile radius of the station’s transmitter site,5 strikes an appropriate balance between the need for the service, and the possible preclusive effects of such usage on other FM spectrum uses.
At the same time, though, Hernando urges the Commission to remain cognizant of the interrelationship between this proceeding and the proposed rules recently released in the Low
Power FM (“LPFM”) proceeding.6 In the Second Further Notice, the Commission sought
comment on whether LPFM stations should receive interference priority over FM translators in
certain circumstances. The Third Report and Order also dismissed thousands of applications for
new FM translators.
5 Id., ¶ 20. 6 Creation of a Low Power Radio Service, Third Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 07-204, released on Dec. 11, 2007. Hernando is concerned that these actions may preclude available FM spectrum for future
use of FM translators by AM stations. In Hernando County, there are no available FM translators for use by WWJB, and the interference priority given to LPFM stations may preclude
such usage in the future.
In light of the Commission’s tentative decision that the public interest is served by the
use of FM translators in conjunction with AM stations, based in large part on the substantial
local programming that existing commercial AM licensees provide to their local communities,
the Commission must be very careful to not preclude the use of FM translators for AM stations
by taking action in the LPFM proceeding that will eliminate the eventual filing window for new
FM translators.
As such, Hernando supports the proposal that the first round of licensing FM Translators
be limited to Class C and Day-time only AM stations, and also require that the FM translators
receive the signal over-the-air, rather than being fed by a satellite or other means. If the
Commission’s goal of augmenting local service by AM stations is to be met, these requirements
should ensure that the Commission’s processes are not corrupted for personal gain, as the
Commission notes occurred in the last FM Translator filing window.
CONCLUSION
Thus, Hernando Broadcasting Company, Inc., strongly supports the Commission’s
proposed rules to permit AM stations to utilize FM translators to provide local service to their
communities. At the same time, Hernando urges the Commission take the necessary steps to
protect this new service from being harmed by the licensing of new LPFM stations. In light of the clear benefits provided by AM stations to their local communities, the Commission must ensure that its efforts are not thwarted by such actions on behalf of LPFM stations. Respectfully submitted,
HERNANDO BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC.
By: Lee G. Petro FLETCHER, HEALD & HILDRETH, PLC 1300 North 17th Street, 11th Floor Arlington, Virginia 22209 (703) 812-0400 – Telephone (703) 812-0486 – Telecopier
Its Attorneys
January 7, 2008 Exhibit A
Local radio station serves up vital weather information \" ---- For the two OWl1ers orthe :' -'i1'l:i'lf ii.Ic·~r;nf'"H EROE S their local.family-owned radio sta- CABLE FAILS LISTENERS GET Broo~e-basecl AM radi? stalion ~c(;)' c'~'"..;'",j r:l&,ii, .. ' ,tion. ,. l 1NWjR II s been an exhauslmg wee k, . And the broadcast continued unm- "My mind is so foggy; the days have Flon~. last Saturday afternoon. lenupted, desflite the chaos outside. UPDATES FROM WWJB run together: said Steve, TelevlSIon stallons Launched 2~-hour . ' "We're downtown, on a hill, in a Never mind the possibility that srorm coverage. Newspapers dissect- lWo-StOfY office buildingwhere the Hurricane Ivan may hitThesday. ed forecasts andweather data.. ceiling tiles were vibrating because of By",",LQIllNUN "' refuse to believe it: Steve said. But when the storm amved In . the wind coming in under the eaves: pqulnlan.@'hentandoloday.com "Holy smoke. I don't think.we can Hernando ~unty, many sa,,: theJr Steve said. "The thought occurs fa I)'l3ke it through another one right cable teleVIsIon cut and the ltghts go you, whaUOrl ofwind would if take BROOKSVfUI - Steve Manual and now," oue. to blowthe roofoff!" his wife, Barbara, have slept on couch Multi-million doUarnews organiza' ~-orthousands~HernandoCounty U's not ofien thaf a storm as dam· cushions on the floor oftheir offices tions across the Slate pounced Oll :"S.den,1S trapped In bomes and stuck agingas Frances strikes the county, in downtown Brooksville for sixdays Hurricane Frances long before she In public shelters.. there was only one and wunting. blew ashore on the east coast of place left to ttJrn forinformation - S.dEllO£S, h.&e Al
- ::-'.:r~,~-~~~·"··-· ,..','..- "-"'<~.I~ ',- .'~;~~~E.-;~:~'~ ;;;~.'_~.:;"~:~~~~·:_-3~!_~~_t:-_:H ·~~~~~:~~.~-:i-~~~{.~:-~ftt~;~~: ~~ ·¥-1r;r~~T:7.t~~;:~--t:~~~#1f/ )r~(~~~~·:~~,-:--~·t:;~;~;·:- . - -:".:;,=-~- -.,,:, . .. -.... -. '. . - __ ~ .._~. ~~~ ..... b ...... ' ."lU~c:i:Io .t)l='Ccu l .....JL..,p,...... r;:;.~. "" ...... t-"~ Manual said. officials and sometimes just a "But it's reaUy an emotion calming presencein the HEROES aUy stressful situation when homes and cars of listeners. IIERNAIlOO TO!IAy it's JUSt one hurricane after , "We try to be a friendly "".c.o..a ..... another. We know a lot of peo wice in the darkness: said ...... ~~"..... ,.,..., 5044--"5100 i Cocrtinued rrom I'a&' Al ple are tuned into us for help Manual, who worked at the 'VOL :18. No. 256 and informatiOfL and you station as a high school stu I But the Manualshave seen want to be able to flrovide dent before purchasing if purchas~ -\~?t.'~:~ -~ .-.,.. theirfairshare since that." years later. ". i - .. - ing the station in March of The Manuals and sixbroad "mso glad we were here to 1982. , casters - Bob Haa, I.R. do it.We've gotten thank-you "The no-name storm - we Scicluna, Peggy Hope. Jason nOfes. cookies, brownies and i had trees down, power down, Youngman. Quis Fickley and we can't go anywhere without l floodingat Bayport, Pine Bob Penrod -,workedaround people stopping us: said i Island. Hernando Beach the clock during the past week Barbara Manual.'"Wc were , thai really was the last time to give weather updates, more than happy to help." . that we'w had a flroblem: announcements from cou,:,ty Exhibit B Page A-4 VIEWa TODJ Radio to the rescue Pulling together, Hernando-style
"You're the onlyradio station I can get," said one lady on the air. ''What's the weather going to be?" Robert Police, emergency workers Nolte and power company employee~ listened to WWJB and phoned information to answer some of EDITOR the questions being asked of Daymer, Alan and two other an Moat folks were prepared for nouncers, Chad Lewis and John some kind of storm but not the Puzio. who kept the· station on wallop this mon.ter produced. the air past midnight sign-<>lT to Some native. said it was the keep the flow of information go worst they'd ever seen. Many of ing. those hardest hit said they were It was radio at its best, fillipS not notified soon enough about avoid left; by Tampa Baytelevi~ the storm's severity and the need sion and radio stations which to evacuate. simply could not satisfy the coun When the storm's full force ty's hunger for news. was reali.ed, however, Hernando The public service elIort. may COWlty pulled together. One of even have s"ved lives. Some· the laces that brought people the stranded Hen'ando Beach resi- =~"-"'... realization that this storm was dents called ww;m from their Residents of the Rogers Park area more dangerous than they'd been roof-tops pleading for· somebody gusted at times to near-100 mph a told was WWJB radio. to come rescue them. The small country music sta They Were plucked from their merged and residents snatched tion in Brooksville opened its mi homes. by emergency workerS by helicopter from roofs. who had been listening to the ra- ' As County Commission Chair- crophones to help those who . man Tony Mosca said, the storm needed information on power dio. was more than an IDconvemence,.. outages, evacuation .heltel'll, it was a disnster. Mosca and fel weather and other critical news More than inconvenient low-commissioner John Richard items. sOn who lives in Hernando Beach As Saturday progressed, lis spent the weekend helping vic Only news source teners realized thst western Her tims and leading the on-scene ef nando County was being devas fort to provide emergency servic Grateful callers'told annoul> tated by a storm weather officials es. ers Deanna Daymar and Glynn would later call a winter huni· Two men, however, emerged Alan that the radio station had cane. Families were losing every as heroes by riskin& their lives. become their only source ofinfor thing they owned; in some cases, Tom and Scott Browning spent mation during the worst ho1ll'1l of homes were being flattened, most ofSaturday f8rrying by l'Iir-· the storm. businesses flooded out, t;='s sub- boat frightened Hernando Beach residents from their flooded homes to higher ground. They piloted the craft through Achance to say 'Thanks... ' 60 mph wind gusts to get people