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Federal Communications Commission FCC 12-144 Before the Federal Communications Commission WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Creation of a Low Power Radio Service ) MM Docket No. 99-25 ) Amendment of Service and Eligibility Rules for ) MB Docket No. 07-172, RM 11338 FM Broadcast Translator Stations ) FIFTH ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION AND SIXTH REPORT AND ORDER Adopted: November 30, 2012 Released: December 4, 2012 By the Commission: Chairman Genachowski and Commissioners McDowell, Clyburn, Rosenworcel and Pai issuing separate statements. TABLE OF CONTENTS Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 1 II. FIFTH ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION…………………………………………………..............2 A. Background………………………………………………………………………………………..2 1. Rationale for the Translator Application Caps………………………………………………...4 2. Petitions for Reconsideration………………………………………………………………...14 3. Responsive Pleadings………………………………………………………………………...22 B. Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..25 1. Market Definitions…………………………………………………………………………...26 2. Notice of Appendix A Per-Market Cap Proposal…………………………………………….31 3. The National Cap of 50 Applications………………………………………………………...34 4. The Need for a Per-Market Cap……………………………………………………………...42 5. Revision of the Per-Market Cap……………………………………………………………...46 III. SIXTH REPORT AND ORDER.......................................................................................................... 69 A. Waiver of Second-Adjacent Channel Minimum Distance Separation Requirements.................... 72 B. Third-Adjacent Channel Interference Complaints and Remediation............................................. 86 1. LPFM Interference Protection and Remediation Requirements.............................................. 87 2. Regime Applicable to Section 7(1) Stations............................................................................ 96 3. Regime Applicable to Other LPFM Stations......................................................................... 101 4. Additional Interference Protection and Remediation Obligations......................................... 121 C. Protection of Translator Input Signals ......................................................................................... 124 D. Other Rule Changes ..................................................................................................................... 133 1. Eligibility and Ownership...................................................................................................... 134 a. Requirement That Applicants Be Local.......................................................................... 134 b. Cross-Ownership of LPFM and FM Translator Stations ................................................ 137 c. Ownership Issues Affecting Tribal Nations.................................................................... 144 d. Ownership of Student-run Stations................................................................................. 158 2. Selection Among Mutually Exclusive Applicants................................................................. 161 a. Point System Structure, and Elimination of Proposed Operating Hours Criterion......... 163 b. Established Community Presence................................................................................... 168 Federal Communications Commission FCC 12-144 c. Local Program Origination ............................................................................................. 175 d. Main Studio..................................................................................................................... 185 e. Tribal Nations ................................................................................................................. 188 f. New Entrants................................................................................................................... 191 g. Tiebreakers - Voluntary and Involuntary Time Sharing................................................. 192 3. Operating Schedule ............................................................................................................... 199 4. Classes of Service.................................................................................................................. 201 5. Removal of I.F. Channel Minimum Distance Separation Requirements .............................. 207 E. Window Filing Process ................................................................................................................ 211 III. PROCEDURAL MATTERS.............................................................................................................. 213 IV. ORDERING CLAUSES..................................................................................................................... 219 APPENDIX A - Supplemental Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis APPENDIX B - Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis APPENDIX C - Final Rules I. INTRODUCTION 1. In this Fifth Order on Reconsideration and Sixth Report and Order, we take various actions to implement the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 (“LCRA”),1 safeguard the integrity of our FM translator licensing procedures and modify licensing and service rules for the low power FM (“LPFM”) service. In the Fifth Order on Reconsideration we affirm with slight modifications and clarifications the comprehensive plan for licensing FM translators and LPFM stations adopted in the Fourth Report and Order.2 In response to petitions for reconsideration, we modify the national cap to allow each applicant to pursue up to 70 applications, so long as no more than 50 of them are in the Appendix A markets. We also increase the per-market cap for radio markets identified in Appendix A of the Fourth Report and Order to allow up to three applications for each market, subject to certain conditions. We also clarify the application of the per-market cap in those Appendix A markets with “embedded” markets. In the Sixth Report and Order we complete the implementation of the LCRA and make a number of additional changes to promote the localism and diversity goals of the LPFM service and a more sustainable community radio service. When effective, these orders will permit the Commission to move forward with the long-delayed processing of over 6,000 FM translator applications and establish a timeline for the opening of an LPFM window. II. FIFTH ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION A. Background 2. On July 12, 2011, the Commission released a Third Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making3 in this proceeding, seeking comment on the impact of the LCRA on the procedures previously adopted to process the approximately 6,000 applications that remain pending from the 2003 FM non- reserved band translator window. There, the Commission tentatively concluded that those licensing procedures, which would limit each applicant to ten pending applications, would be inconsistent with the 1 Pub. L. No. 111-371, 124 Stat. 4072 (2011). 2 Creation of a Low Power Radio Service and Amendment of Service and Eligibility Rules for FM Broadcast Translator Stations, Fourth Report and Order and Third Order on Reconsideration, 27 FCC Rcd 3364 (2012) (“Fourth Report and Order”). 3 Creation of a Low Power Radio Service and Amendment of Service and Eligibility Rules for FM Broadcast Translator Stations, Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 26 FCC Rcd 9986 (2011) (“Third Further Notice”). 2 Federal Communications Commission FCC 12-144 LCRA’s goals.4 We proposed to modify those procedures and instead adopt a market-specific translator application dismissal process, dismissing pending translator applications in identified spectrum-limited markets in order to preserve adequate LPFM licensing opportunities.5 At the same time, we tentatively concluded that these new procedures would not be sufficient to address the potential for licensing abuses with respect to the thousands of pending translator applications.6 Accordingly, we asked for comments on appropriate processing policies for those applications, including a potential national cap of 50-75 applications and a potential cap of one or a few applications in any particular market.7 3. The Commission released the Fourth Report and Order on March 19, 2012. The Commission affirmed its decision to reject the prior national cap of 10 translator applications per applicant.8 It adopted a modified market-specific translator licensing scheme which incorporated a number of commenter proposals. To minimize the potential for speculative licensing conduct, the Commission established a national cap of 50 applications and a local cap of one application per applicant per market for the 156 Arbitron Metro markets identified in Appendix A of the Fourth Report and Order.9 1. Rationale for the Translator Application Caps 4. When the Commission opened the March 2003 filing window for Auction 83 FM translator applications, there were 3,818 licensed FM translators.10 13,377 translator applications were filed in that window – approximately three times as many applications as the number of FM translators licensed since 1970. From that group, 3,476 new authorizations were issued before the Commission’s freeze on further processing of applications from that window took effect. Of those 3,476 authorizations, 926 (more than 25 percent) were never constructed and 1,358 (almost 40 percent) were assigned to a party other than the applicant. Although 97 percent of all filers filed fewer