PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12Th St., S.W
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PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. News Media Information: 202-418-0500 Internet: www.fcc.gov Washington, D.C. 20554 TTY: 888-835-5322 DA No. 17-376 Released: April 20, 2017 INCENTIVE AUCTION TASK FORCE AND MEDIA BUREAU ANNOUNCE REGIONAL COORDINATORS TO FACILITATE POST-AUCTION TRANSITION FOR BROADCAST STATIONS MB Docket No. 16-306 GN Docket No. 12-268 The Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau (the Bureau) announce the assignment of Regional Coordinators to support broadcast television stations moving to new channel assignments in the post-incentive auction transition period. The Bureau is committed to ensuring a smooth and efficient post-auction transition. To enhance its ability to closely monitor the progress of the repack and to facilitate coordination among stations, each station that will transition to a new channel has been grouped into one of 10 geographically-based regions.1 Each region has a dedicated Bureau staff member as a Regional Coordinator.2 Regional Coordinators will act as a first point of contact at the Commission for stations and, with the support of other Bureau staff and other Commission bureaus and offices, will assist in resolving issues and challenges that stations in the region encounter as a result of the transition. This Public Notice announces that in the coming days, the Regional Coordinators will contact the stations in their assigned regions by email to introduce themselves, and begin the process of coordination with stations in the region. Regional Coordinators will communicate throughout the transition period with stations regarding process, will respond to inquiries from, and otherwise work closely with stations to help facilitate the phased transition schedule and aid stations in satisfying their construction permit deadlines. As described in the recent Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice, 987 television stations across the country will transition to new channel assignments.3 The release of that Public Notice initiated a 39-month post-auction transition period that will end on July 13, 2020. During this period, transitioning television stations will, among other things, enter into 1 See Appendix B. The information in Appendix B is current as of the release of the Closing and Channel Reassignment PN. Incentive Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice; Incentive Auction Closes; Reverse Auction and Forward Auction Results Announced; Final Television Band Channel Assignments Announced; Post-Auction Deadlines Announced, MB Docket No. 16-306, GN Docket No. 12-268, Public Notice, DA 17-314 (WTB Apr. 13, 2017) (Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice). 2 See Appendix A. 3Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice at 19, para. 56. Publicly available data regarding channel assignments and on the Commission’s website (https://data fcc.gov/download/incentive-auctions/Transition_Files). Federal Communications Commission DA 17-376 contracts for the purchase and installation of new transmitting equipment, file appropriate applications for construction and operating authority, complete construction of new facilities, provide required notifications regarding the station’s termination of service on the pre-auction channel, and make the switch to broadcasting on their new channels by the applicable deadline. In most cases, eligible stations will also prepare and submit detailed estimates and invoices for reimbursement of their reasonably incurred expenses for relocating to new channels.4 On January 27, 2017, the Bureau issued a public notice5 outlining procedures for transitioning stations, including guidance on applications for relief from transition requirements that will aid stations to ensure they can continue to operate throughout the transition period.6 In order to facilitate a managed transition process, the Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice, provides assignments for all full power and Class A television stations transitioning to new channels to one of 10 transition phases that satisfy a set of objectives and constraints adopted in the Transition Scheduling Adoption Public Notice.7 The deadlines for each transition phase reflect an average of the estimated time required for all stations in each phase to complete their transition.8 The resulting schedule, among other things, accounts for stations with interference relationships or dependencies, facilitates the efficient use of limited construction resources, minimizes the disruption to viewers by limiting the need to rescan, and weighs the relative complexity of individual stations. Distinct from the transition phase assignments described above, stations are assigned to regions in order to better facilitate coordination. The objectives when creating regions are to make the regions geographically continuous, to group linked sets in the same region, and to have a similar number of stations in each region. One way we achieved geographically continuous regions is all stations in the same Designated Market Area (DMA) are assigned to the same region. Significantly, however, the regions do not alter or in any way impact the phase assignments or transition deadlines set forth in the Closing and Channel Reassignment PN. The regional groupings are intended to be a tool to facilitate coordination among stations facing similar localized challenges, and to enable stations in those regional groups to have access to a coordinator at the Commission who is familiar with the localized challenges. For example, the Regional Coordinator will help facilitate cooperation among neighboring stations that may confront similar challenges such as terrain or unique weather events. The regional coordination will also allow stations within a region to benefit from lessons learned by other stations transitioning in that region, including among stations within a region that are assigned to different transition phases. The Regional Coordinators will also serve as a point of contact for 4 See Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice at 29, paras. 84-85. 5 See Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau Announces Procedures for the Post-Incentive Auction Broadcast Transition, Public Notice, 32 FCC Rcd 858 (MB 2017) (Broadcast Transition Procedures Public Notice). 6 Broadcast Transition Procedures Public Notice, 32 FCC Rcd 858, paras. 73-74; see also Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau Adopt Post-Incentive Auction Transition Scheduling Plan, Public Notice, 32 FCC Rcd 890, 911-17, paras. 46-59 (MB 2017) (Transition Scheduling Adoption Public Notice). 7 See Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice at 20, para. 61; see also Transition Scheduling Adoption Public Notice, 32 FCC Rcd 895-902, paras. 10-28. 8 See Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice at 20, para. 62. 2 Federal Communications Commission DA 17-376 Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR 608 KVTH-DT 26 16 1 - Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR 37005 KARZ-TV 44 14 1 - Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR 41212 KASN 39 34 1 - Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR 86534 KMYA-DT 49 18 1 - Monroe, LA-El Dorado, AR 3658 KARD 36 19 1 - Monroe, LA-El Dorado, AR 38584 KMCT-TV 38 22 1 - Monroe, LA-El Dorado, AR 38585 KLMB-LP 23 36 10 - Oklahoma City, OK 2566 KOPX-TV 50 18 2 - Oklahoma City, OK 10265 KOHC-CD 45 31 2 - Oklahoma City, OK 25382 KWTV-DT 39 25 2 - Oklahoma City, OK 31368 KUOT-CD 19 21 2 14 Oklahoma City, OK 50182 KAUT-TV 40 19 2 14 Oklahoma City, OK 84225 KOCM 46 16 2 - Omaha, NE 23277 KXVO 38 29 3 - Omaha, NE 35190 KMTV-TV 45 31 3 - Omaha, NE 51491 KPTM 43 26 3 - Sherman, TX - Ada, OK 35666 KTEN 26 17 9 71 Shreveport, LA 35648 KTAL-TV 15 26 2 10 Shreveport, LA 38497 KADO-CD 40 36 2 - Shreveport, LA 38591 KLTS-TV 24 17 10 81 Shreveport, LA 70420 KBXS-CD 50 20 2 12 Shreveport, LA 70482 KSLA 17 23 10 81 Shreveport, LA 73706 KSHV-TV 44 16 2 10 Shreveport, LA 81507 KPXJ 21 32 2 12 Sioux City, IA 39665 KMEG 39 32 1 - Sioux City, IA 66170 KTIV 41 14 1 - Sioux City, IA 77451 KPTH 49 30 1 - Sioux Falls-Mitchell, SD 55379 KDLT-TV 47 21 8 - Springfield, MO 36003 KYTV 44 19 1 - Springfield, MO 51102 KOZK 23 16 1 - Springfield, MO 166319 KRBK 49 22 1 - Topeka, KS 43649 KTMJ-CD 43 20 8 - Topeka, KS 49397 KTKA-TV 49 16 8 - Tulsa, OK 1005 KDOR-TV 17 36 2 11 Tulsa, OK 24485 KGEB 49 14 2 - Tulsa, OK 31369 KUTU-CD 25 17 9 71 Tulsa, OK 35434 KOTV-DT 45 26 9 71 Tulsa, OK 37099 KWHB 47 16 2 11 Tulsa, OK 54420 KMYT-TV 42 34 2 9 Tulsa, OK 57431 KRSU-TV 36 32 2 11 Tyler-Longview, TX 55644 KYTX 18 15 2 10 Tyler-Longview, TX 70917 KFXK-TV 31 20 2 12 Wichita-Hutchinson, KS 72358 KSNW 45 15 8 - 2 Federal Communications Commission DA 17-376 Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV 37806 WLFB 40 25 7 - Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV 66804 WOAY-TV 50 31 7 - Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV 71680 WSWP-TV 10 8 10 78 Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV 74169 WVNS-TV 8 11 10 78 Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV 74176 WVVA 46 17 7 - Charleston, SC 416 WTAT-TV 24 17 5 40 Charleston, SC 9015 WCIV 36 25 5 40 Charleston, SC 10587 WCBD-TV 50 20 5 - Charleston, SC 61005 WITV 7 9 10 78 Charleston, SC 71297 WCSC-TV 47 19 5 - Charlotte, NC 10645 WTVI 11 9 10 78 Charlotte, NC 12793 WAXN-TV 50 32 5 40 Charlotte, NC 32326 WCNC-TV 22 24 5 40 Charlotte, NC 49157 WCCB 27 18 5 40 Charlotte, NC 61009 WNSC-TV 15 34 5 40 Charlotte, NC 65919 WHKY-TV 40 14 5 40 Charlotte, NC 67022 W21CK-D 21 15 5 40 Charlotte, NC 69114 WUNE-TV 17 36 5 40 Charlotte, NC 69124 WUNG-TV 44 21 5 40 Charlotte, NC 70097 WGTB-CD 28 27 5 40 Charlotte, NC 73152 WJZY 47 25 5 40 Charlotte, NC 74070 WSOC-TV 34 19 5 40 Charlottesville, VA 363 WCAV 19 32