(Pr:- Hardy, Carey, Chautin & Balkin, LLP A .T T,fh ~".,b!.lfl Y SAT LAW ~OCiiJ;:.l tlLt l,;Ci"Y unlu ,\II'lL. 1080 West CausewayApproach Mandeville, Louisiana 70471 Telephone 985.629.0777 Facsimile 985.629.0778 FILEDIACCEPTED­ www.hardycarey.com June 19,2008 Wayne T. Stewart JUN 19 Z008 [email protected] Direct Dial: 985.629.0765 Federal Communications COmmission Office of lI1e secretarY 2317.104 Via Hand Delivery Ms. Marlene Dortch, Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street SW Washington, DC 20554 Re: Petition for Rulemaking to Amend the Final DTV Table ofAllotments LeSEA Broadcasting ofSouth Bend, Inc., Licensee Station WHME-DT, South Bend, Indiana (Facility Id. 36117) Dear Ms. Dortch: Pursuant to Section 1.104 et seq. ofthe Commission's rules, enclosed please find the original and four (4) copies ofa Petition for Rulemaking to Amend the Final DTV Table of Allotments filed on behalfofLeSEA Broadcasting ofSouth Bend, Inc. Should you have any questions about this filing, please do not hesitate to contact me. Wayne T. Stewart Enc!. cc: Peter Sumrall Joyce Bernstein (electronic copy) Ron Graser (electronic copy) N,o. of Copies reC'd~ List ABCDE fJ T:\2317.104\FCC 080619 wts WHME-DT Pet for Rule Mkg-Cover Letter.wpd 08·:If: A1... Before the FlLEDIACCEPTED FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION JUN 1 92008 20554 Washington, D.C. Federal Communications Commission Office 01 the Secretary ) In re: ) ) MB Docket No. --- LESEA BROADCASTING ) OF SOUTH BEND, INC. ) ) Amendment ofSection 73.622(i), ) Final DTV Table ofAllotments, ) Television Broadcasting Stations ) (South Bend, Indiana) ) ) PETITION FOR RULEMAKING TO AMEND THE FINAL DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS Pursuant to the Commission's May 30,2008 Public Notice lifting the freeze on the filing ofpetitions for digital channel substitutionl and Section 1.401 et seq. ofthe Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.401, LeSEA Broadcasting ofSouth Bend, Inc. ("LeSEA"), the licensee ofWHME- DT, South Bend, Indiana, hereby submits this Petition for Rule Making to amend the final DTV Table ofAllotments at Section 73.622(i) ofthe Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(i), to substitute channel 46 for the current post-transition DTV allotment for WHME-DT on channel 48. This Petition was filed prior to June 20,2008, the last date the Commission will consider such petitions for rule making as simultaneously filed with other petitions and maximization applications. 2 1 See Public Notice, "Commission Lifts the Freeze on the Filing ofMaximization Applications and Petitions for Digital Channel Substitutions, Effective Immediately," DA 08­ 1213 (reI. May 30,2008) (hereinafter "Public Notice"). 2 See Public Notice at 2. 1'>..s the attachec1 engineering eXhibit sets £orth~ Le£\'BJ... is seeking this channe\ sUbstitut~on because it is otherwise precluded from fully maximizing its digital facilities on its current post- transition digital channel 48 due to existing full power facilities. A substitution ofchannel 46 for LeSEA's existing channel 48 not only fully meets the Commission's new interference criteria, but also presents a substantial public interest benefit by providing an additional digital signal to an additional 546,558 viewers, an increase in service population of45.0 percent. Ifgranted, LeSEA intends to file a construction permit for and construct the new channel 46 digital facilities. Based on the foregoing, LeSEA respectfully requests that the Commission take the necessary steps to permit the proposed substitution ofchannel 46 for LeSEA's current digital post-transition channel 48 allotment and amend the final DTV Table ofAllotments accordingly. Respectfully submitted: C hautin, m., Esq. W. Stewart, Esq. Har y, Carey, Chautin & Balkin, L.L.P. 1080 West Causeway Approach Mandeville, Louisiana 70471-3036 985-629-0777 Its Attorneys Dated: June 19,2008 3 See Exhibit A. TECHNICAL EXHIBIT PETITION FOR RULE MAKING TO MODIFY THE DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS LESEA BROADCASTING OF SOUTH BEND, INC. STATION WHME-DT SOUTH BEND, INDIANA This Technical Exhibit was prepared by LESEA Broadcasting of South Bend, Inc., licensee ofstation WHME-TV (analog channel 46, pre­ transition digital channel 48, and current post-transition digital channel 48), South Bend, Indiana, in support ofa Petition for Rule Making to modify the DTV allotment ofWHME-DT to substitute channel 46 for the current channel 48 DTV allotment. The Commission adopted channel 48 for WHME-TV's post­ transition digital operation. Specifically, WHME-DT was assigned channel 48 for its post-transition Appendix B operation with a directional antenna maximum effective radiated power (ERP) of300 kilowatts (kW) and an antenna height above average terrain (HAAT) of295 meters. The Appendix B facilities are the same as the WHME-DT currently licensed digital facilities (BLCDT­ 20060109ABG). WHME-DT can not fully maximize on its currently licensed channel 48, because ofprotection requirements toward WAQP-DT licensed (BLCDT-20060824ADS) on channel 48 at Saginaw, Michigan, and WBME licensed (BMLCDT-20070823AED) on channel 48 at Racine, Wisconsin. As indicated on Figure 1, by changing to channel 46 WHME-DT can significantly increase its interference free service area and population. The following details the proposed modification ofthe WHME-TV Appendix B facilities. NTSC DTV Facility State & City Percent ERP HAAT Latitude Longitude Area Population ID Chan Chan IX (kW) (m) (DDMMSS) (DDDMMSS) (sq km) (thousand) Received 36117 INI South Bend 46 46 933 305 413543 860938 28,614 1,761 4.89 The noise-limited 41 dBu contours for both the proposed WHME-DT Appendix B facility and WHME-DT's currently licensed DTV facility are depicted in Figure 1. The proposed WHME-DT Appendix B facilities will comply with the 0.5 percent interference standard adopted by the FCC for post-transition DTV operations (see Figure 2).1n addition, the propogea gite ig located within the CanadIan coord;nation distance requirement, however beyond the Mexican coordination distance requirement. Below is a tabulation ofthe predicted service population and area based on WHME-DT's currently licensed digital operation and the herein proposed WHME-DT Appendix B facilities: Facility Service Population Service Area (sq kin) Licensed Digital/Current Appendix B (Ch. 48 300 kW/295 m, DA) 1,214,000 20,015 Proposed Appendix B (Ch. 46 933 kW/305 m, ND) 1,760,558 28,614 As indicated above, the herein proposed Appendix B facilities will permit WHME-DT to serve an additional 546,558 viewers increasing its service population by 45%. Based on the foregoing, LeSea respectfully requests that the Commission modify Appendix B to specify operation on channel 46 from its licensed digital site employing a non-directional antenna. LarryVehom Director ofEngineering LeSEA Broadcasting Corp. 1030 Shortwave Lane Pineland, SC 29934 June 18,2008 Figure 1 FCC PREDICTED COVERAGE CONTOURS OTV STATION WHME-OT SOUTH BEND, INDIANA CH 46 933·KW 305 M Fiuure 1 SUMMARY OF iNTERFERENCE TO OTHER STATIONS PROPOSED DTV STATION WHME-DT SOUTH BEND, INDIANA CH 46 933 KW 305 M Net Channel Callsian ADDlication Reference Number Status City State Baseline Change %: 45 WSNS-TV BLCDT-20010612AIB L1C CHICAGO IL 9,417,507 38,500 0.41' 45 WSNS-TV DTVPLN-DTVP1611 PLN CHICAGO IL 9,417,507 38,500 0.41 45 WFWC-CA BLTTL-1990072710 L1C FTWAYNE IN No Interference 45 WXIN BLCDT-20031003ABM L1C INDIANAPOLIS IN No Interference 45 WXIN DTVPLN-DTVP1613 PLN INDIANAPOLIS IN No Interference 45 WLLA BLCDT-20070529AEA L1C KALAMAZOO MI 1,954,242 181 0.01 45 WLLA DTVPLN-DTVP1618 PLN KALAMAZOO MI 1,947,021 254 0.01 46 WBXC-CA BLTTA-20040723ABO L1C CHAMPAIGN IL No Interference ! 46 WTVP BLEDT-20040105ACV L1C PEORIA IL No Interference 46 WTVP DTVPLN-DTVP1644 PLN PEORIA IL No Interference 46 WFIE BLCDT-20050916ACR L1C EVANSVILLE IN No Interference 46 WFIE DTVPLN-DTVP1645 PLN EVANSVILLE IN No Interference 46 WBSF DTVPLN-DTVP1648 PLN BAY CITY MI No Interference 46 WBSF BPCDT-20080317AHM APP BAY CITY MI No Interference : 46 WWHO BLCDT-20021025AAA L1C CHILLICOTHE OH 2,686,635 593 0.02 46 WWHO DTVPLN-DTVP1652 PLN CHILLICOTHE OH 2,686,635 593 0.02 46 WUPW BLCDT-20030411AAF L1C TOLEDO OH 2,058,357 5,522 0.27 46 WUPW DTVPLN-DTVP1653 PLN TOLEDO OH 2,058,357 5,522 0.27 46 WDJT-TV BMPCDT-20000419ABR CP MILWAUKEE WI 2,886,432 13,355 0.47' 46 WDJT-TV DTVPLN-DTVP1664 PLN MILWAUKEE WI 2,886,432 13,355 0.47 47 WTTW BLEDT-20020408ABK L1C CHICAGO IL 9,363,981 29,087 0.31' 47 WITW DTVPLN-DTVP1673 PLN CHICAGO IL 9,363,981 29,087 0.31; 48 WMEU-CA BLTTA-20041008AAN L1C BLUE ISLAND IL No Interference 50 WKGK-LP BLTTA-20041122AIH L1C KOKOMO IN No Interference 50 WOKZ-CA BLTTA-20021213ABP L1C KALAMAZOO MI No Interference i.