Pai FM C4 Plan Could Exceed FCC Authority, Says Media Bureau's Doyle
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai's proposal to create a new class of FM stations would create “winners and losers” and could exceed FCC authority, Media Bureau Chief Peter Doyle said during a panel at a National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters' conference. He and Nexstar CEO Perry Sook spoke about AM revitalization, the incentive auction and what legislation may come out of a lame-duck Congress. NABOB heard a day earlier that technology is bringing changes to radio (see 1610120069).
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The FM C4 proposal (see 1609230067) is “a mixed bag,” Doyle said Thursday, echoing others. Also Thursday, the FCC said it would take $54.6 billion in TV incentive auction bids to close in the upcoming Stage 2.
The proposal to create a new FM class makes sense from the perspective of efficiently using spectrum and would be “administratively easy to do,” Doyle said. To make room for the new class, translators would be “a potential casualty,” Doyle said. Though Pai's office said the FM translators granted through the AM revitalization process would be protected, giving a secondary facility the same status as a primary would be “problematic,” Doyle said. “I don't think the commission has the authority.”
An NPRM on the FM C4 proposal “would need to consider all relevant issues,” a Pai spokesman told us, saying no one is better qualified than Doyle to identify them. Pai has been clear that “any C4 proposal would need to protect the AM revitalization translators,” the spokesman said. “That is nonnegotiable.”
The agency has several other radio-related proceedings coming up, including an NPRM on further AM revitalization that includes a proposal to lower interference protections for “clear channel” radio stations, Doyle said. That's likely to be controversial, he said. An upcoming notice of inquiry on eliminating the main studio rule is likely to be better received, Doyle said. The existing rule is “ridiculous,” and eliminating it would be “a layup,” he said.
The incentive auction is unlikely to be “a bonanza” for broadcasters, Sook said during a panel on the future of broadcasting. The chance of broadcasters getting zero dollars isn't zero, Sook said. Congress isn't likely to get involved in the incentive auction in its upcoming lame-duck session, said House Commerce Committee Minority Staff Counsel Timothy Robinson. It's possible Congress could look into aspects of the post-auction repacking to “assuage” broadcaster concerns, Robinson said. NAB Deputy General Counsel Erin Dozier said broadcasters are concerned there may not be enough money or time for the repacking effort.
With the focus of the FCC currently on set-top boxes and pay TV, broadcasting is in a “a fairly good place” with the commission, Sook said. That could change after the presidential election, he said. Though broadcasters may be concerned a Democratic White House could mean increased regulation, that may not be the case, Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins said. Infighting among Republicans makes it unlikely a GOP White House would be able to work with Congress, leaving executive agencies like the FCC one of the few “levers” available to a President Donald Trump, Liggins said.