The FCC released last week its brief in the Beach TV appeal of denial of Class-A status.  

Beach TV filed a Class A certification form in 2000 but did not check any of the boxes indicating compliance with Class-A obligations.  They left the questions blank, and has now led to a 15+ year fight with the FCC, and the courts.

The FCC takes the position that even though the Class-A statute allows the agency to make a "public interest" finding that a station should get Class-A status, that discretion is confined to the situation where a station filed a Class A certification by January 28, 2000, that included sufficient documentation of compliance with Class A operating requirements.  

The FCC further says that the deadline was statutory and thus not able to be waived.  This means that no curative amendments were not allowed except to clarify, rather than to supplement, the original certification.  

In other words, the FCC is firm that no station that was not in existence in 1999 can ever be upgraded to Class-A.

We should take a broader view of the FCC's discretion under the statute.  But the FCC is digging in its heels and has fleshed out its position in this brief.

The FCC takes the position that even though the Class-A statute allows the agency to make a "public interest" finding that a station should get Class-A status, that discretion is confined to the situation where a station filed a Class A certification by January 28, 2000, that included sufficient documentation of compliance with Class-A operating requirements.  The FCC further says that the deadline was statutory and thus not waivable, so curative amendments were not allowed except to clarify rather than to supplement the original certification.  In other words, the FCC is firm that no station that was not in existence in 1999 can ever be upgraded to Class-A.

We of course take a broader view of the FCC's discretion under the statute.  But the FCC is digging in its heels and has fleshed out its position in this brief.