THE NEW VOICE OF LPTV IN DC

We only represent LPTV Licensees and its supporting industry partners

127 indie LPTV broadcasters & industry partners

with more than 890 stations and construction permits in 38 states!

May 9th, 2014 - Friday News Flash

The Spectrum Auction National Rule Making period has ended so we thought we would share a few of the last minute filings which relate to

Class-A, LPTV, and TV translators

AUCTION ELIGIBLE CLASS-A STATION ADVOCATE MAKES LAST MINUTE PLEA FOR MAXIMIZING BROADCASTER PARTICIPATION

These filings are from the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition headed by former media executive Preston Padden, and has a lot of Class-A members

Class-A filing (a)

Class-A filing (b)

NAB FILES INTERNATIONAL BORDER ISSUE COMMENTS

LPTV will have the same international border issues as the full powers so it if you are in the border zone you may want to read this. Our Coalition is planning on having this be one of the issues we address this summer in the LPTV Further Rule Making.

Border Coordination

NAB TRIES TO GET TRANSLATORS PRIORITY OVER OTHER LPTV

NAB files a statement to try to get its translators, which are part of the LPTV service and governed under the same rules, to get a priority. The FCC has already said no this, except for in-fill translators, but in these comments these unveil their legal strategy.

NAB Translators Legal Argument

NAB STATEMENT ON LPTV AND A CALL FOR AN INDUSTRY WORKING GROUP, BUT EXCLUDES THE COALITION

You know what they say that you are defined more by your enemies than friends, so it is no surprise that the only "pure" LPTV advocacy group is not signed onto this letter or was even invited to. But please do read it as it lays out the LPTV case for the NAB, the NTA, ATBA, and NRB.

NAB LPTV Statement

WHITESPACE ALLIANCE STILL TRYING TO GET SOME OF THE SPECTRUM LPTV WILL NEED TO REPACK INTO

This last minute attempt to justify a "taking" from LPTV will not get much traction but we need to stay vigilante and track all of these arguments.

WHITE SPACE TAKING FROM LPTV COMMENTS

COALITION MEETS WITH FCC OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL AND ALERTS THEM TO POTENTIAL LPTV APPEALS

You can't say we did not warn the FCC about the key areas which LPTV will find legal grounds on to file appeals.

COALITION FCC OGC MEETING

LPTV INVESTOR MAKES LAST MINUTE PLEA FOR GETTING LPTV INTO AUCTION

As we reported yesterday, FAB Telemedia, which is a new investor in the LPTV space, has submitted a filing based on Coalition research and their own, which calls for LPTV to be made auction eligible, or at a minimum have a robust cost analysis and impact statement done. This ex parte notice is about the final meetings they have had about it.

FAB Telemedia Ex Parte

There are still a lot of filings coming in but they are all "sunshine" meaning they are outside of the official filing period. If we see anymore of interest we will let you know.

PREPARING YOURSELF FOR NEXT WEEKS SPECTRUM AUCTION REPORT AND ORDER

Next Thursday, May 15th, the FCC Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the Report and Order which approves many of the rules for the spectrum auction in 2015. The Coalition will be "in the room", but you need to prepare now...

Even if you are not planning on being in DC in your best dress suit and fancy tie to attend the FCC Commissioners May Open Meeting, fight the long lines of lawyers and lobbyists through the security check, and jockey for one of the few seats there are in the room, the Coalition will be there for you. Of course you can always watch the entire event free on-line at the FCC Live webpage.

Don't worry, be happy, we will send you all of the info and links before hand and our expert analysis afterwards. But we strongly suggest you get yourself up to speed with a few reading assignments first:

Coalition website RESOURCES page

Here you will find all kinds of info, the Spectrum Auction Act, the proposed National Rule Making document, and lots of other info including the complete LPTV rules.

The National Rule Making (NPRM) document

This is the document we have been responding to for over 18 months now, which spells out what, how, when, by which authority, etc. the FCC will deal with the auction.

Coalition LPTV NPRM Slide Deck

Back last August the Coalition put this slide deck together to answer all of the NPRM questions about LPTV. Of course since then our positions have changed as we did more research, and had more than 20 meetings with FCC staff. But it is a good overview for next week's event.

The Key FCC Staff Recommendations for LPTV

These are the staff recommendations shared with the Coalition and audience during the NAB Show Info-session we hosted with FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake. You can use it like a check-list to see which issues we win on during the meeting, although they may not get to this level of detail.

And now for the membership and sales pitch. Membership is free for all LPTV and TX licensees and all we ask is to list your call-signs and organization name on the website. Our biggest advantage is that operate in the sunshine, and we do have strength in numbers. Membership is only $100 for Class-A stations which are auction eligible, same for the full-powers, vendors, and industry partners. But we do count on members chipping in for projects they want to support.

We do original research, create and promote LPTV advocacy programs (like our NAB Show event), and of course we bang on the doors of the FCC and Congress. It does take funding, but we want you to more than anything else get involved with your Congressional delegation at the local and state level. We can help you do that very effectively. We also can work with your legal counsel to help state your case at the FCC. And we can help you with your financial counsel to value your current and future LPTV operations.

For vendors we can offer what can be one of the best sponsorship deals around.

Join Today

Sincerely,

Mike Gravino

Director

LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition

(202) 604-0747

lptvcoalition@gmail.com

http://www.lptvcoalition.com