LPTV LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Make sure to make your contribution to our industry's common legal defense, and be part of the movement to save LPTV.  Unless we fight the auction rules and regulations now, and in court in 2015, we will not have a lot of spectrum remaining to displace and rebuild into in 2016-2020.   Contributions Page

There was an announcement late last week that the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance (ATBA), and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), have done a deal to host an "LPTV Day" at the NAB Show in April in Las Vegas.  They say there will be day long activities during the convention which will include seminars and workshops specific to LPTV and Translator issues. Further, ATBA also will host again the annual LPTV Industry Awards and Reception at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort that Monday evening.  While this all sounds great, it definitely is something new for NAB to do and is much appreciated for sure.

 

But it is the schedule of who is invited to speak, the topics, how the LPTV vendors and networks are treated, and can ATBA create an evening event that is better than what it has done the last couple of years...these are what we would like to know about.  Also, is this really about the LPTV and TV translator "industry", or is it about NAB wanting to make sure they protect their own member-affiliated translators, their digital replacement translators, and/or ATSC 3.0 which is what ATBA has been promoting?

 

The LPTV NPRM, which is in the first comment period from now until mid January, will look hard at the NAB digital replacement translator issue.  If not highly regulated and governed by the FCC they could wipe out a lot of LPTV channels.  Plus the major movement within the translator space are civic, tax-district, and non-profit community translator systems.  And they want to become more LPTV-like so that they can air multiple channels of their own. These groups in many cases have to even pay a retrans or distribution fee for the networks they air, and which before they translated.

 

So let's have an LPTV Day at NAB.  But the above issues need to be on the agenda.  LPTV in the auction does also.  How to defeat the auction if LPTV can not get what it needs is another.  How much relocation funding and from where, all of these are important.  The GAO study on the impacts of the auction on LPTV and translators should be also.  While ATSC 3.0 is a nice conversation, we need technical discussions about IP delivery of networks, broadband antenna choices, the new wave of encoders, the channel-6 FM opportunity, and a lot more.  But we are in survival mode here folks.  We need to be able to confront the enemy head on, the FCC.  And we need to have the space to do it without any filter which NAB might want to impose on us.  Hopefully they will let us come out swinging like we did at the 2014 event.  And hopefully, we will not have to pay for it.  

 

What we do not need Monday night is a luke warm rah rah session with weak boring speakers, ie, the same old crowd.  We need a serious hard nose, rally the troops political event.  The evening hotel event space that has been used for years now, and food which comes with it, come to over $25k itself, and that is a lot of money sucked from vendor sponsors which could be used for advocacy and lobbying.  Plus you got to pay for your own drinks.  We need a smart day and night event.  Good luck, we will help as we can.  But if it is about one group's agenda and promotion, well that dog won't hunt.

 

LPTV SPECTRUM RIGHTS COALITION  2014 NAB SHOW INFO-SESSION

 

Last year the Coalition hosted (and paid for) a two-hour daytime info-session during the NAB Show which had over 225 LPTV licensees and industry reps attend.  We had the FCC Media Bureau Chief attend and got to grill him on the record about LPTV and the auction.  

Video & Transcript can be seen here 

 

DMA AUCTION STUDIES We are almost done with our backlog of  DMA Auction Studies, and we have made a breakthrough which enables us to explain very quickly to you what might happen to your station.  These studies are based on the latest FCC auction interference data. Check out our DMA Studies page

HELP US EDUCATE CONGRESS In January the new 114th Congress will be sworn in and there will be many new Congressional staff and elected Representatives to educate about LPTV issues.  This is a crucial activity for our Coalition and we need your help to fund the state by state education process. Industry Advocacy Campaigns

FILING NPRM COMMENTS? Did you know that as an LPTV licensee that if you file Comments into the LPTV NPRM process the correct way you instantly gain status to take the FCC to the Court of Appeals (assuming some other standard legal conditions)?  Give your business the gift of having the standing to sue the pants off of the FCC about the Incentive Auction this New Year.  We can help you and your legal counsel, just ask!  Comment filings must be submitted by Jan. 12th, 2015. Tell Us More!

Some of you wanted to have access to previous newsletters, so here are the past few so that you can catch up on what has been happening in LPTV land.