INCENTIVE AUCTION'S RUSSIAN CONNECTION RANT




$188 MILLION 
OF INCENTIVE AUCTION PROCEEDS GOING TO NONCOM STATIONS
AIRING RUSSIAN GOVT BACKED RT NETWORK

WYBE IN PHILLY, AND WNVT IN VIRGINIA LEASE OTA AND MUST CARRY MVPD CHANNELS FOR RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA MACHINE


Go figure, the incentive auction just had to find its' way into the FBI probe into the Russian influence campaign in the 2016 Presidential Election.   It seems that two of the winning bidders in last years auction were noncoms in Philly and Northern Virginia (DC) have been airing the RT Network (Russia Today).  And it seems that these two auction winners may soon have to talk with US government officials about it all.

Here is what RT says about itself:
"With its first international news channel launched in December 2005, today RT is a global, round-the-clock news network that includes seven TV channels broadcasting news, current affairs and documentary content, digital platforms in six languages and a video news agency RUPTLY. Round-the-clock news channels in English, Arabic and Spanish and documentary channel RTDoc in English and Russian broadcast from Moscow, while RT America airs from a Washington, DC studio and RT UK - from London. Today, RT is available in more than 100 countries spanning 5 continents.
RT creates news with an edge for viewers who want to Question More. RT covers stories overlooked by the mainstream media, provides alternative perspectives on current affairs, and acquaints international audiences with a Russian viewpoint on major global events."

Now because these two full power non-com's have MVPD must carry, RT pays them a lot each month for a channel lease, which includes cable and satellite.  Nice gig if you can get it.  And this has been going on for a while now, so the total revenues received by the two noncoms has totalled up to quite a lot.  But that amount pales to the combined $188 million the stations have gotten in the reverse auction.

And here is the breaking story about RT today in Newsweek and Yahoo News:









LPTV & TRANSLATORS
IS YOUR STATION(S) DISPLACED BY THE AUCTION OR PRIMARY STATION REPACK?  DO YOU WANT CHANNEL RELOCATION FUNDING FROM CONGRESS WORTH $100K+?  BIG UPDATE!



HURRICANES UPDATE

 --- HARVEY ---

We got a field report from Wingsong Communications, the owner of KOAB-LD i n Beaumont, Texas.  KOAB-LD has an OTA pop count of about 346K people, and airs four of the Luken TV channels, a local channel, and a faith channel.  Note the dark area on the wall, that is how high the water got into their transmitter room.  Ouch!





---- IRMA ----



South Coast News Network reported that they were on the air all through Hurricane Irma, providing those who stayed in their coverage area with life and property saving information.  SNNTV is a 24/7 hyper local channel with OTA, cable, FIOS, and satellite carriage. They put out a 1080i HD signal, plus two SD channels (Grit and Laff). They provide this programming to 1.1 million viewers in the Sarasota market.  As a UHF 39, they are displaced in the auction, and space will be tight for the repack.




HURRICANE IRMA
COMMUNICATIONS STATUS REPORT
PDF

Released:  09/05/2017  
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION PROVIDES 24/7 EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HURRICANE IRMA. 
PSHSB  Contact:   FCC Operations Center at 202-418-1122 



THE SPECTRUM STORE


FOR SALE - PRICED TO SELL!
IS NOT DISPLACED!

LICENSED LPTV  DIGITAL STATION
ATHENS, GEORGIA
W26EM-D - UHF 26

2.6 MILLION TV POPS

LISTING PAGE
EVERYONE WANTS A TASTE OF THE RELOCATION FUND!
RADIO CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2017


PDF


THE SPECTRUM STORE


FOR SALE - PRICED TO SELL!
IS NOT DISPLACED!

LPTV DIGITAL NEW CONSTRUCTION PERMIT
SUWANEE  (ATLANTA), GEORGIA

WVND-LD - UHF 24

4,780,650 TV POPS

LISTING PAGE








COALITION MEETS WITH NEW FCC COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR

PDF

The Coalition met today with new FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to discuss a wide range of LPTV and TV translator topics including:
  1. A state of the industry report; the auction and repacking impacts on LPTV and TV translators;
  2. Congressional bills for relocation funding and the need for an FCC economic impact analysis;
  3. The Phase Zero impacts which the FCC had never studied;
  4. A potential win-win solution to the proposed vacant channel rulemaking;
  5. The potential problems with the Next Gen rulemaking regarding the lighthouse stations concept, the temporary channel proposal, and the proposed new 26 dBu contours;
  6. The already authorized T-Band auction, and;
  7. A potential future Class A filing window.
We came away very positive that we have a new Commissioner with both a great depth of understanding about LPTV and TV translator issues (he just served as General Counsel on the LPTV court cases about the auction), and a fresh set of eyes and ears about what is needed to be done to help us.












LICENSEES AND PERMITTEES



Mike Gravino
Director
LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition
(202) 604-0747
http://www.lptvcoalition.com