UTAH ON TRACK TO GET 28% OF ALL LPTV & TRANSLATOR RELOCATION FUNDS
WITH 488 OF THE 1817 CURRENT DISPLACEMENT FILINGS,  UTAH IS IN LINE TO GET OVER $40 MILLION OF THE NEW $150 MILLION CONGRESSIONAL FUNDING 

THIS ASSUMES THAT EACH FILING WILL GET AN EQUAL SHARE OF THE NEW FUNDING, WHICH COMES TO ABOUT $82,508 FOR EACH OF THE 1817 FILERS

WILL THESE ESTIMATES CHANGE A WEEK FROM NOW WITH A LAST MINUTE RUSH OF FILINGS IN MAJOR MARKETS?  WE THINK SO....




NOW WE DO NOT THINK THE FCC WILL USE THIS METRIC, DIVIDING THE PIE EQUALLY AMONG ALL.  MORE THAN LIKELY IT WILL USE A SIMILAR METHODOLOGY AS INCENTIVE AUCTION RELO FUNDS, IE, A CATALOG OF APPROVED SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT, AND AN ANALYSIS OF YOUR CURRENT TRANSMISSION CHAIN, AND THE NEW ONE YOU NEED. 

MAJOR MARKET CHANGES COULD EASILY AVERAGE 2X THE $82K ESTIMATE, AND MANY TRANSLATORS WILL ONLY BE A FRACTION OF IT.  SO THIS IS ALL UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.  

SAME WITH THE TIMING...THE FCC HAS TO CONDUCT A RULE MAKING, AND BY TAKES TIME.  CONGRESS IS MAKING AVAILABLE $90 MILLION THE FIRST YEAR (2019), AND $60 MILLION (2020) THE 2ND.  









COALITION COMMENTARY
Well you got to give some credit to John Hane and Sinclair's Spectrum Co for leading the charge to developing nontraditional uses of TV spectrum with the new next gen TV system.  But no matter how hard they try, the recently passed next gen TV rules will hamper them, and could actually kill this new standard before it even gets out of the starting gate.  Why?  Well someone(s) decided that Class A and LPTV stations can not become 1.0 lighthouses for the primary stations, and as such, they are not worthy of partnering with the full power stations this way.  But what about a "reverse lighthouse"?  What?  Have not heard that one before.  Yes, a reverse lighthouse is one which is made up of Class A and LPTV contours, and which can replicate the coverage of a single full power.  In this model, the full power keeps transmitting 1.0, and uses the Class A and LPTV to deliver 3.0 signals.

Now I can just hear the screams from some readers (Ted at ACA) yelling that an arrangement like that would not qualify for must carry of the 3.0 signals.  So what?  Who cares?  Forget trying to deal with the cable MVPD about 3.0.  Just go ahead and deploy 3.0 as fast and wide as you can, and get permission asap to utilize LPTV and Class A's for that.  

LPTV has no legacy 1.0 thriving 1.0 business model without must carry other than leasing channels, which is what 3.0 op's will be mostly about anyway.  So we can switch to 3.0 without any hassles.  Now this is boring folks, as we talked about it at last year's ATSC conference, and this year, well we did not even go, like so old paradigm that 3.0 thing.

The full powers are in a bind.  They need the must carry retrans corporate welfare model to keep the gravy train running, and can see the end of it coming with the networks now wanting to do their own OTT services.  And with 50% of all revenues now coming from retrans, well the full powers major network are vulnerable.


LET CLASS A'S AND LPTV BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!!
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"Customers can mount their antenna connected to AirTV wherever the signal is strongest, whether it's tucked away in an attic or hidden behind the living room TV," said Weinraub, who could be speaking to a generation that has never known "rabbit ears" or a rooftop antenna. "AirTV wirelessly streams to AirTV-enabled devices visible to a home Wi-Fi network, so there's no longer a need to run cables across the home to get OTA signals."
















Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), February, 2018. 


Two recent employees from key groups financially supported by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch are creating a new office within the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that will provide economic data and analysis relating to FCC policy initiatives. The office could provide FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with analytical justification for slashing regulations.

The two officials launching the new office both have ties to George Mason University (GMU)-which has been funneling academic conservatives into government roles since becoming a major beneficiary of Koch money. Both have either been employed by or had their academic work funded by the Kochs and by the telecommunications industry. And FCC records obtained by TYT show that one of them met with and corresponded with telecom industry representatives, one of whom was his wife. An email obtained by TYT showed that one of them explicitly hoped to recruit officials for the new office at a telecom industry event.

FCC Chair Ajit Pai last year announced plans to form the Office of Economics and Analytics as a central hub to work with each FCC bureau, describing a market-based approach to communications regulation. "The FCC should have the economic experts it needs to identify market failures and study whether the benefits of Commission action would be warranted given the costs,"  said  Pai in April 2017. The FCC has not specified when the office will officially open.


























WE CURRENTLY HAVE 152 LPTV AND CLASS-A STATIONS, LICENSES, AND PERMITS BEING PREPARED FOR A NATIONAL AUCTION STARTING IN JUNE.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, OR WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO BUY, THEN CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFORMATION.

mike.gravino@airwavesusa.com




COALITION'S STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT