Today is D-Day for FM Translators

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FCCToday the first of what will be two windows opens at the commission for AM owners to file applications to move FM translators up to 250 miles.


This window is limited to Class C and D licensees.

We’ve reported on the spectrum-squeezed East Coast, translators were rising ahead of the window, but not so much in the rest of the country.

RBR+TVBR queried several communications attorneys about how many filings they intend to complete on the first day. That’s because the FCC is accepting paperwork on a day-by-day “first-come-first served” approach, meaning the first to file gets the prize.

Applications filed the same day will be considered mutually-exclusive, but as it did in FM Translator Auction 83, the commission will permit mutually exclusive applicants to resolve their mutual exclusivity through settlements or technical resolutions.

Dismissed or denied applications cannot be amended or re-filed, and a new application to move another translator cannot specify the same AM primary station as in a dismissed or denied window application, according to Womble Carlyle’s Gregg Skall. Most said they were filing several applications, not wanting to disclose actual figures.