FCC Opens Second Post-Auction TV Filing Window

TV stations that want to file for alternate channels or expanded facilities in the post broadcast incentive auction repack can do so beginning Oct. 3.

The FCC's Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau have announced the second filing window for such applications, which will close one minute before midnight on Nov. 2.

The first, priority, window for filing such applications closed Sept. 15. Those filing in the second window must protect the facilities proposed in the first window, whether or not those applications are still pending.

Related: FCC: Auction Repack Reports Due Oct. 10

Applications for expanded facilities are limited to "minor changes" under the FCC's rules. Applications for alternate channels are major changes, subject to the public notice requirements, including a 30-day period for petitions to deny the changes.

Stations whose change applications are mutually exclusive will have a 90-day period to find a technical solution or settlement. Incomplete of defective applications will have an opportunity to be fixed.

Stations looking to change their channel or expand their facilities will have to cover those costs out of pocket. They are not covered by the FCC's $1.75 billion repack fund.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.