WASHINGTON—Broadcasters’ compensation for being a part of the spectrum repack is still a topic of debate on Capitol Hill. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation chairman, and Sen. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), House Energy and Commerce chairman, are exploring if it is better to spread the $1 billion in compensation for broadcasters over two years instead of one to make it more palatable in spending bills.

[House Votes Unanimously to Pass RAY BAUM ACT]

Read the full story on Roll Call.

For more information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.   

WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass the RAY BAUM’S Act Tuesday, March 6, with provisions addressing repack funding and reauthorizing the Federal Communications Commission.

Of particular interest to TV and radio broadcasters are provisions that make up for an anticipated shortfall in the $1.75 billion originally set aside to fund the relocation of repacked full-power and Class A television stations; address the repack expenses of low-power and translator TV stations affected by reshuffling channel assignments; and pay for the expenses radio stations caught up in the work to repack TV stations.

Passage of the legislation drew praise from around the broadcast industry. “NAB applauds today’s passage of RAY BAUM’S Act by the U.S. House of Representatives,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith in a statement to the press. “Chairman [Greg] Walden [(R-Ore.)] and Ranking Member [Frank] Pallone [(D-N.J.)] deserve enormous credit for their leadership in crafting bipartisan, unanimous legislation that ensures local broadcasters are fairly reimbursed for expenses related to the spectrum ‘repack’.”

America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) welcomed passage, as well. “This additional funding —whose need was predicted by the broadcasting industry and by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden before the spectrum law was enacted in 2012—would ensure that our local public television stations have the resources they need to complete the repacking in a timely and efficient way, educate consumers about the transition and minimize disruption for their viewers,” said APTS President and CEO Patrick Butler in a press release.

In addition to repack funding and FCC reauthorization, the act approves the provisions of S.19, the MOBILE NOW Act, to advance 5G broadband development; corrects a spectrum auction deposit issue by allowing the FCC to deposit upfront payments from bidders directly with the U.S. Treasury; instructs the FCC to develop a national policy for unlicensed spectrum; and puts fraudulent phone calls to consumers in the crosshairs of the FCC and law enforcement.

The act awaits Senate approval. NAB’s Smith pledged to work in the Senate to “ensure this legislation’s passage into law along with full funding for the repack in the final omnibus spending bill.”

The act is named for Ray Baum, staff director of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, who died in February.

For more information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.   

WASHINGTON—Leaders from the House of Representatives and Senate Friday, March 2, jointly announced a bipartisan agreement in both chambers that addresses the shortfall in funding to reimburse full-power and Class A stations for their repack expenses, establishes funds to pay for the authorized relocation expenses of translators, low-power TV and radio stations impacted by the repack and a fund to educate consumers regarding the repack.

The legislation, called the RAY BAUM’S Act (H.R. 4986), addresses several other issues, including the reauthorization of the Federal Communications Commission; a boost to 5G wireless broadband development via inclusion of provisions of the Senate-approved MOBILE NOW Act (S.19); a spectrum auction fix authorizing the FCC to deposit upfront payments from bidders directly into the U.S. Treasury; FCC creation of a national policy for unlicensed spectrum; and consumer protection from fraudulent calls.

“This legislation, combining provisions that have previously passed both the House and Senate, does what no legislation has done in 28 years—it reauthorizes the FCC and includes provisions that help make sure that the Commission is transparent, efficient and ready for the 21st century communications landscape,” according to a joint statement released by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).

[Bill to Address Repack Shortcomings Advances]

“Importantly, it includes spectrum legislation that passed the Senate unanimously last year and authorizes reimbursement for broadcasters who were displaced in the successful incentive auctions,” the statement said.

A vote in the House is scheduled for March 6. The RAY BAUM’S Act is named for Ray Baum, a telecommunications policy staffer and friend of Walden, who died in February.

NAB welcomed word of the agreement. Gordon Smith, president and CEO of NAB, called Friday's agreement a "significant step toward fully reimbursing broadcaster repack relocation expenses."

"A truly voluntary incentive auction means tens of millions of Americans who rely on local TV and radio sations—as well as low-power TV stations and translators—are not unfairly burdened by the repack," he said in a statement released to the press. "America's hometown broadcasters fully support swift passage of RAY BAUM's Act and remain optimistic that appropriations will include full repack relocation funding in the final omnibus spending bill."

WASHINGTON—Relief for full- and low-power TV stations, TV translators, FM broadcasters and consumers from the consequences of the FCC’s spectrum repack took an important step forward Feb. 14 when the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced a bill that plugs holes in the original legislation authorizing the incentive auction and relocation of about 1,000 U.S. full-power and Class A TV stations.

The bill targets problems that have troubled the broadcast industry since the repack was mandated, including an anticipated shortfall in the funds to reimburse full-power broadcasters and failure to acknowledge the consequences relocating full powers would have on low power and TV translator stations. The legislation establishes a reserve source for payment of full-power TV broadcaster relocation costs, establishes a Translator and Low Power Station Relocation Fund, sets up the FM Broadcast Station Relocation Fund and creates a the Broadcast Station Relocation Consumer Education Fund.

“…[T]he whole reason we are doing this is not only to provide the expanded authorities we’ve now come to learn after all of these years of the auction… that… were some areas that we missed, frankly, when we wrote the first bill,” said Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.). “This captures that, so that people won’t be punished for the repack that shouldn’t be, and that we get the funding.”

[FCC Will Open April Window for Auction-Displaced LPTVs] 

Walden added he will go “arm-in-arm” with ranking member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) to Congressional leaders and appropriators to “secure some level of commitment all the way up and down the appropriator food chain.”

The new funds were tucked into a bipartisan bill reauthorizing the Federal Communications Commission. Named the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018, or the RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018, the bill incorporates proposals from both Republicans and Democrats.

One such proposal is Pallone’s Viewer Protection Act. “The American people depend on broadcasters to provide local news and information. My district saw firsthand how important that is when we were struck by Hurricane Sandy five years ago, and the Viewer Protection Act would assure no one loses that signal as a result of the FCC’s repacking efforts.”

The FCC reauthorization also establishes an independent inspector general for the agency. Currently, the FCC chairman appoints and supervises the agency’s inspector general. “Over 30 other federal department and agencies have an independent office of inspector general…,” said committee member Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), who introduced a bill to create an independent inspector general for the FCC.

[Walden: We Need to Find $3B for Auction Repack] 

“Good governance is a matter of transparency and accountability, and to do that the FCC needs to have an independent I.G.”

The RAY BAUM’s Act of 2018 was named for the late Ray Baum, staff director of the committee, who died Feb. 9.

For more information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.