Applications Surge as July 1 Deadline Passes

As part of the FCC's "use-it-or-lose-it" rules, broadcasters that had been operating with less than full power or full coverage facilities under special temporary authority (STA) had to file applications requesting a construction permit (CP) for these facilities if they did not have plans to increase power or coverage. The FCC extended the deadline for filing applications until July 7, so it is possible some of these applications did not make it into the DTV Station Status update this week. The number of new applications showing up in CDBS in the last two weeks is impressive--29 more this past week.

The FCC was busy. CDBS shows 29 new modified construction permits and 36 fewer unmodified construction permits, but no increase in the 905 DTV licenses granted so far. Sorting the CDBS TV database on the application_id field indicates well over 100 new applications were filed in the last two weeks. For a simple way to see the latest actions, download the www.xmtr.com/fcc/dtvdb.zip or www.xmtr.com/fcc/tvdb.zip spreadsheets and do a descending sort on the application_id tab (usually column AJ).